Northwest High School Reconsiders Method to Honor Students

Northwest High School leaders are considering adoption of a new method of honoring students at its graduation ceremonies.

The high school is hosting an informational meeting to discuss the current graduation honoring system and to outline potential changes. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in the high school's Lecture Hall.

Under the current sytem of recognizing student achievement at graduation, a student's grade point average is announced.

There is a proposal where students, instead, would qualify for Cum laude, Magna cum laude or Summa cum laude status.

Students with a grade point average (GPA) between 3.99 nd 3.8, 24 on the ACT test, one extra curricular school activity and two credit hours of advanced placement/ dual enrollment or honors classes would qualify for cum laude status.

Students with a grade point average (GPA) between 4.0 and 4.19, 27 on the ACT test,  two extra curricular school activities and three credit hours of advanced placement/ dual enrollment or honors classes would qualify for magna cum laude status.

A summa cum laude designation would be given to students with a 4.2 and above GPA,  three extra curricular school activities and four credit hours of advanced placement/ dual enrollment or honors classes.

According to Mary Thomasson, executive director of secondary education, the new system is designed, at least partially, to place less competition among students to achieve high GPAs alone, and to minimize a selection of "easy" course electives in order to keep a high GPA. She said the "cum laude" system is a more well-rounded indicator of student achievement.

The new system, if adopted by the Northwest Board of Education, would begin with the high school's current freshman class that will gradiate in 2016.