Hello, I haven't posted in a long time. It's been about 2-3 months since my last post. Sorry about that. Anyways, MCPS has announced that the first 2 quarters will be distant learning; which means that we will have distant learning UNTIL Jan 20. A lot of people have said that we will never have snow days again after the pandemic because of the introduction to virtual instruction, and instead have virtual learning days when conditions are too unsafe to physically come to school. But I will be telling you why I think we will still have snow days!
The main reason lies inaccessibility to technology. It comes down to Chromebook distribution. Many students in MCPS do not have access to Chromebooks. In March 2020, MCPS said that when this is all over, students will be returning their Chromebooks to the schools. Without the Chromebooks, learning in physical school would be abrupted, since a lot of schools today are dependent on technology such as the Chromebook. And if MCPS even decided that students would keep their Chromebooks, that would be too risky. A lot of Chromebooks would fall and break. MCPS wouldn't have enough money and time to buy and fix Chromebooks. And the second reason is if there is a blizzard or an ice storm, the power could go out completely, and NO ONE would be able to do distance learning. And, Chromebook distribution would be too dangerous, especially with more than .25 inches of ice and 12+ inches of snow, and would take too long anyway. It took about 1-2 weeks for MCPS to distribute Chromebooks to the students back in late March/April. The longest I can remember MCPS closing was for a week, in 2016, when a huge blizzard hit the DMV, and dumped 18-36 inches across the DMV, and even 42 inches in some areas! And even if that happened again, no one would even be able to get out in the first place.
People are also saying that 2021 will have mostly no snow days. That is somewhat true. December-March is winter. There are 4 months. December and January(most of it) will be complete distant learning. We still have February and March, and as a lot of us know, we can get a lot of snow during those months. However, that is hoping that everything will be better by then. We really don't know how this pandemic will go, but if everything goes well, we can still have snow days! Thank you for reading.
The main reason lies inaccessibility to technology. It comes down to Chromebook distribution. Many students in MCPS do not have access to Chromebooks. In March 2020, MCPS said that when this is all over, students will be returning their Chromebooks to the schools. Without the Chromebooks, learning in physical school would be abrupted, since a lot of schools today are dependent on technology such as the Chromebook. And if MCPS even decided that students would keep their Chromebooks, that would be too risky. A lot of Chromebooks would fall and break. MCPS wouldn't have enough money and time to buy and fix Chromebooks. And the second reason is if there is a blizzard or an ice storm, the power could go out completely, and NO ONE would be able to do distance learning. And, Chromebook distribution would be too dangerous, especially with more than .25 inches of ice and 12+ inches of snow, and would take too long anyway. It took about 1-2 weeks for MCPS to distribute Chromebooks to the students back in late March/April. The longest I can remember MCPS closing was for a week, in 2016, when a huge blizzard hit the DMV, and dumped 18-36 inches across the DMV, and even 42 inches in some areas! And even if that happened again, no one would even be able to get out in the first place.
People are also saying that 2021 will have mostly no snow days. That is somewhat true. December-March is winter. There are 4 months. December and January(most of it) will be complete distant learning. We still have February and March, and as a lot of us know, we can get a lot of snow during those months. However, that is hoping that everything will be better by then. We really don't know how this pandemic will go, but if everything goes well, we can still have snow days! Thank you for reading.
