It wasn’t long after I accepted the position of Head of School that I realized one of my responsibilities would be deciding when to close or delay school due to weather. My inner child immediately thought – this is so COOL! Unfortunately, I am a child no more, and balancing the need to keep people safe with the integrity of the BHS program is no easy task. In the winter, I become an avid weather watcher and always rise just a little earlier to check for an unexpected snowstorm.
Recently, school administrators have begun to hedge their bets, instituting remote learning days, requiring students to attend school remotely and counting as a day of school. I am all in favor of using technology to further our students learning; however, I feel that the joy of a snow day is something that kids in New England should know and savor. So, while it might make it harder on my decision making, I do not intend to institute remote learning days.
Prior to this first snow day, I spoke to the students and let them know that snow days do not absolve them from completing work that is assigned. Likewise, I encouraged them to go outside and have fun in the snow. In the end, we have structured so many other parts of our kids’ lives, that it can seem that even middle schoolers are like young professionals. By preserving snow days, we can hold sacred some of the joys of an unstructured and unexpected snow day.