High school may drop valedictorians, salutatorians at graduation

MISHAWAKA, Ind. — An Indiana high school is considering dropping valedictorians and salutatorians at future graduation ceremonies, opting instead for a system that recognizes more students for academic success, the South Bend Tribune reported.

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The student government at Penn High School in Mishawaka is seeking a policy that calls for a Latin commencement at graduation, the newspaper reported. Under that system, students would be honored as summa cum laude (4.25 grade-point average and higher), magna cum laude (4.0 to 4.24) and cum laude (3.75 to 3.99), the Tribune reported.

Class rankings would no longer be included on students' transcripts and report cards, WSBT reported.

The proposal was outlined by Penn Principal Sean Galiher during a school board meeting Monday night, the Tribune reported. The board has not set a timetable for voting on the proposal, which would take effect with the Class of 2023 -- students who will be entering the ninth grade in the 2019-2020 school year, the newspaper reported.

Tingyi Lu, a senior at Penn, said the new policy would relieve academic pressure.

"Students feel the pressure to achieve more and take a course load with more than they're capable of doing," Lu told the Tribune. "Students are taking more advanced courses instead of fine arts and business courses because they aren't weighted as highly … A lot of my friends are staying up late at night to study. Some have quit band, orchestra and choir."

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