Is it the end of the snow day as we know it?

With the rise in virtual instruction due to the Covid 19 pandemic, schools all across the country have pivoted to incorporate online instruction either fully or hybrid. Online learning has its positives and negatives, but for the most part students are learning and teachers are teaching. In the Northeast however there is a time honored tradition with the anticipation of the "snow day". A day off from school due to hazardous conditions caused by too much snowfall. Students and teachers alike buzz about days before an impending storm trying to guess whether or not school will be cancelled. It's a right of passage, a tradition. Teachers become faux meteorologist making ridiculous predictions. Students wear their pajamas backwards and cross their fingers hoping to wake up to good news. Snow days are taken very seriously. The days off for snow are refueling for teachers and fun for students. I remember waiting to hear my school ID number on KYW at 5am to see if my elementary school was closed. My grandmother would call our house to let us know that there was no school. The built up excitement is a right of passage for us all.

Nowadays we have trained our kids to open their computers and log into school virtually. Kids know how to complete asynchronous assignments if their teachers are not available or log into Zoom for face to face class. It's so impersonal, yet its effective in having student have access to learning even in increment weather.

It makes me sad though. The excitement of having a snow day is a time honored tradition for us Northeasters. I hope they aren't completely phased out. Here's hoping for more Snow days!