At the end of March, Cherry Creek school district announced that beginning with the class of 2026, the district would no longer name valedictorians. Cherry Creek High School, the largest of the high schools within the district, has not named a valedictorian in over thirty years. Although the schools will continue to utilize GPA and honor roll, the decision poses an interesting question; is class rank and valedictorian recognition necessary at Littleton?
“The role of the educator is to teach all of our students, not to rank and sort them. The practices of class rank and Valedictorian status are outdated and inconsistent with what we know and believe of our students. We believe all students can learn at high levels, and learning is not a competition,” said the district in an email to parents.
Though the reasoning is sound, is it applicable to a community like Littleton?
Although Littleton prides itself on its open-mindedness, the culture that is largely perpetuated by AP and IB students encourages cutthroat competition for the top spots in the class and the title of valedictorian. The phenomenon can lead students to take as many weighted classes as possible and can result in added pressure for students to perform at an extremely high level for four years.
Mr. Puchino, a counselor here at Littleton, describes what he calls the “GPA game,” which he defines as “trying to negotiate what classes to take, what classes to take pass/fail, what honors level,”
In prioritizing weighted classes, students can fall into patterns of neglecting fine arts classes or taking non-weighted classes pass/fail to maximize the benefit on their GPA.
“I think that because we don’t offer a weighted class, that people are more deterred from taking it because they want to get a higher GPA,” said Ms. Taylor, who has taught choir at Littleton since 2019.
Taylor expressed her full support for the transition away from valedictorian recognition, stating that although hard work should be rewarded, there are other ways to go about doing that.
“If you worked hard enough to earn a certain GPA I just think that you should definitely be recognized for that which is why I like the Latin system,” said Taylor.
The system she refers to is used in most collegiate institutions and gives students titles of cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude depending on the GPA earned while enrolled at the respective institution. Although Littleton provides the titles of honors, high honors, and highest honors, our continued recognition of valedictorian and salutatorian still maintains the culture that isn’t always summative of all student experiences.
Wynn Smith, an IB junior, was one of the top students in the class of 2023 during their freshman year. Smith’s disability led them to switch to the TOPS program to prioritize their safety when the pandemic first started.
“I didn’t really have much of a choice as to whether or not I could join TOPS because of my disability. I was immunocompromised and I still am so it wasn’t safe for me to be at school without a vaccine. I was kind of forced into it and they didn’t tell me that they had such limited honors or IB classes and it’s kind of set me back a bit,” said Smith.
Although they’ve faced significant obstacles in achieving a class rank reflective of the work they’ve put into school, Smith remains unfettered in pursuing their IB Diploma, consistently performing far beyond the level expected of a junior.
“I don’t think it would have been safe for me to be at school even with the restrictions we had,” said Smith. “But I do regret what it did to my GPA and my class rank. I don’t think I got a very good value of education last year,”
So, although class rank may be an indicator of academic achievement, the lack of nuance in the assessment of a student’s ability may lead to reductive reasoning. The emphasis placed on having a high GPA and strong test scores can deter students from enriching their lives through pursuing passions or extracurricular activities that give colleges a sense of their emotional intelligence and overall profile. And even disregarding the benefit that non-academic activities can have on a college application, participation in events and clubs outside of school enables students to explore interests that aren’t typically catered to in the average high school course sequence.
In regard to the occasionally intense lifestyles of students who take on as many honors or IB classes as they can, Taylor noted that
“It makes your high school career not as enjoyable because you’re trying to take all these weighted classes to earn that ranking. There’s other cool things you could be doing,”
Senior Gwen Fitzsimmons, who will soon graduate as the valedictorian for the class of 2022, noted that class rank may give students a competitive edge when applying to college.
“I know in the past people have taken classes pass/fail to improve their GPA,” said Fitzsimmons in regard to the culture surrounding ‘grade-grabbing’.
“However, I’m not sure if it would be a good idea for Littleton to eliminate class rank completely, as colleges consider it and it’s a good way for students to show that they are taking hard classes and doing well at school,”
GPA and class rank can demonstrate a student’s ability to flourish in academic settings in spite of advanced coursework. However, notes Puchino, due to the variation in course offerings across the United States, colleges may opt to view a student’s unweighted transcript to fully assess their performance. In other words, the high weighted GPA coveted by many AP and IB students might not even come up in the admissions process.
“The shift is almost heading into colleges unweighting a student’s transcript and comparing apples to apples,” said Puchino. “I think if colleges do a better job at getting the information out that they do that, it’ll relieve some of the pressure from families as well to not worry that much about it.”
Littleton High School and Littleton Public Schools have not released any official statements regarding future plans to recognize or abolish the title of valedictorian, and the honor rolls remain posted in the counseling office indefinitely. But as rates of mental health issues continue to rise among teenagers, the consideration of class rank’s validity will remain ever-relevant to the Littleton community.