The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) selects schools each year to receive School of Distinction and School of Excellence honors.

A total of seven Section III schools were selected as Schools of Distinction and 19 Section III schools were named Schools of Excellence this year.

Section III includes 106 schools in 11 counties in and around Central New York.

A school earns School of Distinction honor by having 100% of its varsity teams qualify for and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award during their respective sports seasons.

To earn the School of Excellence honor, 75% of teams must qualify and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award.

To be a Scholar-Athlete team, the team’s average grade point average for 75% of the roster must be at least 90. That means you take 75% of your roster and then average their GPAs. Any GPA can be included, but if it is below a 90, they will not receive a pin, according to NYSPHSAA.

In total, 86 schools from around the state earned School of Distinction and 148 schools earned School of Excellence.

The schools will be honored at their local athletic director workshop in the fall, according to the NYSPHSAA. The full list of schools in the state to receive these honors can be found at nysphsaa.org.

Here are the Section III schools from the Mohawk Valley that earned state academic honors:

School of Distinction (number of varsity teams in parenthesis)

• Hamilton Junior/Senior High School (13)
• Oriskany Junior/Senior High School (12)

School of Excellence (number of varsity teams in parenthesis)

• Herkimer High School (15)
• Holland Patent Central High School (17)
• Morrisville-Eaton Middle/High School (11)
• New York Mills Junior/Senior High School (10)
• Oneida Senior High School (20)
• Remsen Junior/Senior High School (12)
• Sherburne-Earlville Senior High School (13)
• West Canada Valley Junior/Senior High School (17)