You're Not the Only Valedictorian

Though we typically think of a valedictorian as the single brainiest student in the class, some high schools are bucking that trend this year by awarding the top honor to multiple students. As the race to get accepted into top colleges becomes increasingly cutthroat, more and more schools have decided to forgo having just one valedictorian with the highest grade-point average, especially when that fraction of a point can make all the difference in college admissions. Some have developed complicated formulas to devise who should get the top honors, and Harrison High School in Westchester, New York, declared the top 13 students as graduating “summa cum laude” instead of naming them all valedictorian. Clearly, not all schools are concerned with using the exact definition of valedictorian anymore: One suburban Houston school awarded 30 students the honor this year.