The flowers are blooming, graduation is looming, and seniors are zooming—straight out the door and onto the wall of shame. In a desperate attempt to curb senioritis, Westminster has announced the creation of the Senior Skip Leaderboard, a public ranking of the worst offenders in an effort to “hold students accountable” (and maybe embarrass them just a little). The decision comes in response to Class of 2025’s “egregious abuse of senior liberties” and widespread teacher complaints of classes where a majority of their students are nowhere to be found.
“We always expect a good bit of skips for seniors, but, unfortunately, recent classes—this one especially—have taken it too far,” explained head of Upper School Canley Huge in the press release for the Skip Leaderboard. “The leaderboard is meant to serve as a reminder to seniors that attendance is not just a suggestion, but an expectation,” Huge continued. “We want to celebrate our students’ final year, but that becomes difficult when half the class is missing.”
The leaderboard, which will be updated weekly, will not only be prominently displayed on the large screen in Barge and the TVs splattered around Pressly and Hawkins, but also will be frequently posted on social media. In the eyes of Upper School administrators, the more public the list, the more effective the list. The Skip Leaderboard will feature the top 50 most truant seniors, complete with headshots, total absences, and an “academic jeopardy” meter ranging from Mildly Missing to Diploma in Doubt. Westminster has further announced that all seniors on the final leaderboard leading up to May 1 will have their graduation experience “diminished” in some shape or manner— with those closer to the top facing harsher consequences. Nonetheless, the specifics of this ominous threat remain unclear, leaving many to wonder if the list is nothing more than an empty scare tactic.
Bradon Tom, a senior English teacher who has witnessed firsthand the 2025 senior skip epidemic, shared this skepticism: “It’s hard for me to believe that the school is really going to follow through on actually punishing these kids enough to stop all the skipping, especially if it theoretically affects around a quarter of the whole grade. At this point, I think they’d have better luck bribing them with free food than scaring them with vague threats.”
Looking at the initial reactions from students to the announcement, Tom’s skepticism seems justified. Seniors have greeted the Skip Leaderboard with a mix of defiance, amusement, and even excitement. Some seniors are already turning the leaderboard into a badge of honor, eager to see how high they can climb in the rankings.
“I think it’s hilarious,” said Elise LaPizza. “I’m going to skip regardless, so if they’re going to make it public, I might as well embrace it. The lore from possibly topping the standings would be pretty legendary, too.”
Despite Westminster’s intention to curb senioritis, this rebel spirit seems to be flourishing among the Class of 2025 instead.
“It’s almost like the more they try to punish us, the more we’ll just find a way to make it fun,” said Katelyn Bandit. “I get why they want to stop us from skipping, but this leaderboard is just giving us more ways to turn it into a game. They’re trying to control us, but it’s just fueling the fire if anything.”
Even though the leaderboard hasn’t been publicly displayed yet, these early reactions suggest that it may inadvertently encourage the very behavior it’s trying to reduce. Some students are using it as an opportunity to build camaraderie around their skipping habits, while others are downright challenging the school to follow through on its threats. As the first rankings draw nearer, it will be interesting to see how far this competitive spirit takes the Class of 2025, and whether Westminster’s latest attempt to address senioritis will backfire in a way they never anticipated.
