Some of the most carefully orchestrated moves in high school have nothing to do with budding romance and everything to do with a calculated climb to the top.

Graduating in a coveted No. 1 position may require street smarts to outwit competition and savvy to manipulate a complicated set of numbers and rules -- along with the requisite long hours spent studying.

To ease the competition, a growing number of schools nationwide, since the mid-1990s, have eliminated traditional class rank and honors such as valedictorian. St. Louis-area schools largely cling to these traditions. But an increasing number of local schools are discarding the practice of naming a top student at graduation.

In districts such as St. Charles, Mehlville and Triad, for example, any number of seniors can earn top status if they achieve straight A's for four years. That explains why Triad's graduating class has 11 valedictorians this year.

Granite City is the latest district to eliminate the top rank after a valedictorian fiasco that could end up in court. Jennifer Ambuehl the graduated student involved, declined to be interviewed.

But the incident highlights the complexity of calculating grade-point averages in a world of "weighted grades," where not all A's are equal.

Nearly half of schools nationwide favor a system of assigning more points, or "weight," to accelerated or honors classes, according to a 1993 study by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Students with more advanced classes may earn grade-point averages higher than the traditional 4.0 scale -- some scales go up to 7.0 for honors classes. The added points move the students higher in class rank.

Ambuehl, in Granite City, realized that an A in band would hurt her overall grade point because it was not a weighted class. She tried to take the class pass or fail, without a letter grade, so it wouldn't affect her average. Three other seniors in the running for the top spot alerted school officials when they realized she would pass them up. The school board decided Ambuehl had to take credit for her A. Her parents have challenged the board's interpretation of its policy.

Meanwhile, the Granite City administration added some of the school's brightest students to its committee studying how to revise the ranking system. The students showed school officials loopholes that could be used to slide up the scale, such as taking drivers education from a private company outside school hours to free up time to add another weighted class.

In some schools, only the third and fourth year of foreign languages are weighted, so students must take the introductory courses as soon as possible. Some take them in middle school or summer school to maximize the number of honors classes they can tally in grades 9 through 12.

"It comes down to those kids who know the ins and outs of that race," said Granite City Superintendent Steve Balen.

His district plans to phase in, for the incoming freshmen, a collegiate system of awarding summa, magna and cum laude distinctions at graduation.

Changes to a system mid-stream can be traumatic to students and their parents who plot four-year schedules, striving for valedictorian status.

Placing limits

In the Belleville High School District, school officials capped at four the number of weighted classes that could count toward a grade-point average. This allowed students to participate in sports, music, art and debate classes without fears of falling behind those who might be loading up on the weighted honors classes.

Belleville also switched to the "cum laude" system rather than naming a single valedictorian, but it still provides class ranks for college admissions.

When Suzanne Fitzgerald, who just finished her sophomore year in the top ranks at Belleville West High, heard that the district might allow more honors classes to count toward grade averages, she faced a tough choice.

She considered dropping volleyball, which she's played since fifth grade, so she could take six honors classes next year and keep up her rank.

"I know some people would end up taking six somehow," she said.

One of her classmates, Kyle Darr, already skips lunch in order to squeeze in his four honors classes, plus Spanish, jazz and symphonic band electives. His parents signed a release form allowing it.

Kyle wants to stay in the top 5 percent of his class because it helps in applying for scholarships. He tries to eat breakfast at home but usually misses that, as well.

"I get kind of tired by the end of the day," he said.

Superintendent Leo Hefner says he's 99 percent sure that Suzanne won't have to choose between volleyball and her top rank.

He predicts the district will keep its cap at four honors courses that can increase a GPA.

Suzanne's mother said the parents of top students are "having a fit" at the prospect of a change midway through high school.

Nate Anderson, superintendent in East St. Louis, has felt the wrath of parents in a valedictorian snafu. About six years ago, he was a high school principal in Rock Island, Ill.

Two childhood friends and competitors were vying for the top spot in their class. Every year they took the same classes. Every year they earned the highest grades. He announced the winner at the graduation ceremony, and the next day the mother of No. 2 showed up in his office.

According to her calculations, the alleged valedictorian took a summer school class, which changed the numbers by one-thousandth of a point.

The school offered corrections and apologies in the local papers.

Reporter Aisha Sultan:\ E-mail: asultan@post-dispatch.com\ Phone: 314-209-1248