Crystal Awards

Who is eligible for a 2025-26 Crystal Award?

All current Clovis Unified certificated and classified employees who, by the end of the award-year for which they are nominated, have:

• Worked in CUSD for at least five school years (as of June 30, 2026)
• Served in their current position for at least two years (as of June 30, 2026)
• Not received any disciplinary action within the last five school years (between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2026)

Who can nominate?

Any current CUSD employee may nominate a colleague. Employees may submit multiple nominations; however, only one nominee may be submitted per application form. Community members and retirees may also nominate an employee, but the nominee’s supervisor must review, sign, and submit the application.

What is the Crystal-worthy standard?

A Crystal Award recipient is a CUSD employee whose work during the 2025–26 award-year demonstrates extraordinary performance through exceptional mastery, initiative, innovation, influence, service, or leadership from any position—and creates meaningful positive impact. Think of this standard as the Crystal bar. Every Crystal Award nominee is an excellent employee. The Crystal bar is the line between excellent performance and extraordinary contribution. To clear it, the nomination must tell a clear, evidence-supported story showing:

• What the nominee did during the 2025–26 award-year
• What made the performance extraordinary in the context of the nominee’s role
• Who benefited
• What meaningfully changed because of the nominee’s work
• How the claims can be verified

What are the judging criteria?

A judging panel comprised of CUSD employees uses the Crystal-worthy standard as the bar throughout the judging process. Judges evaluate whether the nomination establishes:

• CUSD values through action - authentic alignment with at least one District Aim and one Doc B Leadership Philosophy
• Elite/extraordinary performance in role - performance that clearly goes beyond the high expectations CUSD holds for excellent employees
• Specific, credible 2025–26 award-year evidence
• Meaningful demonstrated impact - what improved, expanded, became possible, or was sustained; who benefited; and how the impact is known
• First-hand credibility and independence within the Support Evidence Portfolio
• Corroborated impact and alignment across the three support statements

The rubric uses fixed 5–3–1 anchors:

• 5 — “Elite Employee” / Crystal-Worthy
• 3 — “Outstanding Employee” / Approaching Crystal-Worthy
• 1 — “Excellent Employee” / Not Yet Crystal-Worthy

Judges evaluate the strength of the evidence, not the nominator’s writing skill. Qualitative evidence may be as persuasive as numerical data when it is specific, first-hand, credible, and sufficiently detailed to support the claims being made.

Nominators are strongly encouraged to review the Judging Rubric before preparing a nomination.

When is the 2025-26 nomination period?

The 2026 Crystal Award nomination window is August 31 through October 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

Late nominations are not accepted.

All nominations must be submitted online through Informed K12. Once the nomination form is complete, digital signatures are requested from the nominee’s supervisor and the appropriate Assistant Superintendent.

What should I expect on the nomination form?

The nomination form has three primary parts. All required fields and attachments must be completed for a nomination to be considered.

Part I: General Information

The form collects information about the:

• Crystal Award nominee
• Nominee’s supervisor
• Appropriate Assistant Superintendent

Basic eligibility information, including years of CUSD employment and years in the current position, is also collected. The Assistant Superintendent provides acknowledgment of the nomination as part of the digital signature process.

Part II: Nomination Essay

The nomination essay may not exceed 1,400 words and should make a clear, evidence-supported case for why the nominee’s work during the 2025–26 award-year rises above excellent performance and demonstrates Crystal-worthy, extraordinary contribution and impact.

The essay should:

• Identify at least one District Aim
• Identify at least one Doc B Core Leadership Philosophy
• Show through specific examples how the nominee put these CUSD values into action
• Explain what the nominee did during the award-year
• Show how the nominee’s work went beyond CUSD’s high expectations for excellent performance
• Describe what changed, improved, expanded, became possible, or was sustained
• Explain who benefited and how the impact is known
• Include evidence that can verify the claims
• Focus on the 2025–26 award-year; earlier work may demonstrate sustained impact but cannot substitute for current award-year evidence

Numerical measures are helpful when appropriate but are not required. Qualitative evidence and first-hand corroboration may also demonstrate impact.

Part III: Support Evidence Portfolio

Three one-page Support Evidence Statements are required.

The three statements are evaluated collectively as a Support Evidence Portfolio, rather than as three independently scored letters. Judges evaluate the strength, credibility, and corroboration of the evidence—not the writing style of each statement.

Supporters should:

• Have direct knowledge of the nominee’s work and impact during the 2025–26 award-year
• Provide distinct perspectives whenever possible
• Clearly establish their relationship to the nominee and how they know the nominee’s work
• Provide a specific action or contribution they personally witnessed or can directly verify
• Explain what changed, improved, expanded, or became possible
• Identify who benefited and how they know
• Explain why the contribution went beyond normal expectations or demonstrated extraordinary execution, influence, initiative, service, or leadership
• Include, when available, an artifact, result, record, additional witness, or other verifiable detail that strengthens the account

At least one supporter should understand the nominee’s normal role expectations well enough to explain what distinguished the nominee’s work as extraordinary.

When will recipients be announced?

Crystal Award recipients are announced before Winter Break.

When is the Crystal Awards Gala?

The Crystals will be held the evening of Wednesday, February 24, 2027, at Clovis Unified's Performing Arts Center in the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall. Tickets are not required and all are welcome to celebrate these phenomenal employees!