As seniors,  class ranking—which ranks all students in a graduating class, first to last, according to our grade point averages— has been on our transcripts since freshman year, and the Class of ’23 will graduate with a valedictorian, a salutatorian and the Top Ten students in the senior class. 

But that may be coming to an end. 

The Pembroke Academy Learning Team (PALT) is considering  switching to The Latin honors system, which is designed to acknowledge those who maintain a high GPA without class rank.  Adding this new system would acknowledge all students for their academic accomplishments, not just the ten students with the highest GPA throughout high school.

It might encourage students to try harder if they have a chance of being recognized.

“With the current top ten model, our students’ ranks are within a hundredth or thousandth of a point,” the director of curriculum Ms. Parkison said.

Due to the closeness in ranking, students are  choosing to drop classes or not take ones they are interested in to maintain their class rank. However, the Latin honors is designed to  allow students to receive recognition for their  accomplishments without  the anxiety of being included in the Top Ten. 

There is no set date for when this decision will be discussed, but the PALT  is looking to make this decision by the end of this school year.

For some students, the decision can’t come soon enough.

“Class rank is truly unnecessary,” said senior Pressley Frazier. “It makes us compete and stress over a number that is insignificant to your character and school work. It is a toxic game made to compare students.”