• Valedictorian/Salutatorian Selection Criteria for Othello High School Valedictorian/Salutatorian Policy

    The Class of 2016 was the first year of the criteria with freshmen and sophomore years being “grandfathered” in as “4’s” (weights/score ratings explained below).  The Class of 2017’s freshmen year will be “grandfathered” as “4’s”.  Full criteria will begin with the Class of 2018.

    At Othello High School, we will impart to our student(s) who merit the highest academic honor of the titles of Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and top ten with the following criteria:

    • Grade point average of overall high school academic experience and performance;
    • Academic performance with a weighted system, while meeting our state and local graduation requirements, in our core academic areas of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Regular courses will be weighted with a score rating of “4”. Honors courses will be weighted with a score rating of “5”. Advanced Placement, Eastern Washington University, and University of Washington courses will be weighted with a score rating of “6”.
    • Running Start courses taken off-campus in the four core areas will be weighted as a “4” in any remedial course. The rest of the Running Start core classes will be scored at a “5” or “6” depending on the rigor of the course, to be determined on a case by case basis. This will be done in collaboration with respective departments, counseling office, and administration.
    • The 4, 5, 6 score ratings will be used with a conversion table according to the letter grade received.  The courses in our core areas will be rated as follows:
      • English
        • 4 points
          • English 9, 10, 11, 12
        • 5 points
          • Honors English 9, 10
        • 6 points
          • EWU 101 - College English 11
          • EWU 170 - College English 12
          • UW English 131/AP English Language
          • AP English Literature
      • Math
        • 4 points
          • Algebra 1
          • Geometry
          • Algebra 2
          • Algebra 3
        • 5 points
          • Pre-Calculus
        • 6 points
          • AP Calculus
          • AP Statistics
      • Science
        • 4 points
          • Biology
          • Earth Science
          • Physical Science
        • 5 points
          • Honors Biology
          • Physics/Engineering
          • Anatomy & Physiology
          • Chemistry
        • 6 points
          • Biology 3
          • AP/EWU Biology 100
          • AP/EWU Environmental Science
          • UW Chemistry 2
      • Social Studies
        • 4 points
          • World History
          • U.S. History
          • CWP
          • Civics
        • 5 poins
          • Honors U.S. History
        • 6 points
          • UW Psychology 101
          • EWU Government 100
          • EWU History 110
          • AP World History
          • AP U.S. History
          • AP United States Government

    • The conversion table to be used for the letter grade received with our weighted courses is as follows: