Most of us are familiar with “snow days.” The school district allows for six of them in its annual calendar. If the district exceeds its limit, the solution is simple — the school board shortens a vacation or cuts into a long weekend.
But not every snow storm results in school being canceled. Students and teachers had six short days this year. Twice they went home early because of a storm. And on four other occasions, they started late.
Early dismissal at the high school means the last few periods are canceled. But the rest of the classes are unchanged — they’re the same length as always. The next day the schedule is repeated; so students get to attend the classes they missed.
A delayed start of the day is a different story. At the high school, classes are shortened from 45 to about 30 minutes. It’s challenging, but not impossible, Principal Lynn Imperato says. Teachers may leave out a video or cut down on the number of practice questions. “Part of being a teacher,” she says, “is the ability to adjust and adapt to what’s going on in front of you.”
Math teacher Mary MacLeod doesn’t necessarily like shortened classes, but she can cope with them. There are options. A teacher can combine two lessons at a later date or cut out a review day at the end of the year. “The sooner you start planning it,” she says, “the better off you are. I look at what we were doing last year on this date and see if we’re ahead or behind.”
If she has to cram everything into a half hour, she feels like “she’s running the whole time.” English teacher Jeanne Rose has the same feeling.
“Shortened classes are never fun,” she says. “You need those 45 minutes. You’re very discombobulated, but then you work it out. You can catch up once the weather gets warmer — if it ever does.”
With long-range forecasting, short days are hardly ever a surprise. If teachers know about them in advance, they can tell their students to look at Edmodo or Google Classroom. The Internet has made the job easier. And teens seem to accomplish more than you might expect. “No matter how high you set the bar,” Principal Imperato says, “the kids always rise to it.”
