Claymont officials considering new system for honoring top seniors
UHRICHSVILLE (WJER) (June 28, 2022) – Claymont’s high school principal is proposing a switch from the GPA ranking system the district uses to recognize its top graduating seniors to a three-tiered one that honors an unlimited number of high-achievers.
Amy Conn has asked the school board to adopt the Latin honor system in which students who meet certain criteria earn one of three distinctions – cum laude, summa cum laude, and magna cum laude. (She says it would allow students to pursue a wide range of interests and take more challenging courses without fear of harming their GPA to the point where they can’t earn honors.)
“The recognition of one student will not result in others not being recognized. It encourages the pursuit of a wide range of interests. So we want kids in our career-tech programs. We want them in our art classes, exploring other things, even if they’re not weighted classes. This would give them the leeway to do that without harming their GPA to the point where they can’t earn honors.”
The board meets again next Thursday evening and could vote on the change, which would begin with the school’s incoming freshmen.
“We would transfer to Latin Honors rather than selecting a valedictorian and salutatorian in that class and the classes coming after them. The senior class president would be given the opportunity to speak at graduation. And we have a tradition of a senior student writing a poem each year, and they could also present their poems. We could still have two students presenting.”
Districts in the area already using the Latin Honor System include Indian Valley, Tusky Valley, and New Philadelphia.