The month of January included four inclement weather days for The John Carroll School, meaning that all of the allotted snow days had been used.
On Tuesday, January 9, a major rain and windstorm was predicted for central Maryland, ultimately resulting in a three-hour early dismissal on Tuesday and a closure on Wednesday. Then, during the following week on Tuesday, January 16 and again on Friday, January 19, snow fell in Harford County. These two snowstorms led to local schools closing for three days.
JC goes by the decisions made by Harford County Public Schools for weather closures, delays, and early dismissals.
JC had three inclement weather days allotted for the school year. The closure on Friday, January 19 added a fourth.
Initially, the plan was for virtual learning to begin on the fourth inclement weather day.
Assistant Principal Danica Attanasio commented, “The timing for the last inclement weather day was unfortunate. It was the last day of the semester and we only had one day of school that week. It was important to meet in person for the last day of the semester, so we extended semester one to Monday, January 22. This also allowed us more time to review Teams with teachers and provide our students with information on how to use Teams in their classes.”
As a result, the decision was made to add an additional day to the school year instead of moving to virtual learning on the final scheduled day of the semester.
Students have been receiving notifications that they have been added to their online Teams classes.
HCPS closed schools on Tuesday, February 13, resulting in JC’s first virtual learning day.
Mrs. Attanasio explained that, in the event of a virtual learning day, the online school day will follow a two-hour delay schedule.
She added that students will be expected to attend classes on Teams for each class that meets on that particular day of the cycle. Students will have to be in a JC uniform top with a plain or blurred background.
Mrs. Attanasio said that Expectations were reviewed with students prior to the first virtual learning day.
Senior Corinne Baikauskas said that she feels that “virtual learning isn’t the same as being in a classroom. I understand that some teachers have a schedule of topics they need to teach before the end of the year, but teaching a topic virtually can be difficult. I personally am not a fan of virtual learning.”
Junior Ellie Polak commented, “I don’t like it. I would much rather have a day off and make it up towards the end. I really do not like working at home, especially since we did that already for two years with COVID. I would rather have a snow day and then stay in school longer in June.”
Sophomore Colleen Bauer said, “I would rather have virtual school than add to the end of the year. I want the longest possible summer.”
Sophomore Bella Mercado commented, “I would rather go virtual, so summer can come as soon as possible.”
Freshman Genevieve Snyder expressed that she would also prefer virtual learning rather than extending the year. “There are lots of things going on during the summer, and I don’t want my vacation to become shorter.”