From National PTA:
Entries are reviewed at local, regional, state and national levels. Each PTA determines its own reviewers for the program. National PTA reserves the right to use its sole discretion in selecting the submissions to be recognized at the national level. Under no condition may parents or students contact a reviewer to dispute the status/score of any entry. Each PTA in its sole discretion will select finalists for exhibition and provide awards/prizes. Awards are announced per local and state procedures.
Timeline
Local entry submission due dates vary depending on where you live. Please reach out to your PTA unit, council and region contact to inquire about your local due dates, which are generally in the Fall.
If you are a STUDENT -Contact your School Reflections chair for your school submission date.
If you are a SCHOOL REFLECTIONS CHAIR:
- In a PTA Council school -Contact your PTA Council Reflections chair for your PTA Council submission date.
- In an Out-of-Council PTA school -Contact your PTA Region Reflections chair or your Region Director.
Entries advance to the Regions level by Sunday, December 6th. Illinois PTA results announced in March and celebrated at SPOTLIGHT in April. National PTA results announced May 1 at PTA.org/Reflections.
Process
What you do next depends on which Entry Form you used.
- If you used the Google Form: Your submissions are already in the Advancing Entry Tracker. Google Forms automatically collects responses in a spreadsheet. Our spreadsheet is designed for Reflections chairs to use throughout the remaining contest levels. Use this one file to review entries, prepare judge forms, compile scores, and record advancement.
- If you used BOTH Google Form + PDF: Add your PDF submissions data manually to the Advancing Entry Tracker.
- If you used ONLY the PDF Form:
- Click HERE to make a copy of a blank Advancing Entry Tracker.
- Rename “2026–2027 Reflections Artwork Advancing to [Council/Region/State]” by adding your school/council name and selecting the one level you are advancing entries to. Delete the other two levels.
- Manually enter your PDF submissions data into the spreadsheet. Pro tip: Ask families to email you their completed PDF forms so you can copy and paste the information directly into the spreadsheet.
Watch the Advancing Entry Tracker How-To Video HERE.
Use the Advancing Entry Tracker to carry entries through review, judging, advancement, and display. The tracker keeps all entry information in one central file, helps confirm that required advancement information is complete, and reduces the risk of issues at the National level. It also lets you create judge-ready copies without contact information, record scores and Advancement Status (Student Award), and generate labels, display tags, and showcase-ready artist statements.
PSA: Make sure volunteers can open & view the artwork files without requesting additional permission before you hand it off. Please do not delete the artwork files from your google drive. Make sure volunteers can open & edit Advancing Entry Tracker file. Learn more.
