An Edgewater elementary school’s push to build a more inclusive campus culture has earned statewide recognition, with Central Elementary School named the 2026 Maryland Elementary Chapter of the Year by Best Buddies.
The honor marks the second consecutive year an Anne Arundel County Public Schools elementary school has won the statewide award. Waugh Chapel Elementary School took the distinction in 2025 before going on to earn Best Buddies International’s Overall Outstanding Elementary Chapter of the Year, a national honor announced at the organization’s 2026 Leadership Conference. Waugh Chapel launched the district’s first elementary-level Best Buddies chapter and had grown it into the largest elementary chapter in Maryland, with roughly 130 student participants, by the time it earned the national title.
Central Elementary students and staff celebrated the statewide honor near the end of the 2025-2026 school year during a schoolwide “Bounce for Inclusion” assembly, complete with staff members racing an obstacle course in inflatable animal costumes and students performing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” a song the school has adopted as something of a mantra.
Principal Pete Thompson and Best Buddies advisor Allison Williams, who also serves as an Individualized Education Program facilitator at the school, told students during the assembly that the award reflected daily habits more than any single event. “This award is about the students who choose kindness and understand that everyone belongs at Central Elementary School,” Williams said. “We’ve had many events promoting inclusion, but I’m proudest about what happens every day. Seeing students wave to each other in the hallway, buddies sitting together at lunch, students helping, encouraging, and celebrating each other.”
Best Buddies programs pair students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in structured one-to-one friendships, alongside leadership development opportunities and inclusive school events. Thompson credited the program’s staff and student volunteers directly. “This recognition reflects the kind of school community we work to create every day – one where students know they belong and are encouraged to uplift each other,” he said. “We are incredibly proud of Ms. Williams, our Best Buddies members, and everyone who helped make the program such an important part of Central Elementary School.”
Two other Anne Arundel County students and schools were separately recognized by Best Buddies Maryland this year. Ella Atwood, a rising senior at Severna Park High School, was named Chapter President of the Year. Atwood was also among the candidates in Best Buddies Maryland’s 2025 Champion of the Year gala, a separate fundraising recognition tied to the organization’s annual Recipe for Inclusion event. Glen Burnie High School, meanwhile, was named Social Media Chapter of the Year.
While this year’s top honors went to Anne Arundel County schools, Best Buddies programs are already active closer to home. J.P. Ryon Elementary School in Waldorf and Leonard Elementary School in St. Leonard both operate registered Best Buddies Friendship chapters, according to the organization’s Maryland program directory, giving Charles and Calvert county students access to the same peer-friendship model that helped propel Central Elementary and Waugh Chapel to statewide recognition.
Best Buddies International, founded in 1989, now operates programs in all 50 states and more than 40 countries, focused on building one-to-one friendships, expanding job opportunities and developing leadership skills for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its Maryland chapter has expanded its elementary-level programming significantly in recent years, following the model Waugh Chapel pioneered when it became the district’s first elementary Best Buddies chapter.
More information about Best Buddies and its programs, including how a school can start its own chapter, is available at bestbuddies.org.
