Weather Plan

Snow road in Alexander County

  • Our district weather team watches the weather very closely during the winter months. When weather is forecast to cause any issues that might impact the safety of our students arriving at school, we are actively assessing the situation. We strive to make a decision on any delay or cancellation before 5:30 a.m. Once a decision is made about a closure or delayed start time, this information is posted on our website, broadcast on local media stations and sent to parents using our districtwide automated call system. This system will send each parent in our database a call. If your contact information has changed, please call your child’s school office to inform them of the changes.

    For weather events, members of our weather team drive the roads in different parts of our school district to assess driving conditions. We get regular updates from Alexander County Emergency Services, the National Weather Service, and NC Highway Patrol. Additionally, we are in conversation with other superintendents in neighboring school districts to compare reports.

    Our goal is to make the best call possible given the information we have been given. We may operate with limited bus routes when the situation allows. If there is ever a time that we hold school / school events and you do not feel it is in the best interest of your child to attend based on your assessment of the weather, please know that it is always your choice to keep your child at home. Please communicate with the school office if you make this decision.

  • Important details for inclement weather days and school closures

    Different seems to be the new normal. During the 2020-2021 school year, when inclement weather or infectious disease requires that we close school buildings, we will use remote learning days as often as possible. Students will learn at home on these days and will not be required to make up the day later in the school year.

    There may be extreme weather or other circumstances that would require a day without instruction, or we could be on target with our required hours of instruction that would allow for a “no school day.” When the announcement regarding inclement weather or school closing is made, it will include the term “remote instruction day” or “no school day”.

    These terms will let you know what the expectations are for your child. Details regarding those expectations are below.

    Inclement weather/remote instruction day

    Teachers will be available for parent/student contact.

    Synchronous sessions or online class sessions will be offered depending on the teacher and student’s connectivity. Teachers will post remote work by 9 AM and are required to be available to answer questions from 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Please remember if your child does not have an internet connection but other students do, the teacher will be unavailable for calls during those scheduled times.

     

    Elementary & Middle School 

    Asynchronous assignments or classwork that does not require students to be in a session at a set time will be posted for students or in packets that have been previously created and provided for students. The packets are created monthly and will contain relevant lessons and content. This will allow students without internet connectivity to access assignments.

    Teachers will determine relevant content and/or provide learning modules to review essential skills, provide enrichment activities, and/or project-based virtual learning opportunities.

    Assignments will be due within five school days after the remote learning day.  A student will be considered present when the work is turned in to the teacher.  If it is not turned in within five school days, the student will be considered absent.

    Middle school virtual academy students will continue with their regular instruction since these students are constantly accessing content remotely.

     

    High School 

    All high school students adhere to the regular class schedule for learning and report virtually. The only difference is that they will not report to the school building. They must however report on time for every class virtually. Students must be visible on camera throughout the duration of the class to be recorded as present.

     

    Required time

    Remote learning days are 4.5 hours as submitted to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for Pandemic Year 2020-2021 with the AA/BB day schedule.



    2021-2022 Remote learning schedule times due to weather

    Elementary 120 minutes

    MIddle 180 minutes = 1 hour for math/1 hour reading/30 min science and 30 min social studies

    ACHS 240 minutes 1 hour per block

    AEC  300 minutes (average depending upon college course schedule)

     

    Limited or Lack of Internet Access

    For students who do not have internet access or limited access, teachers will provide remote work folders which include 5 days of activities.