Honor roll now determined by weighted GPA

by A.C. Brown ’10
News Editor

It is the first question asked when one gets their report card: “What’s your GPA?” and “Did you make Cum Laude?” For the past couple of years at McNamara, these two items were independent of each other with students receiving honors for their work through a combination of A’s, B’s, and C’s.

In past years, for Summa Cum Laude, students needed five grades of A with no grades below a B. For Magna Cum Laude, students needed four grades of A- and above with no grades below a B. Finally, for Cum Laude, students needed five grades of a B or higher with no grade below a C+. But now, this year honor roll will be determined by a student’s grade point average which has been long waited by students.

Jake Allegro ’11 said he likes the change, and would have liked it to have been done earlier.

Under the current system, for Summa Cum Laude, a student needs a GPA of 3.74 or higher. For Magna Cum Laude, students need a GPA of 3.39 to 3.74, and to make Cum Laude, a student needs a GPA of 3.0 to 3.39.

This change comes as a result of an annual review among teachers to help students. As Mindi Imes de Duclos ’96, the Assistant Principal for Academics, said, “to reach their potential.” But what if a students reaches this potential and still does not get recognized for their hard work? Peter Snow ’10 recalls getting a “3.9” for his GPA last year, but he had one C on his report card, so he did not get recognition.

This change will also help students at home when parents strive for their student to achieve awards of their academics. Peter recalls his parents asking the question, “Why didn’t you make honor roll?” Now, he will not have to face that question if his GPA remains around the 3.9 range.Ms. Imes de Duclos said the reasoning behind the change was to, “Help motivate students.” This new approach seems to be working based on the increase in amount of names on this year’s first quarter honor roll compared to last year’s first quarter honor roll. This year there were 587 names on the honor roll, but last year there were only 359 names. For the first time, Courtney Young ’10 has made Magna Cum Luade after three consecutive years of receiving Cum Laude honors. This is proof that giving honors based on GPA has increased the student’s ability to break barriers while feeling proud that their hard work paid off.