The current wave of school reform, with its emphasis on the learner, affords the opportunity to create environments that can foster excellence. The ability to support the development of excellence is threatened by commonly held beliefs that excellence depends on innate ability and that anyone who works hard enough will succeed, irrespective of the support they receive. This paper, one of a series of essays written for New York State's "Standards of Excellence" project, challenges common beliefs and asserts that: (1) human beings possess a varied array of mental competences, strengths, or "intelligences" that they can combine and call on in different ways to achieve excellence in diverse disciplines; and (2) those who are deemed excellent have developed their competences in meaningful contexts over an extended period of time. Topics discussed include the varieties of potential excellence, broad and narrow views of excellence, conditions for the achievement of excellence, community involvement in the creation of meaningful contexts, teacher involvement in the nurturing of domains of excellence, and forms of curriculum and assessment that engender understanding. Recommendations for schools seeking to support excellence include encouraging and supporting teachers to develop diverse competences through cooperative learning; providing forms of assessment that are fair to those with diverse strengths; and aligning school, family, and community to support the long-term development of individuals' competences. Contains 113 references. (SM)