Kaneland High keeping valedictorian status, but adding other honors

The Kaneland High School Class of 2022 will have a valedictorian and a salutatorian, the school board decided.

The school district will also recognize students' academic achievements by instituting a Latin honors system, where students can graduate summa cum laude (with highest honor), magna cum laude (with great honor) or cum laude (with honor).

Valedictorian and salutatorian are the top two students in a class, based on their grade-point averages. Determining that relies heavily on weighted grades and taking enough weighted-grade classes to maintain the highest GPA, according to a report from a graduation committee the district established last year.

A Latin honors system would reward all students who earn certain GPAs. It could end up honoring 10 to 20 percent of a graduating class, according to the committee's report.

A summa cum laude honoree would have to have a GPA of 4.1 or higher; magna cum laude, 4.0 to 4.09; and summa cum laude, 3.9 to 3.99.

For example, if it were applied to the current senior class, 12 students would receive the top honor, 15 students the second and 20 students the third, according to the report. There are about 325 students in the class, according the school's state report card.

The graduation committee likes the "fixed target" the Latin honor system sets for students, and believes it encourages students to compete with themselves, not with other students.

Board President Teresa Graue Witt said she did not want to abandon the valedictorian/salutatorian system as long as the high school continues to calculate a class rank and report it to colleges.

Board member Pedro Rivas also questioned discouraging competition.

"The reality beyond these walls is very competitive," he said.

The Geneva, Batavia, Huntley and St. Charles districts use a Latin honors system. DeKalb, Sycamore, Burlington and Yorkville districts still have valedictorians and salutatorians.