Why do only students who can make the grade deserve a spot in the newspaper?

Each student is capable of logging into his or her Powerschool account and viewing whether or not they made honor roll.  Why must it be publicized?

Some students need the potential public victory or shame as motivation to perform in school.  Parents, of course, love seeing their child’s name printed.

In my opinion, there is more potential harm than benefit to posting a list outside the office and in local newspapers of every person’s name who, by certain standards, is excelling academically.

What about those who do not meet those standards? I made the high honor roll every term in freshman year, but come sophomore year, I was no longer on the high honor roll.  Soon, Wicked Local published the list of every student on the various types of honor rolls and a friend asked why my name wasn’t under the category for high honors.  As someone who already puts enough pressure on myself, I didn’t need the external questioning of my qualifications.

All students who attend the high school are challenged academically in their own way.  Our class offerings are only college preparatory, and over 70% of last year’s graduating class had a GPA over 3.5 in addition to half of the senior students taking AP exams last May. 98% if the class of 2014 went to college. Outside traditional metrics of academic success, we all achieve in our own way.

The honor roll only showcases a distinguished type of performance. In my opinion, our school contains many excellent performing arts students, visual arts students, athletic students and students who stand out in other realms that are not calculated into their GPA and grades.  

The high school does not post a list of students’ names outside the office with everyone who made honor roll, which they used to do, and that is a step in the right direction. If any student is able to independently view whether or not they made honor roll on Powerschool, and parents can do the same, there is no need to publicize the list.  Anyone who wants to share their academic information can do so based on their own will, and those who choose to retain privacy can do so as well.  If the community does not have the right to view individual students’ GPAs, whether a student made high honors, honor roll, or honorable mention, should remain confidential as well.

(Natasha Ladhani ’16, Editor-in-Chief)

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