This school year is the beginning of a new era for Coronado High School as the school has decided to change the change the student ranking system, starting with the Class of 2021, after decades using the same model. Coronado will now be using the college student ranking model instead of the valedictorian model. The Latin model of student ranking divides itself into three tiers: cum laude (top 25%-30%), magna cum laude (top 10%-15%),and summa cum laude (top 1%-5%) while the previous model divides itself into valedictorian, salutatorian, and everyone else. Both models rely on weighing Grade Point Average (G.P.A) to determine the placement of students into the categories. With the previous model Coronado was using, the valedictorian was the person with the highest G.P.A, and the salutatorian was the person with the second highest GPA, while the college model separate students by percentiles rather than ranking.

According to our principal, Mr. Smith ,the reason for Coronado’s decision to change the student ranking system after so long was because “what determines the valedictorian is a very small difference in G.P.A–effectively splitting hairs. It forces students to put drive before education because they have to choose A.P. courses rather than the courses they want [to take]”

The student with the 4.5 GPA will become valedictorian rather than the student with the 4.455 GPA, although, by that point, the only thing separating the two students is circumstance rather than determination. Maybe the first student skipped taking gym or took an elective based solely on its status as an honors class; both students are equally dedicated to their academic life, but the system does not reflect that.

Kyle Michel, the valedictorian for Coronado’s 2017 graduating class, in his graduation speech, spoke about how his esteemed position was “solely as a result of [his] GPA…and [had] played a sizeable role in suppressing passion” for his fellow students.

Mr. Smith echoed Michel’s sentiment and says that changing the student ranking model was partially out of the hope “that it will increase student morale and make Coronado a more positive environment.”

Michel promotes in his speech the idea that education should teach students that “individual passion and interest dictates success, not grades,” and that this more balanced approach “offers intellectual excellence, without compromising the student’s ability to enjoy their adolescent lives.”

The Latin ranking system relieves the anxiety of the mad scramble to collect credits and provides new course opportunities to students who otherwise thought that they could not afford to pursue their passions. Through changing the system, Coronado’s academic environment will hopefully improve by making high school a more enjoyable place, students’ minds are more open and eager to learn.