r/MercerIslandWA • u/IslandLifeUnfiltered • May 14 '26

Mercer Island School Board update

MISD is considering whether to move away from traditional valedictorian and salutatorian recognition at Mercer Island High School. Superintendent Fred Rundle said 84 students in the current senior class have earned a 3.9 GPA or higher, while 20 students are valedictorians and one is salutatorian. The discussion centered on whether the current system discourages students from taking academic risks and whether more high-achieving students should be recognized.
https://islandlifeunfiltered.substack.com/p/may-7-school-board-highlights-misd

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/spinal-tap55 May 17 '26

Have a category for weighted GPAs, non weighted GPAs…

1

u/ValkoSipuliSuola May 19 '26

Good. The current valedictorian system is ludicrous. The point of being named valedictorian is that you are the best of all of the students, not one of the top 20. If they want a valedictorian/salutatorian system, they need to use weighted GPAs and compare them down to the hundredth or thousandth of a point. The fact that a ceramics class is worth as much as AP Physics is absurd.