Warsaw Community High School Makes Changes To Dated System
WARSAW — Warsaw Community High School is making some changes to the grading and ranking system, as are many competitive districts around the state and nation. The first of such changes will be beginning with the class of 2020, WCS will move from the 12.0 GPA scale to the 4.0 scale. The majority of colleges and universities utilize the 4.0 scale and currently must convert any WCHS graduates to this scale.
Also, starting with the class of 2020, WCHS will be recognizing its top students through a system centered on the cum laude collegiate model. Through implementing this model, WCS will be able to recognize excellence within a graduating class past the previously utilized valedictorian and salutatorian awards model.
Students who are on track to receive an academic honors or technical honors diploma are eligible for consideration of the cum laude distinction.
“The course offerings at WCHS have exploded in the past five years,” stated Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent of Warsaw schools. “By following the example of the collegiate model, we will be able to honor the exemplary work of students in both traditional and non-traditional career paths. The opportunities for our students are so diverse and students are achieving to such high standards that it is important to honor their achievements.”
Last year in the class of 2016, 53 students earned a GPA higher than a 12.0.
Although Warsaw Community Schools is the first local corporation to adapt its student recognition model, numerous other districts have retired recognition of only the top two students in each graduating class – including school districts in Chicago, North Carolina, Kentucky and more regionally, schools such as Homestead High
School.
In addition, WCS will leave behind the practice of weighted grades. In the past, WCS students could take certain classes that were weighted more heavily than other courses due to increased rigor. This resulted in students prioritizing weighted classes to boost their GPA. Conversely, when classes are chosen solely to boost a GPA, other courses that might be of more interest to a student and his/her career path might have been ignored.
The cum laude structure in addition to moving away from weighted grades allows all students, not just the top two, the incentive to achieve during their high school career. These changes will help to remove unnecessary and sometimes unhealthy competition between classmates vying for the top two ranking positions.
“Our former system was not in alignment with our mission, which states that we will inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others,” explained Dani Barkey, chief accountability officer for WCS. “Under the old system, if students wanted to stay in the race for valedictorian/salutatorian, they might have had to forego classes that had more interest for them because they did not have weighted grades attached. The new system allows students to forego the “points game” and pursue a course of study that is relevant to each and every student.”
