high school girl doesn't get to be valedictorian

[RaggedyAnn]

This is sad. Where was her guidance counselor? And why didn't he/she point this out to her parents? If it were my child, she would be taking a very light load of classes her senior year and would take some college level classes at the same time, if it meant she would get a free ride to college-though with her GPA, she probably is getting a scholarship and this is just because it's not fair. They should change the terminology to number of credits/classes taken, versus years for in the future.

And how exactly do you get a 5.898? What's the scale?

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

And how exactly do you get a 5.898? What's the scale?

She probably took a full load of AP courses and perhaps the school grades on some modified 5 point scale overall? Our HS scores AP coursework on a 5 point scale and non-AP on the regular 4 point scale, so GPAs rise accordingly.

Our district has elementary K-4, intermediate 5-6, middle 7-8 and high school 9-12. They even go so far in the intermediate school to keep the 5th and 6th grades in separate wings of the building, and they only interact during all-school assemblies. A neighboring district has 6th grade only buildings.

[Taualumna]

As I understand it, some places are getting rid of middle schools all together (I think Chicago is one of them), opting for K-8 for elementary and then high school (9-12).

Not sure if it's a great idea, unless the elementary schools have good facilities, especially for science classes...just a sink in the classroom won't do, IMHO, anyway. However, not all elementary schools are equipped.

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

As I understand it, some places are getting rid of middle schools all together (I think Chicago is one of them), opting for K-8 for elementary and then high school (9-12).

Not sure if it's a great idea, unless the elementary schools have good facilities, especially for science classes...just a sink in the classroom won't do, IMHO, anyway. However, not all elementary schools are equipped.

My old school district was like this. I personally think it is a bad idea. First off, 7-8 need a whole different set of rules than primary students do. Second, none of the schools in my former district are remotely able to accomodate for 7-8 students (meaning they don't have proper science labs, they don't have gyms for sports, etc...). I hate the "traditional" school approach.

It probably doesn't help my feelings when my former school the 7-8 graders got away with murder, they would cuss out teachers and be sent back to class, they wouldn't listen and follow directions to any teachers on the campus and the primary students saw this. It was very hard as a 1st than a 3rd grade teacher trying to tell my students what are proper ways to behave and then they saw these students that they looked up too, both figuratively and literally, behaving wretchedly. My former AP didn't really believe in discipline. Kids could have 10 referrals in a week and they would get a slap on the wrist. My principal had a much more strict sense of discipline but he actually told me, when I complained about the issues, that he didn't want to step on the AP's toes.

Those examples are why I don't like the K-8 schools, because most that I've seen are run exactly like this, no discipline, slaps on the wrists.

When I was in school I went to a k-6, 7-8 and then a 9-12. In AZ, depending on the district, there are still middle schools/junior highs around (which I'm glad). When I have kids, unless things change in the K-8 realm, I don't want them going to a K-8 setting.

[AOIIBrandi]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

This is sad. Where was her guidance counselor? And why didn't he/she point this out to her parents? If it were my child, she would be taking a very light load of classes her senior year and would take some college level classes at the same time, if it meant she would get a free ride to college-though with her GPA, she probably is getting a scholarship and this is just because it's not fair. They should change the terminology to number of credits/classes taken, versus years for in the future.

And how exactly do you get a 5.898? What's the scale?

I would think with her GPA and possibly her socio-economic background (I don't know what it is) she will end up getting a free ride either way.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by AOIIBrandi

I would think with her GPA and possibly her socio-economic background (I don't know what it is) she will end up getting a free ride either way.

Why would you say this?

FWIW, the district that she lives in is considered upper middle class, and portions of that area would qualify as upper class.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by AOIIBrandi

I would think with her GPA and possibly her socio-economic background (I don't know what it is) she will end up getting a free ride either way.

So "ethnic name" = "minority-based scholarships?"

i disagree with Sen. I think she should totally fight it. There are thousands of kids who are finishing HS in less than 4 years, by taking an extra class here and there, and some schools let AP classes replace certain requirements. A valedictorian being able to earn that title on the basis of 4 years. It's almost like the school board is implying that if the student HAD taken all of her courses over 4 years, she wouldnt have such a high GPA.

I think this is reflective of the academic culture before all of this. I dont think she should just "get over it." There must be something personal going on. And is this common, valedictorians getting a full ride just because they were #1? Or is this Texas-specific?

[AOIIBrandi]

Originally Posted by tld221

So "ethnic name" = "minority-based scholarships?"

Absolutely not. Why does it always have to jump to race? I was trying to say I do not know her cultural, religious, economic... background. All I know is her GPA (I didn't even really pay attention to her name - would have guessed she was of middle eastern discent). But we all know that there are scholarships made available to people for things other than grades, or in conjunction with them. It could be a scholarship through her church, cultural heritage, an organization she or her parents belong to, her parents income... This is why I said I didn't know what it was, nor do I really care.

From her grades she seems to be an extremely smart girl. It sucks that she will not get to be valedictorian (I do think they should try to fight it), but I think she will be all right either way as far as funding college.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by AOIIBrandi

Absolutely not. Why does it always have to jump to race? I was trying to say I do not know her cultural, religious, economic... background. All I know is her GPA (I didn't even really pay attention to her name - would have guessed she was of middle eastern discent). But we all know that there are scholarships made available to people for things other than grades, or in conjunction with them. It could be a scholarship through her church, cultural heritage, an organization she or her parents belong to, her parents income... This is why I said I didn't know what it was, nor do I really care.

From her grades she seems to be an extremely smart girl. It sucks that she will not get to be valedictorian (I do think they should try to fight it), but I think she will be all right either way as far as funding college.

OK fair enough. History convinces me that when it comes to debates of education, here's bound to be a race element. In this story no one is even going to think about mentioning it, but in my mind, its there.

I just find it hard to believe that the school never thought about this scenario. And while this student may get a boatload of other scholarships for her accolades, the sheer fact that being named the best is being denied to her--that alone to me has potential to have racial undertone, or even sexist. It could totally not, of course.

[alum]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

This is sad. Where was her guidance counselor? And why didn't he/she point this out to her parents? If it were my child, she would be taking a very light load of classes her senior year and would take some college level classes at the same time, if it meant she would get a free ride to college-though with her GPA, she probably is getting a scholarship and this is just because it's not fair. They should change the terminology to number of credits/classes taken, versus years for in the future.

And how exactly do you get a 5.898? What's the scale?

It is the parents' and child's responsibility to read the handbook that explains policy and procedures. It is not up to the counselor to handhold every family and explain every policy in the book. However, if the family HAD read the policies and asked for an explanation the coundelor would have had to elaborate or get the parents some POCs of higher-ups in the school system.

We had to learn this the hard way regarding our oldest. Our child went to the same hs for 9th, 10th, 12th and the first 1/2 of 11th. The second 1/2 of 11th, she was serving on the Hill and went to the US House of Reps Page School in the LoC. She had 3 APs at her base hs during her 1st semester of 11th grade and continued the courses at the highest level that the Page school offered. The highest level was called Honors and not AP. She also took the corresponding AP exams in May and scored 5s on all 3. Our school system would not grant her AP weighted averages for these 3 classes despite the fact that she had scored a perfect score on the exams AND the fact that she had started the coursework in our school system. So she only got 4.0s for those 3 classes instead of 4.5s . Our school system doesn't grade-weight Honors classes, only AP/IB.


If she has maxed out the AP offerings at her high school where apparently an A gets you 6 points, an A in a regular class is just going to lower her GPA.

I'm not familiar with TX public unis so I don't know if they give merit-based schols to instaters. I have heard that only the top 10% of TX high schoolers are admitted to UT Austin. So if you are in the 11th percentile at Great High School and you have stellar SATs and ECs, you still may be denied admission to give a spot to the 5th percentile kids from Bad High School with lousy SATs and ECs. Perhaps Srmom can elaborate

I live in VA and neither UVA nor W&M have merit-based scholarships for instaters. There are Monroe Scholars but unfortunately there is no money attached to the honor. Jefferson Scholars is a UVa program to attract OOSers to Charlottesville. W&M has corresponding programs.

Ironically, my dad had sent me a copy of this article a couple of days ago. Many decades ago my father graduated from a competitive Boston-suburb public high school in 3 years and headed off to MIT at the ripe old age of 16. He also didn't speak English until he came to the USA when he was 8 so he had some catchup to do. He was not allowed to be valedictorian despite his GPA being the best of the class ahead of him. The lack of val status didn't phase him in the long run and certainly didn't affect his career in any way. However, the fact that he actually sent me the link indicates to me that some twinge may have resurfaced.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by alum

I have heard that only the top 10% of TX high schoolers are admitted to UT Austin. So if you are in the 11th percentile at Great High School and you have stellar SATs and ECs, you still may be denied admission to give a spot to the 5th percentile kids from Bad High School with lousy SATs and ECs.

Close.

If you are in the top 10% you are guaranteed admission to a UT-system school of your choice. Currently, UT Austin is the choice of so many that a very, very high percentage of admissions must go to these individuals. (I don't believe they envisioned this when the rule was created). However, there are some spots left for stellar students that may happen to be from very competitive high schools.

The concept remains controversial for the reason that you mention. The counter argument is that it gives opportunity for the kids from inner city or rural schools who may not otherwise have the chance to get into UT.

[tld221]

and furthermore...

So at graduation ceremonies, 18-year-old Tyler Scott Franklin of Colleyville will be the Grapevine High School valedictorian.

Anjali will be "Valedictorian – Three-Year."

District officials said the title was created for this situation.

This is TOTAL crap. I'd be pulling all SORTS of race cards. I dont give a damn. This girl is getting all sorts of supplementary awards to make her feel better about--gasp--actually doing better than this guy who completed his work in the regular timeframe.

And the article says

State officials say it is the local school district's responsibility to determine the highest ranking student, and the state has no authority to get involved.

Again, CRAP. Convienent that no one has solutions for this young woman and everyone--the state, the local district, the principal and the guidance counselor--is just like "oh well. here's a cookie." and even more convienent that this school has "never had a situation like this." Whatever man. i SO call bs.

[SydneyK]

It's a shame that this girl was advised by her guidance counselor to complete early; that's a big goof on the counselor's part. Surely she (the counselor) would've looked into all the repurcussions before making such a suggestion. In fact, I find her bad advice to be more of a concern than the odd "four-year" policy.

I feel bad for Anjali, but the combination of a three year HS completion with a stellar GPA and a perfect ACT score leads me to believe she won't need the valedictorian title to secure a scholarship.

And while I feel badly for this student, I agree with Senusret. Policies are put in place for a reason, and in today's climate of helicopter parenting, I applaud the school for backing its policy instead of bending to appease disgruntled parents. Perhaps this will be a springboard for changing the policy (since this type of situation is not the reason the policy was put in place) if that's what the school board thinks is best.

[33girl]

It's a stupid techincality in the way the district's policy is written. All they need to do is fix it (fix it, fix it - sorry too much Danity Kane last night LOL) to say the highest GPA is the valedictorian, period, and it'll be OK going forward.

Like B said in her original post, if the guy who was given the honor and didn't deserve it would man up and say she's the one who should get it, there wouldn't be an issue. But I guess that's a rather quaint concept nowadays.

[SoCalGirl]

Why not lower the percentage? The UC system guarnatees admission to the top 4% of CA high school graduates.