Schools

Virtual Classes to Offset Snow Days?

One Massachusetts high school gave it a try.

By Liz Taurasi

Taunton’s Coyle Cassidy Memorial High School tried a little experiment with last week’s snowstorm - virtual learning to offset the snow day.

An experimental program allowed students to take to their iPads and log into virtual classrooms from home during a recent storm, according to WHDH, 7-News.

With many students throughout the Commonwealth armed with iPads, the Coyle Cassidy school officials could be onto something.

State regulations require cities and towns to have at least 180 school days in the academic year. In Massachusetts, school calendars are built out with at 185 days of school to allow wiggle room for snow days to ensure the 180 days are met, but sometimes that’s just not enough.

Snow days inevitably mean extending the school year. Last year alone many school districts in Massachusetts added classes on Good Friday to make up a snow day after a particularly harsh winter that brought on a pattern of a snowstorm a week in February and March. Stormy winters have also added days onto the school calendar in late June to make sure students get the required days in, as well as cutting into school vacation weeks.

It’s only January, so time will tell what students are in for this year, but with the prospect of virtual learning and not missing a day - this, if effective, could be a game changer.

Do you think it’s a feasible idea for schools to consider virtual learning in the event of a snow day? Could it could work? Let us know in the comments section below.


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