Southwest leads pack in percentage of honor roll students

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BY JODI FUSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Erinn Walkenhorst is one of 870 on the Lincoln Southwest High School honor roll this semester. That makes the 2008 graduate part of a whopping 46 percent of students who made the grade at the south Lincoln school.

That is consistent with last year’s first- and second-semester honor roll average for Southwest, said Associate Principal Susette Taylor. The average last year was 45 percent.

At 40 percent, Lincoln East High School had the next highest percentage of students on the honor roll for the 2007-08 spring semester among LPS high schools.

LPS Director of Curriculum Barb Jacobson said the district office does not track honor roll percentages, but she noted that many factors play into differences at each school.

“It’s possible that family support and family backgrounds and circumstances play into student achievement,” she said.

Also, some families are able to provide more outside experiences for their children, such as Bright Lights classes during the summer.

Curriculum, Jacobson said, isn’t necessarily a factor.

“We have the same curriculum (across the district). We have the same rigorous standards for all of our kids.”

One thing that affects the number of students on the honor roll is how many of them take weighted classes, which include differentiated classes and Advanced Placement classes. Students in those classes earn a 5 for an A, versus a 4.

Grant Seiboldt, also a 2008 Southwest graduate, averaged a 3.8 GPA and made the honor roll each of his eight high school semesters without taking any differentiated or advanced placement classes.

He said he focused on getting A’s and B’s, not necessarily getting on the honor roll. Many of his friends are on the honor roll, too, although he said they don’t necessarily study together.

Last semester marked the fourth time Walkenhorst made the honor roll during her high school career.

“These teachers actually want to make sure you know everything about the curriculum,” she said of Southwest faculty members. “I think the teachers have a really big part in it.”

She also said she thinks her teachers kept a close eye on students, were quick to offer after-school help to those who needed it and were good at keeping everyone on track.

Walkenhorst did not take any differentiated or advanced placement classes and averaged a 3.5 grade point average, one of the honor roll requirements.

LPS students must be enrolled in 25 graded class hours — that means no pass/fail classes — each semester to be eligible for the honor roll.

But at Southwest, the only LPS high school that uses block scheduling, the requirement is 30 graded class hours because students can take eight classes per semester. A full load at other high schools is seven.

All LPS students must meet class load requirements and attain a 3.5 grade point average or higher to make the honor roll.

Jacobson said she hasn’t seen any research showing that block scheduling boosts grade points, but she thinks it could have an effect.

“There is a possibility that when kids have to focus on only four classes at a time they’re not so scattered.”

Students taking a full load can also be more likely to get on the honor roll, especially if they don’t do so well in one class but do well in another, Jacobson said.

Reach Jodi Fuson at 473-7211 or homeroom@journalstar.com.