The honor roll is a program used by numerous schools nationwide to provide recognition for outstanding academic achievement. This program offers many benefits for the eligible members, including increased scholarship funds, financial aid, and presence on resumes or college applications. However, some schools do not offer the honor roll to their students and therefore many students will not have the same opportunities. 

With this being said, Marco Island Academy should incorporate an honor roll into its plethora of academic enrichment programs, because it has the opportunity to motivate the already hardworking students to be the best they can be. 

The honor roll generally comes in three different categories of recognition. The highest is considered “Distinguished Honors”, which is awarded when the student has a GPA of  a 4.0 or higher. Next is “High Honors” which is received if the student’s GPA is between 3.6 – 3.9. Finally, the lowest level is “Honors”. The student receives this award if they have a GPA of a 3.00 – 3.66. At the ending of each marking period, if qualified, they will be awarded with a certificate marking their achievement. 

As a school known for producing extremely academically competent students, I believe that it would be of great benefit to the students of MIA because they will have a sense of satisfaction and pride in their hard work. It is important to note that the majority of students at MIA have at least about a 3.0 GPA meaning that most would qualify for the honor roll. Personally, I have been a straight A student since middle school and have always taken great pride in my grades, and I believe that the honor roll would allow for more students to take pride in their academic achievements as well. 

In addition, “a student with a GPA upwards of 3.5 is twice as likely to receive a scholarship than a student with a GPA lower than a 3.0. More specifically, this is 17.0% of students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher vs. 13.1% of students with a GPA of 3.0-3.4.” 

While most scholarships are not solely based on academics, there is a greater chance of receiving a larger scholarship and even a better chance at admission to a high-ranking college if they were to see additional academic achievements throughout high school. Having an increased acceptance rate to Ivy-league and other high ranking colleges would only increase the already remarkable academic data and position of MIA. 

So should Marco Island Academy adopt the honor roll? As an honor roll student myself in elementary school, the program motivated and encouraged my peers and I to do our absolute best. Moreover, due to the fact that high school is a lot more challenging than earlier levels of education, adopting the honor roll could be very rewarding in terms of a students self esteem and willingness to try their hardest.