Keep graduation rankings or eliminate them?  A survey sent to the school community reveals a bigger conversation about competition, stress and what success should look like in high school.  Rankings such as valedictorian and salutatorian have been around for years. Ranks are based on the grade point average (GPA) of each student in the graduating class. Valedictorian is the first rank; the valedictorian will receive enhanced college admission prospects, prestigious recognition for academics, and potential full-ride/merit-based scholarships. Salutatorian will receive the chance to deliver the welcoming speech at graduation, and you get an honorable sustained academic excellence. Afterwards, ranks are numbered starting from three through the remaining students.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, rankings began gaining popularity among high schools around 1877. The first high school in Colorado to use the ranking system was Denver East High School. Soon after, the trend spread throughout the state and became competitive among students. 

“I’d say that class ranks are fun and keep school competitive, so we should definitely keep them,” Justin Leugers ‘27 said. 

RCHS began using ranks in 2007 with the first graduating class. This tradition has been a controversial topic within all grades.

“I wouldn’t take away ranks because if the people that got the ranks deserved them, then that’s an achievement to be proud of or a goal to work towards; taking away ranks can also limit people,” Charlotte Smith ‘29 said.

 If rankings hold such a high popularity for students, why would terminating their use be on the table? Over the last few years, graduation rankings have lost popularity within some college boards and, in some cases, don’t carry as much weight on the students’ applications. 

Some colleges, such as MIT and Stanford, have said that they are more interested in how the applicant fits in with the school’s culture rather than how highly they were ranked in their graduating class. “When they apply for colleges, universities, at our school, our school is much more competitive and more academically advanced than a lot of other schools across the nation that if you were to say, in 197 in my class out of 500 a school might say, oh, we’re not going to accept you, even though you would have a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA)” Principal Andy Abner said.

 “I think taking away ranks would be a good idea so more people have the opportunity to get an education rather than the smartest people getting a better chance,” Alexis George ‘28 

said. “I know some colleges don’t take rankings into account, but for those who do, it can be unfair to other students looking to apply.”

The topic has been highly debated and talked through, and a decision has been made. “We’ll still have a salutatorian, we’ll still have a valedictorian, we will still have students’ GPA’s and all that stuff. Lots of students, especially those who are in the top, will still probably compete and talk about where they are and all that kind of stuff. But overall, what we’re hoping is that it would help some of our students who do very well at school here still get into some of the schools that they want to get into,” Principal Andy Abner said.