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Palo Alto High Schools Grapple With Weighted GPAs, Stress Reduction

PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) -- Advanced Placement (AP) courses have long been a way for high school students to take advanced classes while earning a higher grade point average, but in Palo Alto, that may no longer be an option.

There are two public high schools in Palo Alto. While Gunn High School has weighted GPAs, Palo Alto High School does not.

Palo Alto Unified Schools Superintendent Dr. Max McGee said, "Do we really need to add something that makes it more competitive here?"

Students got a chance to weigh in on Tuesday evening.

 

 

Normally, to calculate GPA, an A gets four points, a B gets three points, and so on.

But since AP classes can be tougher and more stressful, an A may be worth 4.5 points, a B 3.5 points, and so on.

Over the course of a high school career, those extra points can add up and give you a significant boost.

McGee says it's a problem when all students care about is padding their GPA.

"My worry is they're taking them for numbers and not just to learn," McGee said.

Last school year, a number of students in Palo Alto took their own lives and since then, the superintendent has focused on reducing student stress and improving their mental health.

Revamping weighted GPAs is just one part of the bigger solution.

However, McGee said he didn't think getting rid of weighted grades would prevent the next suicide cluster.

McGee spoke with admissions officers at top schools like Stanford University and said many told him they wondered what students might be able to do had they not been taking loads of AP classes.

McGee said, "And they say in fact we wonder ourselves, what could that student have been doing instead of taking more APs? Could they have been doing something with community engagement? With a job? Independent research project?"

Thanaya Gramji, also a student at Palo Alto High School said, "In our communities it's complete stress. And we don't need another reason to be more freaked out."

To get them through the current school year, the district is weighting GPAs for Paly on a case by case basis and starting Tuesday a committee will form to find a policy that will work for both high schools.

The superintendent says a blue ribbon committee will work on developing a comprehensive GPA weighting policy to be done by April.

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