How many valedictorians do your local high schools have?

[a27mom]

We have a high school in our area with 22 valedictorians! That just seems crazy to me. But it seems quite common around here for schools to have 10 valedictorians. (These are schools with 400 to 600 kids per class I would guess)

 

I feel old saying this..but when I was in high school we only had one student in our class of 220 who had a 4.0, we had 4 nat'l merit scholars and 2 nat'l merit commended, so it wasn't like we were poor academically. The norm for classes in my high school was to only have at most 1 maybe 2 with a 4.0. (They also weighted classes for class rank, but still we only had 1 4.0)

 

I lived in a different state when I was in high school so I am not sure of this is a regional thing or an I'm old thing ;). Although even when I was in college out here many years ago I remember a school with 10 valedictorians.

 

So, is this a regional thing? (I am in IL, I grew up in NY state)

 

And if 22 people can get 4.0, is the school really that challenging? (The school with 22 valedictorians is supposed to be a "good school")

 

Just wondering what the rest of the country is like?

[Kathryn]

Idk now, but when I was in school, there were around 600 per grade and there was one valedictorian each year.

[Seasider]

Hmm. I graduated with about 425 and there was ONE valedictorian. THE valedictorian.

 

"Valedictorian:

n.noun

The student with the highest academic rank in a class who delivers the valedictory at graduation."

(per houghtin-mifflin)

 

So, how many speeches were given at the event? Not sure I could sit through 22...

 

At our (my kids') high school, the senior class presidents give the address (there are two, co-presidents, for each class), and then there is an additional keynote speaker who is typically a community leader. There are all kinds of different academic awards presented, so it's still all about academic achievement, but the students are addressed by those whom they elected to be spokesmen for their class anyway.

 

At our local homeschool grad ceremony (appx 70 graduates annually), students interested in making the address must submit a speech proposal and then "audition," and then two are selected by a student/parent committee. There have been some wonderful addresses from that group.

[amyco]

At our local schools, there is one valedictorian, but it's not just GPA (which are weighted, and so can sometimes be something like 4.75).  There are other requirements, such as taking a certain number of credits, and if it's still tied, I think they look at difficulty of classes.  There are over 600 students in each class.

 

Back in the stone age when I went to high school, GPAs weren't weighted and there were two valedictorians with a 4.0.  They didn't necessarily give the speech--graduation speeches were by audition, as is the case around here now.

 

 

[Pawz4me]

One.

[MiMi 4under3]

I heard kids can now get a 5.0 because AP courses are weighted differently...   :huh:

[gardenmom5]

the only one I know of is when 2dd was valedictorian.  she was the only 4.0 IB dip.

 

when 1dd graduated from college, she was one of seven in her class that were summa cum laude and phi beta kappa.  (there were a bunch that were summa, OR phi, but not both)  she had a 3.8 with her ib dip. so I've no idea who, or how many (or if there were any), 4.0's there were when she graduated high school.

 

I would imagine those numbers would vary according to size and rigor of the school.

[gardenmom5]

I heard kids can now get a 5.0 because AP courses are weighted differently...   :huh:

 

IB are too.  and here's why . . . (2dd got her 4.0 before they changed the weighting at her school)

 

when 2dd got her 4.0 ib dip - no special weighting - there was another girl who didn't take advanced classes who also was 4.0. (the only other 4.0 that year)  some teacher tried to get her made valedictorian (the school only focused on one) because she was Hispanic (I am serious. that was his reason) - and got 4.0.  the administration did hold fast because 2dd had done a far more rigorous program as well as the extra-curriculars.

 

eta: 1dd's college added 1/10ths of a point for +'s.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

There was quite a bit if drama few times over one valedictorian at my high school when several fully met the qualifications. A multiway tie if you will. So now there are multiple. The graduating classes are around 150. On a side note the graduating class had over $14,000,000 in scholarships this year.

[MiMi 4under3]

This was so, way back when I was in high school in the 80's. My course were weighted because they were advanced courses. I graduated with a 5-point-something-or-other GPA.

 

Wow... I thought it was something new!   :lol:

 

I took all Honors classes and the highest GPA one could achieve was 4.0

[magic]

One- the student with the highest overall gpa.  I believe that there have been several times when there has been a tie and there have been 2.  We have an honors program that students must maintain all four years.  They must have a 3.5+ gpa, be involved in at least two activities at the school each year, participate in community service every year, take so many AP or college classes, and no disciplinary or attendance issues.  If they maintain this all four years, they graduate with honors and there are different levels of honors based on GPA.  There are usually around 20 students who graduate with honors.

 

[magic]

Our highschool lists both weighted and unweighted GPAs on report cards and transcripts.  They only weighted classes are AP and college classes.  Honors classes are not weighted.

[bettyandbob]

Weighted GPAs.

 

In my district honors classes get an extra .5 (a B would normally be 3.0, B in an honors class is averaged as 3.5). IB and AP courses are averaged with an extra 1.0 (a B would be averaged as a 4.0 and an A would be a 5.0).

 

I get that it recognizes that the student had to work harder than the student who got an A in a standard level class. However, I think it's made grade point averages meaningless.

 

In fact the most competitive universities in my state request the unweighted GPA for admissions evaluation. They already expect to see honors/IB/AP courses and you won't get accepted to those schools without them, so they just want to see the real GPA for comparison purposes.

 

We don't have a valedictorian anymore. There's a point in the grad ceremony where each student with a 3.9 or higher is asked to stand.

[strawberries]

I was just looking at the list in the paper yesterday. Out of the 20 schools in our county, 19 had one valedictorian and one salutatorian each. The other had one valedictorian and two salutatorians.  This is how I always remember it being - very rarely there's a two-way tie for one of the top two spots, never a twenty-two-way tie! These are mostly large schools with 400-800 graduates. 

[plansrme]

My daughter's school had a five-way tie for highest GPA last year, so five valedictorians. Class of 500 or so. I think that is pretty common.

[MBM]

Zero valedictorians in my suburb thankfully. Our public high school has about 1100 students per grade.

 

The reason why our high school did away with valedictorians has to do with one of my neighbors. Remember those crazy cheerleader moms who did whatever it took to get their child on the squad? That is my neighbor except substitute valedictorian for cheerleader. A real charmer she is. The school officials did away with valedictorians after dealing with the brouhaha my neighbor created between her son and his rival, both of whom were neck-and-neck for valedictorian.

 

I'm not unhappy about it.

[trulycrabby]

Over 800 in my graduating class; one valedictorian.

 

DS20's graduating class, over 800, one valedictorian.

[Cinder]

I graduated from a private school in the 80's before grades were weighted. We had about 350 grads and 1 valedictorian. I don't think even he had a 4.0, though. IIRC he received a B in one class. I remember hearing about another private school in the city that had about 6 or 8 that year; all 4.0's. I remember being amazed there were so many. And I think they all got to give speeches too. :svengo:

 

I'm not sure how it is in the local schools now.

[shawthorne44]

This makes me grumpy.  My class was around a 1000 and they were able to pick a Valedictorian.  We did have weighted grades but there were a lot less AP's to choose from in the dark ages.  

[Laura Corin]

At our (my kids') high school, the senior class presidents give the address (there are two, co-presidents, for each class), and then there is an additional keynote speaker who is typically a community leader. There are all kinds of different academic awards presented, so it's still all about academic achievement, but the students are addressed by those whom they elected to be spokesmen for their class anyway.

 

 

That's how it is at my boys' leavers awards ceremony.

 

L

[Ananda]

I graduated in 2004.  We had 9 valedictorians.  The criteria for becoming valedictorian was that you had to take every honors & AP course and you had to get straight As.  There were 40 some students who took every honors and AP course and got a single B.  I don't know what they could have done to weed the pack, possibly not allow A- to count as an A like in university.   Although I don't know how much difference even that would make.  In my experience, the top tier of students will just rise to the bar set.  We did what it took to get an A in our more difficult AP classes, but floated through classes like government & health.  

 

As far as the speech.  The valedictorians collectively gave one 15 minute speech.

[jar7709]

There were three in my graduating class in the '90s, they were the three students who had perfect 4.0s (unweighted). If we had a weighted system, we would have likely had fewer or different valedictorians, because those three chose to take some easier class options in order to preserve their GPAs. (I'm not still bitter, really.)

[Shellydon]

One.  Even in schools with classes of 900-1000 students.

 

[Mrs Mungo]

We have a high school in our area with 22 valedictorians! That just seems crazy to me. But it seems quite common around here for schools to have 10 valedictorians. (These are schools with 400 to 600 kids per class I would guess)

 

I feel old saying this..but when I was in high school we only had one student in our class of 220 who had a 4.0, we had 4 nat'l merit scholars and 2 nat'l merit commended, so it wasn't like we were poor academically. The norm for classes in my high school was to only have at most 1 maybe 2 with a 4.0. (They also weighted classes for class rank, but still we only had 1 4.0)

 

I don't know what the school here do. My own high school was a lot bigger than yours, but anyone with above a 4.0 (with honors classes receiving more weight) was a Valedictorian. Anyone with a 4.0 was a Salutatorian. I think we had...about 20? They gave a collective speech, which was led off by the class president.

[Mrs Mungo]

One. Even in schools with classes of 900-1000 students.

How do they choose just one, if multiple people have perfect grades?

 

eta: Multiple people in my high school made perfect scores on the ACT and the SAT.

[redsquirrel]

I grew up in NY state and my small class had two. The two smartest kids in the class had exactly identical GPA's to several points. It was an unusual thing to have a tie. And they both gave a speech. The order the speeches were given was determined by a coin toss at the ceremony.

 

Now, when I graduated from college, anyone who graduated with a 4.0 was named a 'valedictorian' and then all those different honors designations 'cum laude' etc.

[Farrar]

I could see a tie, but a 22-way tie?  That's just weird.  That, or they've changed the meaning of valedictorian. 

[Library Momma]

Here schools have one valedictorian and one salutatorian.  Most graduating class sizes are between 150 to 400 students depending on the town.  Classes are most definitely weighted and a "perfect" grade would mean the student has an A+ (grade of 97-100) in every high school class while taking every honors and AP class available at each level.

[Annie G]

Our graduating class had ONE person with a 4.0 GPA and she was the first one with a perfect GPA in more than ten years.  I graduated with kids who had appointments to military academies, two who went to MIT, and tons who went to Georgia Tech.  

 

This was back in the 70's though.  

[FaithManor]

They give the "honor" to everyone who has a 4.) unweighted or higher if weighted, and salutatorian to every 3.9 or above unless there are several that have 3.95's or better...basically it's a whole bunch because the academic standards are poor to begin with and they are fear lawsuits if they vote on having just one valedictorian and salutatorian. Last year they had six salutatorians and three valedictorians which basically means that the term means very little around here.

 

The year I graduated (I was 16 at the time) I was valedictorian of a private school. Not a big graduating class, 13 kids I believe, and I wasn't a 4.0. It was nigh unto impossible to have a 4.0 because the PE teacher had never in his life ever given an A except to the starring center of the boy's basketball team each year. That was the token A. So, PE was my only non-A course. But, again, with only 13 graduates it didn't mean a hill of beans at college application time. My ACT score and GPA meant more than being "honored" in that manner.

 

It's been controversial. One school (not my district) last year gave valedictorian to a boy with a 43.15 or something similar (can't remember the actual number but it was literally maybe a hundredth of a point difference from the salutatorian). He got a 27 on the ACT and never took an AP math or science. Actually, he took three AP's, Economics, English, and US History. She took AP Calc BC, AP Physics, and AP Chemistry and had a 34 on the ACT. He only took one year of foreign language and one year of general music. She had four years of symphonic band, and three years of German. She was head and shoulders above him in terms of the academic difficulty she achieved so he was absolutely shocked when he was awarded the valedictorian honor. He inserted a remark in his speech, much to the chagrin of the faculty and principal, that she was the true valedictorian of the class because the whole point of the award was academic achievement. He made the point that there were music awards, art awards, chess awards, debate awards, sports awards, etc. for people who excelled in those disciplines and that the valedictorian award used to be the one handed out for the most stellar general academic in the school. I thought that he exhibited a lot of integrity to make this admission publicly.

 

My district is looking at completely eliminating class rank and academic achievement awards such as this due to liability. Lots of parents think their children for one reason or another should have received this, that, or the other award and are getting very testy with the administration about even when their child clearly doesn't meet the requirements to even be in the running for such an honor. Sigh....

[TechWife]

In my high school class, two students tied for the highest GPA. The guidance counselor told them to work it out between them - one could be the valedictorian and the other the salutatorian. They decided it on their own very quickly - in that same meeting. There were about 350 students in my graduating class.

[shawthorne44]

In my area, if you graduate early you are banned from being the valedictorian.  

Basically, they want the smart kids to stay around to do well on the tests that the school is judged on.  

[Tammi K]

My high school graduating class had 450. We had one Valedictorian and one Salutatorian. 

[J-rap]

Here it's more an honor you get if you qualify.  As many who qualify, receive the honor.

[Crimson Wife]

DH was the official valedictorian of his prep school but there was a brouhaha over it. There was a 3-way tie if the administrators only looked at coursework completed at the school. Well DH was accelerated at math and so he did dual-enrollment his senior year with a local university so that he could take multivariable calculus. The parents of one of the guys tied for salutatorian complained that it was unfair to average in the A that DH got in his DE class into the GPA since it wasn't taken at the school. So what the school wound up doing was having all 3 give speeches at graduation (as they would've in any case) and just not labeling DH's as the valedictory and the other two as salutatory. The school gave some generic honorary name.

 

DH was actually friends with the guy whose parents complained and the kid was embarrassed by his parents. I hate to stereotype, but they were immigrants from a high-performing East Asian country, and were "tiger parents" 2 decades before Amy Chua popularized the phrase.

[Dmmetler]

One per class.

 

Is there some benefit for being a valedictorian? I know when DH graduated, FL offered free tuition to in-state students at state universities if they were ranked #1-which was why DH dropped band and took some other classes pass/fail in night school or summer school to keep his GPA as high as possible (I believe he managed a 4.5 in a school where only AP classes were weighted grades). As he said, he realized in 8th grade that his surest chance of being able to go to college was to get that scholarship, so he worked towards that goal-not towards learning the most he could or taking the most interesting classes, just to getting the highest possible GPA he could get.

 

 

[Excelsior! Academy]

In my area, if you graduate early you are banned from being the valedictorian.  

Basically, they want the smart kids to stay around to do well on the tests that the school is judged on.  

 

It was the complete opposite at the school I attended.  One girl graduated a year early, so by default they gave her the Valedictorian slot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How many Valedictorians?  Um, one, and exactly one Salutatorian.   I thought there could only be one by definition.  I have heard of rare cases of two, but twenty-two?  Methinks the tides of academic excellence are turning.

[Joker]

I heard kids can now get a 5.0 because AP courses are weighted differently...   :huh:

 

Apparently, kids can actually now get double that. :svengo:

 

https://shine.yahoo.com/ellen-good-news/ambitious-teen-earns-unbelievable-10-03-gpa-175900351.html

[Crimson Wife]

Is there some benefit for being a valedictorian? I know when DH graduated, FL offered free tuition to in-state students at state universities if they were ranked #1-which was why DH dropped band and took some other classes pass/fail in night school or summer school to keep his GPA as high as possible (I believe he managed a 4.5 in a school where only AP classes were weighted grades). As he said, he realized in 8th grade that his surest chance of being able to go to college was to get that scholarship, so he worked towards that goal-not towards learning the most he could or taking the most interesting classes, just to getting the highest possible GPA he could get.

 

I got a scholarship from my high school for being salutatorian. It was a one-time award. The valedictorian got that same amount per year for 4 years. What was a bit annoying was that the valedictorian of our class already had won a full-ride scholarship to the university he chose to attend. So the money he got from our high school was just gravy. I could've definitely used the money more than him. Or they could've chosen someone ranked in the top 10% of the class with the greatest financial need and given it to that person.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Our local high schools don't recognize valedictorians.  With so many kids taking AP classes and honors classes, the top 25% have a higher than 4.0 GPA.  So someone could have better than a 4.0 and not crack the top 10%.  It was taking may very bright kids out of contention for admission to upper tier colleges that looked at class rank.  Seeing that our district has one of the highest ACT averages in the state, I don't think it is grade inflation.  More like lots of driven parents expecting nothing but the best for and from their kids. 

[Katy]

There's a school near our old house that called everyone with a GPA over 4.25 Valedictorian and everyone from 3.9-4.24 Salutatorian (is that spelled right?).

 

Apparently it cut down on competitiveness and stopped a threatened lawsuit when a teacher gave a subjective very low essay grade to a formerly top student.

[eternalsummer]

With ours, classes like music, drama, band, etc. were not weighted - there was no way to get more than a 4.0 for the class.  For a high-achieving student, this was like getting a B in any other class (where an A was worth 5.0 instead of 4.0), and these students never got Bs in their weighted classes.  So it got to be a situation where you either had to choose being valedictorian/salutatorian or participating in band/choir/etc., both things were not possible. 

[TCB]

Reading all this has made me really glad that my dds won't be involved in all this. I've talked to a number of parents who were thinking of having their child drop a difficult, challenging class as it would affect their GPA and class ranking. I think it is sad that the child can't just take the class that is best for his education, and must consider things like this.

[mom2bee]

Now that school is low performing because they moved in a bunch of Katrina kids into the apartment complexes... 

I'm so sorry to hear about your old school. Thats such a shame...

 

[eternalsummer]

We did have other academic achievements highlighted at graduation (which, tellingly, the valedictorian and salutatorian did not receive); there was the national merit stuff, and also the IB diploma students - kind of the equivalent of taking all AP classes and doing a few other things (I remember having to take philosophy, do some community service, write a longish paper?)

[a27mom]

I have noticed that some of the schools are listing "Sumna cum laude", instead of valedictorian. Which seems to make sense if you are going to have 10 or more.

 

Actually it seems to make sense period.

 

Our class rank system with 1 valedictorian was rather messed up as well. I really don't think it is possible to do it right.

 

It is interesting to read how music didn't count. Music counted too much. You really couldn't be valedictorian or salutatorian at my high school if you didn't take music. Every single class was weighted. But the only classes with the highest level weighting that you could take before senior year were, A level English & Social Studies, and select choir, advanced band, and advanced orchestra- which you could take every year and still receive the highest level weight each year as you repeated the class. So if you chose to take select choir rather than physics (lower weighted class) you would have a higher class rank. Happily in our class our valedictorian hands down deserved it. He is a genius literally, and was an all-around nice guy. But Our salutatorian was clearly not the 2nd best academically.

[Seasider]

I have noticed that some of the schools are listing "Sumna cum laude", instead of valedictorian. Which seems to make sense if you are going to have 10 or more.

 

Actually it seems to make sense period.

.

.

I agree, this is how it's done on the collegiate level, anyway.

[FaithManor]

I do think that due to the litigious nature of our society, many of these rankings are going to be on their way out. It might be okay to use Summa, Magna, and Laude IF there is a very easy way to explain weighted classes so that those who glided by without taking any higher ranked classes are not given honors. But, the picking of a valedictorian or salutatorian or some other distinction that places a couple of people ahead of everyone else is probably going to end. Parents are just too up in arms about this stuff. But then, they are also playing a very wicked college admissions/merit aid game so there is a lot pressure to be the top in order to get those scholarships so they 'll fight for their kid being the "one at the top" even if they shouldn't be given that honor.

 

It's all a little crazy.

 

But, then one of the local school districts charge $500.00 to attend graduation - tickets, cap and gown, picture and diploma presentation cover - and if you can't afford it, they mail your diploma. So, they have made a large contribution to the general crazy that is the American educational establishment!

[kewb]

I have no idea.  All I can tell you is that when I graduated-when dinosaurs still roamed the earth-we had 1 valedictorian and 1 salutatorian.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Usually one unless the GPA is exactly tied.  My dd was one of two Salutatorians because they had exactly the same GPA.  Our high school does do a Top 25 so many of those other kids with better than perfect GPAs get recognized. (Brag my ds is one of those). Our graduating classes average about 500 (one high school in county).