CLASS RANK / HIGHEST RANKING STUDENT

The top ten percent of the graduating class qualifies for automatic admission to public Texas universities under education code 51.803. The top twenty-five percent of the graduating class qualifies for automatic admission.

Grades 9th-11th

Class ranking for Freshmen-Junior students shall be calculated by averaging semester grades earned in their high school career, and any high school course taken in eighth grade for which a student earned graduation credit and is a class that figures in the ranking. The numeric semester average shall earn grade points according to Cooper ISD’s weighted scale. The final ranking for 9th-11th graders will be calculated and reported after the end of the school year when all grades are complete.

SENIORS

Class ranking for senior students shall be calculated by averaging semester grades earned in grades 9-12 and any high school courses taken in eighth grade for which a student earned graduation credit and is a class that figures into the ranking. The numeric semester average shall earn grade points according to Cooper ISD’s weighted scale. The final senior ranking will be determined using the cumulative grades through the 5th six weeks of their senior year.

Valedictorian/Salutatorian H.S.

The valedictorian and salutatorian shall be the eligible students with the highest and the second highest rankings as determined by Cooper ISD’s class ranking procedure (the highest cumulative grade average in the weighted system) and who completes the Distinguished Program. To qualify to give the valedictorian or salutatorian speech at graduation, a student shall not have engaged in any serious misconduct violation of the Student Code of Conduct, including removal to a DAEP, a three-day suspension, or expulsion during their senior year. All speeches will be reviewed by designated school personnel.

In case of a tie, the valedictorian/salutatorian shall be chosen according to the following criteria:

1. Compute the weighted grade average to a sufficient number of decimal places until the tie is broken.

2. If a tie still remains, the student with the highest numerical grade average of all Dual Credit courses taken shall be the valedictorian/salutatorian.

3. If a tie still remains, compare the students’ scores on college entrance tests (if all the tying students have taken the same tests).

To be eligible for valedictorian or salutatorian honors, a student must:

1. Be an honor graduate: and

2. Have been continuously enrolled in the District high school for the four semester’s immediately preceding graduation.

The third ranking honor graduate will be allowed to participate in the commencement exercise.

Eligibility for Honor Graduates

Achieve a 4 year average of 90 or above in the Advanced/Distinguished Achievement Program.

Distinguished Graduates

Students are required to take at least 4 classes that count as advanced measures to be considered as a distinguished graduate. Those classes include:

US History DC

Government DC

US History CC (College credit — this is technically the first half of the US History DC)

Texas Government

Spanish 1411, 1412

Spanish 2311, 2312

College Algebra

English 1301, 1302

English 2321

History 2321

Humanities 1315