CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As schools across the Charlottesville area enter the second half of the fall semester, families and students now have an opportunity to express their appreciation for the educators who make an impact in their schools.

Nominations for the 2026-27 Golden Apple Awards opened on Monday and will remain open through Jan. 25. Teachers can be nominated by anyone, including students, families, school staff and community members.

Teachers from preschool through Grade 12 across ACPS, CCS and participating private schools are eligible. The awards will go to one teacher from each school, who will also receive a $500 grant for classroom materials or professional development.

Amber Wilkins, assistant head of school for instructional for Blue Ridge School, is in her second year as the chair of the selection committee, having first joined five years ago.

“We love being able to review and read the nominations and decide, it’s hard to decide, sort of who to give the Golden Apple to for each individual school because generally, you get so many,” Wilkins said.

Among last year’s winners was Alison Mutarelli, a fourth grade teacher at Trailblazer Elementary in Charlottesville. She told Cville Right Now that winning the award was “a very surreal experience,” and unexpected given all of the “talented and gifted” educators who she works with every day at Trailblazer

“I look at them as these amazing Golden Apple worthy educators,” she said. “I think to know that I was among one of those felt really surreal and very, very special.”

Mutarelli also said the recognition of the work she is doing every day felt special.

“I think so often in education, we’re working so hard and we’re putting in so many hours,” she said. “So I think to have that concrete level of recognition, as well as feeling like people notice and it really is impacting the community felt really special.”

The included grant has helped her share her passion for literacy with her students. She has used the money to curate some additional books for her classroom library and will be using much of the remaining grant for a large classroom transformation, which will begin in the end of November.

“I was able to use that money to bring the learning to life within our classroom,” she said. “So, I was so grateful to have that money because if it wasn’t for that, I would never have been able to get all the materials.”

As a whole Mutarelli said the award helps foster a sense of community between her and the families of her students.

“I think it feels like a more reciprocal transaction” Mutarelli said. “I know that I’m pouring my heart and soul into my classroom and into my kids, spending lots of time, energy, and effort, as well as my own money for little things for my classroom. So, I think to know that that’s reciprocated back by our community members is just so powerful, and I think it just bring a sense of like, community.”

Wilkins said that when she spoke with some of last year’s winners, they also appreciated that recognition for the “unseen hours” they so often put in to help their students grow.

“So often that time and that energy and that amount of sacrifice sometimes can go unnoticed,” she said. “And I think the more you call out when you see effective teaching, effective mentorship, that time and that energy and you’re able to recognize it, it goes a long way when a teacher can actually be seen. We pull it out of the shadows, sometimes.”