Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, Mira Costa will introduce a Latin honor system as a replacement for valedictorian and salutatorian status for graduating seniors. This new system is not as effective at honoring elite students for their achievements as it recognizes too many seniors, defeating the purpose of the elite reward in the first place.
Starting next year, Costa will be weighing Advanced Placement courses on a 5.0 scale. As a result, the administration will replace valedictorian, graduating seniors with an unweighted 4.0 grade point average, and salutatorian, students who earned all A’s and one B throughout their high school career, with Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude statuses.
Students with a weighted 4.0 and above will graduate with the Summa Cum Laude, students with a weighted 3.80 to 3.99 GPA will graduate Magna Cum Laude and students with a 3.50 to 3.79 will graduate Cum Laude. This new honor system is less effective at recognizing students than Costa’s current system as it acknowledges too many people, defeating the purpose of the recognitions as a whole.
Additionally, because a large number of the graduating class will now be acknowledged due to the vast range within the tiers, those who are not recognized will be singled out more easily. As a result, the attention at the ceremony will be focused on those who did not get recognized versus those who did.
According to Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale, the Latin honors system greatly appeals to parents, as the system will honor their children for their academic achievements. However, if too many students get recognized, this method could lessen the value of the most accomplished students in the grade, as they will blend in with the immense number of awardees.
Therefore, a better way to approach the Latin honors would be to modify the existing valedictorian system, instead of creating a new system, so that the students with the highest weighted GPA, rather than the highest unweighted, are valedictorian and the second highest are salutatorians.
This method would be more appealing than the Latin honors system as it would result in a much smaller number of students who are recognized at graduation, because the top students must now take multiple AP courses while still maintaining the highest possible Costa GPA in order to graduate with the highest ranking awards. As a result, those who graduate with an honor will feel more exceptional.
The implementation of the Latin honors system for the graduating 2015-16 seniors is a mistake as too many seniors will be recognized, which greatly devalues the value of receiving high honors upon the culmination of high school. This low barrier will serve to demean and demoralize those who are unable to earn the awards, as more students are now more likely to be honored for minor accomplishments.
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