William Tennent High School Class Rank and GPA

WTHS Class of 2013 Currently the graduating class is not ranked. There are 3 levels of distinction for the graduating class: 3.9+= Summa Cum Laude (~98%) 3.6+= Magna Cum Laude (~92%) 3.3+= Cum Laude (~86%)

Current Issues At WTHS, we do not have a numerical rank which has translated into us not having a valedictorian or salutatorian. Historically: Rank order was used to denote #1 and #2 in the class. GPA calculation was done at the end of the 3rd marking period of their senior year.

Current Issues: Graduation This year’s class, currently 4 students are summa cum laude and will sit on stage. Historically: Top 25 students in the class were honored during Awards Night and in addition, sat on the stage during graduation.

Current Issues The current classes at WTHS do not receive a graded weight for Honors, only for Advanced Placement classes. Historically: Students received equal weight for Honors and Advanced Placement courses of 1 quality point on a 5.0 scale. Example: 100% in academic= 5 quality points 100% in Honors or AP class= 6 quality points

Current Issue Transcripts of students graduating this year do not have class rank or percentile distinction. In addition, the various levels of cum laude will also not be present on the transcript. Historically: Class Rank was denoted on the transcripts for the graduating class of 2012 and prior.

Current Actions If a college is requiring a rank, we have been able to provide them a percentile rank. Top 1%, Top 5%, Top 10% and Top 20%.

Current Actions For any other internal reasons such as for scholarships, we can calculate a rank for the students. We are currently working under the Top 1%, Top 5%, Top 10% for these opportunities. Students are still not provided a rank or percentile if this information is needed. If needed by a college or a scholarship is requiring this information we have/will provide that information to the organization or school.

Future Plans In the fall of 2013, WTHS will be forming a small group of stakeholders from the staff to evaluate current practices regarding GPA and class rank while comparing and analyzing a group of surrounding school districts and how they address these topics.

Future Plans We will be collecting data on: GPA Scales Class Rank or Level of Distinctions Weighting of Course Levels Graduation Requirements Class Schedules

Data Collection Districts Central Bucks Council Rock Hatboro Horsham Neshaminy Palisades Pennsbury Methacton Upper Moreland North Penn Pennridge