By The Scroll staff

Thirteen juniors and seniors were inducted into the CCDS chapter of the Cum Laude Society at an assembly on Thursday, Feb. 18 (pictured: inductees from the Class of 2010).

Founded in 1906 at the Tome School in Maryland, the Cum Laude Society, “recognizes academic achievement in secondary schools for the purpose of promoting excellence , justice, and honor.”

At CCDS, students are inducted on the basis of their grade point averages.  Students’ GPAs from the previous school year and the first semester of the current year are evaluated.  The Cum Laude Society recognizes twenty percent of each graduating class, inducting the top ten percent of the class junior year and an additional ten percent senior year.

This year’s inductees are:

Class of 2011:

Ali Breneman

Will Duncan

Alexandra McInturf

Baldur Tangvald

Kate Taylor

Amanda Young

Class of 2010:

Kevin Baxter

Megan Bonini

Xanni Brown

Liza Cohen

Joey Fritz

Alex Lento

Marzieh Mirzamani

The following members of the Class of 2010 were inducted last year as juniors:

Jayne Caron

Isaac Guttman

Thomas Langlois

Allison Lazarus

Sebastian Koochaki

Fletcher Pease

Will Portman

To host a chapter of the Cum Laude Society, a school must demonstrate strong academic caliber in a lengthy application process.

The Cum Laude Society has 344 school chapters worldwide, 24 of which are located in Ohio and nine of which are in the Greater Cincinnati region.  Local schools with chapters of the Cum Laude Society include Anderson, CCDS, Finneyton, Mariemont, Seven Hills, Walnut Hills, Withrow, and Wyoming.

Each year, Cum Laude inducts 4,000 students from across the nation.

“Sixty years ago was when we first inducted people into the Cum Laude Society, you could say that was the point at which the Upper School was fully developed and underway as an excellent academic institution,” said President of the CCDS Chapter of the Cum Laude Society Brock Miller.

“It’s a symbol of this long line of excellent scholarship and it’s a symbol of this school’s excellence, ” said Miller.

“[Being inducted] is a great feeling. I’m also very proud of my fellow senior inductees, especially after having so many classes together and working with each other to understand the tough material. It’s exciting to be recognized for all the hard work we’ve put into school the last four years,” said Megan Bonini.

“Cum Laude rightfully recognizes the importance of academic scholarship and academic integrity,” said Upper School Head Stephanie Luebbers.

Members of the Cum Laude Society will be honored at a dinner on Tuesday, March 9.