Beginning with the Class of 2013, the Rockwood School District will recognize graduates with the following designations (weighted): cum laude (3.5), magna cum laude (3.75) and summa cum laude (4.0).
All Rockwood high schools will follow this new standard for academic recognition and eliminate the prior class ranking system beginning in May 2013. The Board of Education approved the new academic recognition in May 2011 in an effort to increase post-secondary and scholarship opportunities for our students.
Increase opportunities: Students from different high schools around the state and nation may have the same class rank – but students may have selected vastly different courses, earned different grades, and experienced different levels of competition for those grades. With the new academic recognition standards, universities will consider students on a more individual basis, rather than with the numbers of rank and test scores. Research indicates that colleges work to consider the student in comparison to all other incoming students, and not just to students within one high school.
Improve high school experience: With the new academic recognition standards, high school students may be more focused on the educational value of their class selection, rather than the weight of the course as it impacted their class ranking. Students will be encouraged to take a broader range of coursework, with less focus on attaining a “top 10” class ranking, in order to earn recognition for their performance.
Please note: The 2012-2013 high school course description guides incorrectly designated the academic recognition of graduates based on “unweighted” grades. The correct designation is “weighted” as noted above.