Basis Elem vs Knox Academy for a GT kid.

[KurtAZ]

Please also remember that Chandler schools already started. I am not sure what your timeline looks like but if you are moving this year, BASIS may be out of the question until next year. I think their lottery starts in December for 2020/2021?

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

CUSD is most?

Your false reasoning isn't accurate either.

There are problems with the valedictorian model. The head been addressed some by weighted GPAs, which is why the highest honors band for CUSD is between 4.5-5.0 GPA. The 3rd tier recognition barely allows anything under a 4.0, which was the max GPA not that long ago.

The issue isn't delicate sensibilities.

Kids are pushing more academically than any previous generation. They cover more ground and there are simply more kids at the top of the ladder where it isn't easy to distinguish with simple GPA.

We had this issue at my school 20+ years ago. Our valedictorian didn't have the highest GPA. There was a kid who doubled up in his junior year to graduate with my class a year early. Smart kid for sure. I think he only took 1 college level class though.

The kid who was part of our class took AP Bio and AP Physics as independent study. He had no breaks, great extracurricular activities and probably a dozen college level classes completed. With a minimal GPA difference he was absolutely our valedictorian..... even though technically he wasn't. We had no weighting back then.

Weighting has been around a while and some places think there are flaws there as well.

Since places address making changes.

It's not most though. Not even close. Not even remotely close.

It's also not for the crap reasoning you presented.

But again, whatever makes you feel better about yourself

KurtAZ is correct and so are you. The term "valedictorian" isn't used nearly as much in 2019 even when class rank is alive and well. I'm not going to attached a percentage to how many schools are bailing. The majority (simply breaking 50%) might be right. None of us know for sure unless we conducted a poll. So while the rack-and-stack is still commonly practiced specifically to help colleges admissions, schools refuse to announce it in public like graduations. IMO, there are are several key reasons:
1. It's easy to get wrong as to which student is "better" as often, the distribution is tight.
2. Lately, schools are too PC. They are worried about stepping on people's toes for all the wrong reasons.
3. Mental health (stress) reasons.
4. Some kids idiotically dodge tougher classes to get a better GPA. Or worse yet, they dodge the arts because people think it ruins their chance of getting a chance at the top valedictorian honor. Truly (street) smart kids can figure out solutions to these mathematical (weighted average) problems.

Re: reason #3. This school stopped because of mental health reasons https://local12.com/news/local/no-mo...ealth-concerns

So you are both right. I'll expand on why I think KurtAZ has a legitimate point. Back when I went to high school and with a class of 900+, they had 2 valedictorian's (a.k.a. a "tie" as defined by the school ) in weighted GPA and a few salutatorians. So in our case, the top 5 were called out to celebrate their accomplishments. When our son graduated in the exact same high school as I did, he was ranked #1 yet no call out was allowed at the graduation. In fact, he went to his principal and asked why they don't recognize rank. The answer was merely "we don't do that anymore" and when pushed, no explanation was given.

No system like academics has a perfect ranking. For that matter, many grades are subjective to begin with. In sports, a team could have an easier schedule and be in 1st place and win the title. So that wouldn't be "fair". Maybe they lost in a controversial call. Or maybe the team in 3rd place won the championship and a couple of key players were out of the "better" teams that lost. Therefore by definition, who is actually the best team may not win the crown. That's live; it isn't fair and never will be. Still, the "best team" (as defined by the rules of engagement ahead of time) is celebrated as it should be. So much so that pep rallies are customary when a HS sports team wins. Sport teams are always visually racked and stacked from the best to the worst for everybody to see and it is acceptable to do so. Personally, I find it odd that society frowns on racking and stacking brain power and academic prowess. It's hidden in the class room making sure no one feels bad.

Finger Laker. I obviously agree with you that one reason why schools dismantled the term valedictorians because is because it isn't perfectly fair when there are tight distributions on the top of the heap. So what! Like sports, rules can be fairer to limit the amount of "gaming" the system.

In our sons situation, the formula for ranking was easy to understand which gave three tier weighted points for classes based off of difficulty. Points were also given for quantity of classes/credits. Want more points? Then take some difficult college classes (paid for by MN) on evenings and weekends all the while you stay in and "easy class" like band.

In 2019, HS's are loosing their best and brightest to full time college often paid for by the State. Our kids went to college full time in 11th and 12th grade and it was used for HS graduation (duel enrollment). Unfortunately, that's not paid for in AZ and another reason why AZ schools have a disadvantage. Over 20% of MN high school students participate and it is growing every year. Not so surprising, high school administrators and teachers often are not happy when the top students leave. It dilutes the high school classroom brain power and the State refuses to pay twice (college and HS). So the HS loses revenue and that upsets administrators. Maybe we need to add #5 to the list: valedictorians no longer are announced at graduations because schools do not want to encourage students taking the most difficult college classes (off site and lost income) because it helps with their class rank to become a valedictorian.

[jmw51882]

As mentioned, schools are already starting for the 2019-2020 school year. Therefore, if you are planning to visit in a couple weeks, you will need to apply to the charter schools for the 2020-2021 school year. If choosing a public school, just make sure you chose to live within district boundaries.

With that said, my twins are starting kindergarten this year. We applied to multiple Basis and Great Hearts locations. They will be attending a highly ranked public school that is close to my work. I had to apply to this school as well since we don't live within the district boundaries.

The reasoning is complicated but goes something like this. There is a lottery for the charter school admissions. However, the policy is if one sibling is offered admission, any other siblings, including those in a different grade go to the top of the list. Every single charter school offered a spot to one of my children, but even after pushing the issue, the second child was never granted a spot.

Then the requests for money started. Great Hearts actually asked for donations at the initial tour before applications were even being accepted.