Warren County High School has announced its valedictorian, salutatorian, and new class ranking system. 

Instead of a class rank, WCHS has changed to recognize the top two (valedictorian and salutatorian), summa cum laude (highest honors), magna cum laude (high honors), and cum laude (honors). This is based on a student’s unweighted GPA, minimum ACT score, and how many hours of honors and advanced courses they completed.

Jensen Smith was declared valedictorian of the class of 2021, and Caleb Smith is salutatorian.

Jensen said he didn’t explicitly expect to achieve this. Caleb said, “I thought about the possibility since they changed the ranks. After that, I thought there was a chance I could get it.”

Jensen said he reached the top spot by taking AP classes and studying hard for the ACT. “I was focusing on classes that I was not as good in,” he said.

Caleb followed a similar path and said he took many advanced classes and studied a lot. Caleb has plans on attending Tennessee Tech and majoring in computer science and eventually becoming a software engineer.

“I have many colleges in mind,” Jensen said.  “I want to pursue a major in biological sciences.”

Warren County High School’s graduation is scheduled for May 28.

The requirements for graduating Summa Cum Laude are: 4.0 unweighted GPA, completion of four honors courses and 10 advanced courses, and a minimum 21 ACT score.

Those students are:

Valedictorian --

Jensen Smith

Salutatorian -- Caleb Smith

McKenzie Barnes

Jace Brantley

Erica Cantrell

Jared Carnes

Sydney Cook

Journey Cowan

Jana Denning

Brooke Evans

Chance Hale

Colton Krech

Tyler Martin

Sadie Simmons

Westen Wilson

Wyatt Wilson