Kate Howard
Reporter
Since the start of 2011, winter weather has caused three delayed openings, two early dismissals and six snow days. Due to the record amount of snow, students had only eight full days of school last month. NCHS began February with dual snow days on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2. Currently the last day of school is scheduled to be Wednesday, Jun. 22.
In an email sent home to parents on Tuesday, Feb. 8, Superintendent David Abbey addressed the contingency plan developed by the Board of Education (BOE) in the event of additional school closings. One element of this new plan includes changing Friday, Feb. 18 from a professional development day to a school day. There is also a possibility of downsizing the current 182 instructional days to the state required 180 if more snow days occur. Another option is to reduce the number of days for April vacation. Delays and early dismissals do not impact calendar change.
According to Dr. Abbey, the last possible school day is Friday, Jun. 24 with high school graduation one-day prior because the BOE Policy 6010 prevents public schools from extending the educational year beyond the third full week in June.
Principal Tony Pavia said the decision to close school is based on a number of factors, but it is driven primarily by safety. After not having a full school week since before winter vacation, Mr. Pavia indicated his concern. “It is frightening that there is still almost seven weeks of winter left,” he said. “I can’t recall a year that we’ve had so many snow days so early over a one month period. So, if this weather pattern were to continue it would provide a huge challenge to all districts.”
In his email, Dr. Abbey discussed how the snow has disrupted the educational program. “We are in the midst of a challenge; however, I have great confidence that our teachers and administrators will make appropriate modifications and adjustments in order to make the best of a less than ideal situation,” he wrote. Compared to other schools in the area that are facing similar problems, NCPS has lost fewer or the equivalent of school days.
Many of students who take AP classes are concerned that the cancellations will affect their preparations for testing, which is set to start Tuesday, May 3. Sophomore Harrison Besser, who is taking two AP classes, expressed his concern. “I’m worried that if we have more snow days, we won’t finish what is required or have as many days to review for AP exams,” he said. Likewise, sophomore Connecticut Academic Performance Testing (CAPT) will not be delayed and is expected to start on Tuesday, March 1.
However, other students are confident teachers will fully prepare them to succeed on the exams in the abridged calendar. “Things might be rushed, but we’ll just have to move a little faster than expected,” sophomore AP Student Jessica Laird said. “We only have nine weeks left, which is scary, but I think the teachers will be completely capable of preparing us in the meantime.”
Some teachers feel the burden of the snow days will add more pressure to review all material before the standardized testing dates. History Department Chair Richard Webb said that he has arranged his curriculum accordingly. “I actually build in three days in case of snow,” he said. “Every single day between the beginning of school and May is planned a year in advance. It [AP United States History] is a very tightly scripted course.”
“There are no ‘snow days’ in the AP program; they do not ever move the test date,” Mr. Webb said. “Let’s say we have another 30 snow days. What do you do? The AP kid is pretty motivated, so you have to ask them in those 30 days off to stay with the material.” He advises students, though they might feel rushed, to relax, move forward and not create unnecessary stress.
Academically the school board will have to play catch-up, but athletics are up to date. “We have eight varsity winter sports. For the most part, all games have been made up. The real story is nobody has had a chance to practice,” Athletic Director Jay Egan said.
In the effort to have maximum communication regarding future weather related closings, delays, or early dismissals, the district will email and phone homes through their calling system. Additional information will be placed on the home page, www.newcanaan.k12.ct, and on Channel 78.
