Catholic schools in Louisville are closed today due to the snow, and students across the metro area were elated this morning when they learned the news. But don't be fooled - it's not just the kids who are happy. A snow day is usually met with great joy on the part of teachers and administrators too. But while missing a day of school generally results in no extra work for the students, the adults in the school building don't get off quite so easliy. A cancelled day of school often requires a great deal of extra planning and rescheduling.
Field trips and guest speakers are often difficult for teachers to reschedule, and missing a "special area" activity that only happens once a week (like P.E. or computer instruction) means that students will go a very long time without this type of learning experience. In classes where there is a set curriculum that must be covered by a certain date no matter what happens, like AP classes in high school that prepare students for AP exams in May, teachers must still find a way to cover everything in fewer instructional days. Administrators also face some challenges when school is cancelled due to weather. In Kentucky, students must be in session for at least 175 instrucional days, and if enough snow days are not built into the school calendar from the beginning of the year, those missed must be made up. Also, when school is cancelled, usually the evening activities scheduled that night are cancelled as well. Rescheduling these events into a school calendar that is already very full is often difficult to do.
But most teachers and educators will admit that the extra work is usually worth it! At least, this seems to be the case if school days missed due to weather are few and far between. This was certainly not the case last school year when students missed at least 10 full days due to weather-related school closings. But despite this, the occasional snow day can be truly heaven-sent, not just for the students but also for the "grown up kids" in the building as well!
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