Dear Drury Students, Families, School Committee, and the North Adams Community,
The North Adams Public Schools and Drury High School would like to take a moment to address some confusion surrounding the recognition of our valedictorian and salutatorian, as well as the transition away from class rank at Drury in the future. As our senior class begins their final year at Drury, it’s important to clarify what’s happening—and what isn’t.
First, we are proud to continue honoring our students for their academic achievements. Class rank and the designation of a salutatorian and valedictorian for the Class of 2025 remain in place. Students will still be inducted into our esteemed honor societies—Pro Merito and Nu Sigma—and will be recognized as honors and high honors students during all future graduations. This includes the presentation of academic awards, honor stoles, and tassels which will continue to be worn by graduates to celebrate these significant accomplishments.
In addition to those recognitions, all students will wear pins on their “pin” stoles, recognizing their individual contributions during their time at Drury. These pins will acknowledge students who participated in Early College, Project-Based Learning, AP courses, internships, 21st Century programming, theater, art, band, as well as many other unique student achievements such as participating in athletics and clubs regardless of their final GPA. This new tradition ensures that every student is acknowledged for the distinctive ways they have enriched our school community.
Now, we do want to clarify that this year will be the final year we plan to officially report class rank. The recommendation to phase out class rank was made by the Drury School Council after public meetings in 2021 and 2022. This request to consider the elimination of class rank was brought to the Drury School Council by students and faculty members prior to the 2021 meeting. Membership for School Councils for each school in Massachusetts include the principal, parents, students, teachers, and community members.
According to Massachusetts statutory language for School Councils, Chapter 71, Section 59C,
“The school council, including the school principal, shall meet regularly and shall assist in the identification of the educational needs of the students attending the school, make recommendations to the principal for the development, implementation, and assessment of the curriculum accommodation plan required pursuant to section 38Q1/2, shall assist in the review of the annual school budget and in the formulation of a school improvement plan.”
The Drury School Council reviewed the challenges with the accuracy and reliability of class rank as a reportable measure of student success and the reasons the majority of high schools in the United States no longer use class rank. The Drury School Council voted to eliminate class rank at Drury in the spring of 2022.
The Drury High School leadership reviewed this recommendation and, wanting to ensure a gradual transition to this new approach recommended by the Drury School Council, presented to the North Adams School Committee in the summer of 2022 a revised Drury High School handbook. The 2022-2023 handbook included this language regarding the gradual elimination of class rank over multiple years: “Class rank at Drury will be phased out starting with the class of 2026. Current students in the classes of 2023-2025 will still be ranked and their rank will be determined at the end of their junior year.” This handbook change was highlighted at the public School Committee meeting by Drury leadership, along with other changes, such as the shift to a 4.0 grade scale, and the handbook was approved by the School Committee.
Even as class rank is planned to phase out for the Class of 2026 (our current Junior class), the student with the highest GPA in the Class of 2026 will still be recognized with the prestigious Academic Excellence Award through the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and we look to solicit student, family, faculty, and community input on the graduation recognitions for the Class of 2026 through the School Council process. Some schools without class rank continue to identify a valedictorian and salutatorian, while others provide an opportunity for students to vote for one graduation speaker while the faculty votes for another student speaker. Other schools use a combination of those approaches to celebrate student success.
To provide more context on the Drury School Council recommendation that was made in 2022, leading to the multi-year plan to phase out class rank as a reportable measure of student success starting with the Class of 2026, Drury leadership will present to the North Adams School Committee on October 1, 2024. This will be the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting at 6:00 pm in the Brayton Elementary School library.
Our commitment to celebrating academic excellence and honoring student achievements remains as strong as ever, and we’re excited about the new traditions we’re building together.
Annually the school solicits members to join the School Council, and if you would like to be considered for a School Council seat, please let me know.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to celebrating our incredible students at graduation every year and honoring all that they have achieved.
Warm regards,
Stephanie Kopala
Principal
Drury High School