Senior Maggie Santillen stares out her bedroom window as snow falls heavily in front of her eyes. She goes to sleep dreaming of a snow day, but when she wakes up, she is informed that there is a virtual learning day. Filled with disappointment, she opens her Chromebook and logs in to begin learning.
Starting this school year, MCHS has made a shift towards virtual learning days to replace snow days. MCHS believes they have the tools necessary to perform these online days and not continue school further into summer.
“The climate of the weather is likely to become even more unpredictable in the future,” Assistant Superintendent Carl Vallianatos says, “It’s just safer, better and easier for everyone to have a day where we are learning online together.”
These online days will allow students to learn from home on days of inclement weather, safety issues and issues within the building where students can not be present.
“McHenry Community High School has developed an instructional delivery plan for a variety of emergency situations that could compromise the continuity of in-person student learning,” the district website says, “Digital learning activities may be assigned as directed by the superintendent to extend the curriculum and student learning in the event of temporary school closure.”
Teachers at MCHS are optimistic about this new change.
“I actually think that it’s a really good thing, because in the past, you just had this gap that came in and everything had to get rescheduled,” Social science teacher Pamela McCarrel-Burmeister says, “you don’t have that loss of learning.”
“I feel confident that teachers have the ability,” teacher Nick Valenzianl says, “after COVID they have the skillset to execute their lesson online and provide kids with a valuable experience.”
Staff at MCHS are confident in the students ability to learn from home.
“Students,” says Vallianatos, “understand how to perform and learn and make connections from home on days when we can’t come to school.”
But while teachers are on board with the new changes, students are not. Many students enjoy the whimsical wonder of a snow day and the stress free environment that comes with it.
“I think that online school days are kind of a waste of time because it doesn’t end up working out for everybody,” says Santillen, “zoom days can be stressful,”
Virtual learning will be a curve for everyone to adjust to, but it is not set in stone. While the school is prepared for virtual days, snow days may still happen. Much of this new plan is going to be different for each situation and will vary from case to case.
While the magic of snow days may be getting further away, it’s still in reach.