High School Makes Room for 21 Valedictorians

A Long Island high school is about to graduate a crowd of "top of the class" seniors—21 of them. Jericho High School in Nassau County has named the record number of valedictorians for its Class of 2026, each with an A+ average of at least 97 across all four years, People reports. Co-Principal Brian Cummings told NBC New York that the school relies on letter grades rather than quibbling over tiny decimal differences, calling the gap between a 99.8 and 99.83 insignificant. The approach, Superintendent Robert Kravitz said, is meant to broaden who can be recognized as a top scholar, not just students stacked with AP courses. "We have National Merit Scholars; we have musicians at the highest level," Cummings told WABC.

The previous record at Jericho was 15. The school's policy doesn't mean this group coasted. Many packed schedules with AP Economics, AP Government, AP sciences, and multivariable calculus, while juggling sports, clubs, and community work—like Empower Her Health, a nonprofit co-founded by valedictorian and future Georgetown student Harnoor Joneja that distributes free menstrual products and offers health education. Several students heading to top colleges described late nights and heavy workloads but said the culture felt collaborative, not cutthroat. "It was hard," said Riya Shah. "There were many nights where I wondered why I was putting myself through this." That would be a lot of speakers, so administrators plan to honor the top graduates with "Valedictorian 2026" sashes, front-row placement in the procession, and a video highlighting their achievements.