Dr. McDaniel's Weekly Newsletter - January 7, 2024
Shiloh Family,
Well, last week was short! I pray that we can have a full week of school this week! Yes, I have looked at the detailed forecast and know what is ahead of us this week. We are poised to have a very precipitative winter this year; however, only time will tell. As we all know, we live in Arkansas and it could be 80 degrees in two weeks.
Thank you for your patience last week regarding the inclement weather. The timing was less than ideal! Looking ahead to future potential snow days I want you to understand my thought process on how we are going to handle the balance between traditional snow days and AMI days.
As I previously stated we have conditions this year that have the potential to have a higher level of precipitation than others. I don't know if that will actually occur and if that will result in rain or snow. That being said we have to be wise on how many traditional snow days we use and how early. Public schools are no longer allowed to use AMI for snow days (there are a lot of reasons why they are held to this). However, we don't fall under that same ruling. We are able to utilize AMI as needed within the guidelines of our accreditors.
Nobody likes going to school after Memorial Day, therefore, we want to avoid that if at all possible. Very little learning occurs at that point. Kids, parents, teachers, and possibly even administrators have summer on their minds at that point! Utilizing AMI days to help prevent extending our school year into the summer is preferable over relying solely on traditional snow days. Traditional snow days are fun in the moment but we pay for it later.
The best way to think about how we will handle this will be based on the predictability of snow, the timing of snow, the volume of the snow, and when the snow occurs in the school year. The less predictable it is or if it happens right before school like it did last week with little warning we will more than likely have a traditional snow day. If we know it is coming or if the snow has a long duration requiring multiple days missed, anticipate AMI days, etc. This is not a perfect explanation but it gives you an idea of the thought process. I always go out and drive around NWA when it snows in the morning to evaluate the road so I include that into my decision-making process on what we do!
I hope that explanation helps! Let's have a great week!
Below is the link to the weekly newsletter, check it out!