Communicating News and Accomplishments During a Pandemic
Principals are considered the leader of a school building. We are where the proverbial “buck” stops and face more than a few challenges to make sure that everyone has access to important need-to-know information.
It’s a challenge, but Springfield teachers and my fellow building administrators have all set high standards for communication with students, families and colleagues. To be honest, I don’t ever remember a time in my career when I sent out so many messages. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to do it—I just worry about overwhelming our “audience” with too much.
I am writing this week to make sure that the time and space needed to address immediate needs doesn’t outweigh interesting details about some of the exciting changes that will happen—one in particular that addresses class rank.
Before I came back to Springfield High School as principal (the policy was adopted in April, 2016), the board of education passed a motion to enact a new system of class ranking that is effective for the Class of 2024 (our current sophomore class).
The language in the policy states, “The board of education acknowledges the usefulness of a system of computing grade point averages and class ranking for high school students, both to inform students of their relative academic placement among their peers and to provide students, prospective employers and institutions of higher learning with a predictive device so that each student is more likely to be placed in an environment conducive to success.”
Currently, recognition is given to those students whose cumulative grade point averages place them numerically from one to 10 with the student possessing the highest GPA being considered as the class valedictorian and the next as salutatorian.
It was the high school administration that proposed the new system, known to us as the Latin honor system: summa cum laude, 4.25 and above; magna cum laude, 4.0 to 4.24; cum laude, 3.75 to 3.99, and honors, 3.25 to 3.74.
We look forward to implementing this new structure and for the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the academic excellence of many more deserving Springfield High School students.
