OPINION

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By Meredith Lanning

Cougie on a snowy day. Photo credit: Collegiate School.

Collegiate School’s infamous Snow Day Policy: a source of collective eye rolls and sighs among students and faculty.

The official statement from Collegiate’s Weekly Paws message to families states, “The first snow day of the school year that necessitates campus closing will be a day off for students (a true snow day). For the remainder of the year, when the campus is closed due to inclement weather, we will have synchronous remote learning days.”

Gone are the days of blissful ignorance, where a snow day meant a peaceful escape from school. Now, we’re stuck with the bittersweet taste of victory when that magical email or text alert pops up, announcing, “Collegiate School will be closed tomorrow.” The excitement surges through us like a jolt of electricity, only to be mercilessly snuffed out when we realize the next snow day will just be a Zoom day in disguise. So, here we are, mourning the loss of the good old days, when missing school for snow meant building snowmen instead of staring at our screens. 

Why can’t we just conduct asynchronous school, instead of using Zoom? This question centers on whether asynchronous learning is preferable to Zoom. Although asynchronous learning is the more preferable option, Zoom is often thought to be the superior one. According to Upper School Head Patrick Loach, Zoom provides a more accurate representation of the conventional classroom setting. The argument goes that, through Zoom, the students have a direct connection with the teacher, as they actively engage in the learning process by listening to live instruction. 

Just the words “snow day” sends a collective shiver down our spines. It’s not just us students who grumble. Even the teachers are secretly plotting their escape from the virtual classrooms. There are whispers that the teachers wouldn’t mind having a day off just like the rest of us, including Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab. He said, “I think that the concept of the snow day, especially in Richmond, will disappear. If there is significant snowfall, students should be able to enjoy their time in the snow. I think the value of school over Zoom does not outweigh a snow day off.” Svab makes a compelling case. We have to face the fact that in ten short years, thanks to climate change, Richmond’s snow days may become as mythical as unicorns. No more sledding, no more snowmen, no more snow angels, just memories. So, why not seize the day, embrace the snow while we still can, and relish in the fleeting moments of snow-induced freedom?

A snow man saying, “Hi” on a winter day. Photo credit: flickr user vagueonthehow.

But why? Why can’t we have more than one snow day? Loach says that the reason we can’t have more than one snow day is that we wouldn’t have enough days in the school year to meet accreditation requirements as a school. As of now, we have just the right amount of days in the calendar to be accredited. But if we didn’t have the second snow day be a Zoom day, then we would have to add those days to the end of the year to get that accreditation, or lose other days off. Pre-COVID-19, the school administration left room in the calendar for those possible snow days, basically leaving room for a few possible days off. But after 2020, those days off were spread throughout the calendar. So now there is no room for any snow days in the calendar, because there are already built-in days off. Yom Kippur, for example, used to not be a school holiday, but now we have that day off. There are multiple three-day weekends built throughout the calendar to give us a chance to recharge every so often. 

Sharp Academic Commons under a blanket of snow. Photo credit: Collegiate School.

Loach uses the expression, “Would you rather a bird in the hand, or two in the bush?” Basically, what he is asking is, “Would you rather have the days off guaranteed in the school calendar that we have off now, which have been strategically placed for when students need a break, or would you want the possibility that you might be getting a day off?”

As a school, should we want to have more guaranteed days off than possible school days, with fewer days off? He asked, “The question for the students is, would you rather have the surprise of a snow day and the day off you didn’t expect, or would you rather have a day off on the calendar that is a guaranteed day off?”

But some students, like Ruby Goff (‘24), argue that we should “let that second one slide.” “I think it is a waste of everyone’s time to get on Zoom. Teachers don’t wanna’ do it, we don’t wanna’ do it, and it’s very infrequent that Richmond gets enough snow to cause a substantial amount of snow days to impact our learning.” Many other students agree with Goff, preferring the excitement and surprise of just one more snow day, even if that means losing one of those weekends. So, what do you think?