The Upper Perkiomen School Board voted last week to eliminate the class rank system at the high school. Beginning for the Class of 2024, a team of professionals at the high school will determine the speakers at commencement, according to Assistant Superintendent Andrea Farina. She said during the Aug. 12 regular meeting that one would include a student of Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center.

            District officials will continue to calculate the ranking but will only disclose a student's rank, with parental consent, when requested by an institute of higher learning in connection with a scholarship.

            In March, administrators discussed the option of eliminating the system for the rising sophomores during a school board workshop meeting. Principal Rob Carpenter was in favor of the plan.  "The goal of the school is to develop talent," he said during the March 25 meeting. "Ranking students has nothing to do with developing talent."

            Elimination of the class rank would send a message that the district cares about them as students, according to Todd Amsler, an assistant principal at the high school. He said too many students take AP and Honors classes just to increase their rank rather than explore a curriculum of interest.  "We want to help students acturalerize their interests and achieve personal success," Amsler said.

            The administrator described the validity of a class rank as extremely questionable. Further, he said the desire to earn a higher rank may cause stress for students. Amsler argued that the course curriculum carries more weight than class rank in the college admissions process.
            The importance of class rank in the college admission process has declined significantly since 2007, according to information provided by Carpenter during his presentation. He told the board that students are separated in rank by miniscule differences in rank average, and that the validity of comparing students among various school districts is nonexistent.

            Upper Perkiomen currently ranks its students on a weighted system with a 4.0 GPA scale. According to Carpenter, students who earned an A or B in AP and Honors courses get increased weight in the ranking system. He said students can graduate with a 4.5 or 4.6 GPA because of that.

            According to Carpenter, it is difficult to fairly compare students because they don't all take the same classes from the same teachers. He said previously that the differences between the 15th ranked student and the 40th ranked are minimal.

            In personnel matters, the members approved the appointment of seven professional staff members for the upcoming school year. They include four temporary teachers – Judy Mendez, high school Spanish; Megan Famularo, fifth grade; Molly Hartley, high school/middle school Spanish/Cyber and Jenna Tyrrell, Autistic Support – as well as Crystal Swartz, a temporary Certified School Nurse.

            The board also voted to appoint Kathy Fehr and Marykate Raytek, both existing employees, as a Kindergarten Specialist Teacher (Discovery)/K-3 Instructionalist Coach at Hereford and Marlborough elementary schools, respectively. They also approved leave of absences for Brittany Saraceno, Kathleen Rambo, Danelle Rodgers and Sarah Rothermel.