During yesterday’s school meeting, Assistant Head of School Jennifer Gargano explained the changes to the end-of-year recognition system, which has become more inclusive and flexible.

Now, every teacher has the opportunity to nominate up to five students for the Love of Learning award as well as the Mission of the School award.

The former recognizes those who have been actively engaged in the classroom and the latter distinguishes those who “foster kindness, respect and integrity and are intellectually curious,” according to Gargano’s presentation. “They also contribute to building a strong community and are role models for their peers.”

In addition, each faculty member can nominate up to two students for the Leadership award.

To Gargano, the sheer number of academically talented students was a factor in precipitating the change in the system. In her presentation, she noted that picking just one student per grade out of a whole department was “out of line with our philosophy of not ranking.”

“I believe [the new awards] will send a clearer message to students about what the school values and thinks is important,” Gargano said in an email interview.

Many students welcomed the new, more inclusive system.

“It allows a lot more students to be recognized without undermining the value of the award,” Glenn Reddy (10) said.

Junior Nicky Semenza agreed, adding that the new recognition process is more streamlined than before.

“I think it’s good that they got rid of the academic awards for top subject because the people who were perhaps number three on the list might feel left out, even though their performance was higher than most,” he said. “And as for the extracurriculars like sports and performing arts, they generally have their own awards assemblies, so it was kind of redundant to have those.”

In addition to the increased number of awards, the administration will be mailing the accolades to the recognized students’ homes instead of presenting them the awards at a mandatory school-wide assembly. Sophomore Caroline Howells appreciated the new delivery system.

“I think one of the best parts is that the awards are being mailed, honestly,” she said. “I don’t think many people really liked sitting through the assembly.”

To Spanish teacher Daniela Rozanes, the best part about the new awards is the ability to select students from non-honors classes as well.

“I think the new awards are good for the community, because now the student is not a number or a letter,” she said. “It’s our opportunity that we can give awards to the kids in the regular classes, so it’s a chance for the whole community to get something.”

However, she found the maximum number of students to be a limitation.

“It took a long time for me to pick just five students,” Rozanes said. “I had to close my eyes and really think about who inspired me.”

The recipients of the awards have already been selected by the teachers. Those who receive more than one award per field will be invited to attend a special dinner.