KUA Announces Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2020
Kimball Union Academy has named Xinyu “Jessica” Xu ’20 as valedictorian and Carlton Cassedy ’20 as salutatorian for the Class of 2020.
The honorees were selected by the Cum Laude Society who determine the top two students in the graduating class with the strongest academic records over the course of their secondary school studies.
Jessica is from Beijing, China. She will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall to study computer science. As the valedictorian, she is the student who, in the estimation of the Cum Laude Society, has the strongest academic record in the class. Jessica will deliver her speech when commencement is held at a date to be determined.
Carlton is from Plainfield, New Hampshire. He will attend Cornell University in the fall. As salutatorian, he is the student who, in the estimation of the Cum Laude Society, has the second strongest academic record in the class. Carlton will deliver his speech during the May 23 Celebration for the Class of 2020 Ceremony.
Members of the Class of 2020 demonstrated particularly strong academic achievement and managed rigorous course loads. The academic records of the top 10 percent of the class were remarkably thin, with the difference between the top two incredibly narrow.
Combined, Jessica and Carlton took 16 honors-level classes and 16 AP-level courses in their four years at the Academy, as well as multivariable calculus, which KUA holds to be beyond AP-level work. Both students earned a place on the High Honor Roll and the Effort Honor Roll for 11 trimesters in a row, and are on track to do the same this trimester.
