A Maryland middle school held a dance and pizza party Tuesday for students who got straight As. Students with grades lower than a C weren't invited at all.
The "Academic Achievement Celebratio" at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring started during the final period of school, when the highest achieving students got free pizza. After school when pizza was no longer being served, they were joined at a dance by students with B and C averages.
The exclusion of more than 300 of the school's 865 students upset some parents.
"My concern about how this could open up bullying situations is that children are competitive for grades and it could be a situation where a smarter student knows that another student didn't quite make the grade. They could make them feel bad; they could call them stupid," said Karen Hanlon, whose daughter in the sixth grade has learning disabilities and didn't qualify for the dance.
Montgomery County school officials say principals use their own discretion for such events.
"I do support the administration of the school in their efforts to help all children to excell and to strive and to succeed and this is one of the tools that they do use," PTSA President Chris Rutledge said.
Eastern is also home to a highly competitive magnet program for the humanities, which brings in "students from a geographic area that spans half of Montgomery County," according to the school's website.
