At our local high school, high honor roll is reserved for kids who get A- or above in all their classes, for all 16 quarters.

The level of the class is irrelevant, so a kid taking all college-prep classes (A+ = 4.0) who gets a 3.5 could end up on high-honor roll, whereas a kid taking all honors classes (A+ = 5.0) could end up with a 4.5 GPA and not end up on high honor roll.

It's rare for the kids with the highest GPAs to end up on high honor roll, so it is considered a bit of a joke.