An email from Principal Alexis Meyer of Archie R. Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island is angering some parents and students. As reported by WLNE ABC 6, in the message, Meyer and Assistant Principal Daniel Seger announced the cancellation of the school’s Honors Night. The email reads in part, “Members of the school community have long expressed concerns related to the exclusive nature of Honors Night. Therefore, we have made the collective decision to recognize students during team- based recognition ceremonies and graduation.”

Honors Night was a long-standing tradition at the school of recognizing exceptional students and their accomplishments in front of their parents and fellow students. WLNE spoke to Cole Middle School student, Kaitlyn Kosloski, who did not make it into last year’s Honor Night. “That’s why I strived to do better this year,” said Kaitlyn. “I knew a lot of my friends who had gone and they said it was extremely exciting that they had earned this award.”

Kaitlyn’s father, Joe Kosloski, does not agree with the message the school’s decision sends to kids about how the real world works and said, “How else are they supposed to learn coping skills, not just based on success, but relative failure. It might not even be failure, but understanding what it takes to achieve high levels.” Kaitlyn felt that Honors Night served as an incentive and said, “That made me wanna work harder and a lot of other people wanna work harder, so just the fact you can’t work towards it anymore and then there is no goal.”

Changes are also being made to the school’s sports awards.

Video and more info: WLNE