Honoring the head of the graduating class takes back seat

When seniors at Belle Plaine High School dress in their caps and gowns on June 8, they won't just be preparing for the last time they'll be together as a class.

It will also be the last time that the school recognizes a valedictorian and a salutatorian.

In an effort to encourage students to take more difficult classes, the Belle Plaine school board has decided that after this year, it will no longer hand out the traditional honors. Like other schools around the metro area, it wants to honor the accomplishments of more than one or two students when it comes time to bestow diplomas.

"In the last several years, we feel we have seen students really look to protect that number one class ranking," said Superintendent Kelly Smith, "rather than look to the classes that will best benefit them in the long run."

At Belle Plaine High School, students with a 3.6 grade point average on a 4-point scale will be recognized as graduating with "honors." Those with a 3.85 or higher will receive "highest honors" and those with a perfect 4.0 will also be recognized.

The school graduates about 120 students a year, Smith said.

Students will also not know their exact class rank. The school will be able to supply it for college applications that ask whether a student is in the top 10 percent or top quarter of their class. But students won't know if they finished 23rd or 24th among their peers.

Lakeville's two high schools took this step last year, so this year's graduating classes will be the first to not have a valedictorian. Instead, the schools will give students Latin designations more common in colleges.

Students with a GPA of 4.0 or higher (the school uses weighted grades for Advanced Placement classes) will receive a summa cum laude honor, students with a GPA between 3.85 to 3.99 will be magna cum laude and students with a GPA greater than 3.7 will be cum laude.

"Schools aren't about being number one out of 400," said Lakeville South Principal Scott Douglas. "It's about having as many students push themselves as far as possible to prepare for college."

In Lakeville, the decision to get rid of the valedictorian honor came from students. A group of students approached school officials saying that graduating with honors was something that more than one student deserved, and when only one one-hundredth of a point can separate students it seemed arbitrary.

"I think it actually takes some pressure off of students to try to be the valedictorian and it recognizes a cluster of students who have done exceptionally well," Douglas said.

The Belle Plaine School District took up this conversation about eight years ago, Smith said, but community members eager to hold on to the tradition of the valedictorian title persuaded the district to stick with it.

This time around, the reaction has been different, Smith said.

"We just want students and families making choices based on their needs rather than protection of a grade point average," he said.

Emily Johns • 952-882-9056