12 DECEMBER 24, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Lament for the traditional snow day
We know not exactly when
the fi rst snow day in public
school history occurred —
but we do know the day in which the
tradition of canceling classes because
of snowfall died.
It happened Wednesday, Dec. 16,
2020.
For on that day, New York’s Department
of Education announced
that public school buildings would
be closed the next day due to an impending
snowstorm — but that all
classes would go on anyway through
remote learning.
The announcement came in a
roughly 51-word email sent to parents
and school officials on Dec. 16.
And though it’s not yet official, it
seemed to mark the end of a decadesold
tradition of an off-day for young
New Yorkers whenever a big snowstorm
converged upon our city.
No, Virginia, there isn’t a snow day
anymore. And you can blame this on
the COVID-19 pandemic, too.
We’ve had the technology to conduct
remote learning for years now
with the advent of computers, broadband
internet and high-tech cameras.
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The implementation of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to the end of snow days as
we know it. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
But it was never fully utilized by
public schools until COVID-19 arrived
in New York back in March,
and the schools were promptly shut
down.
There was no way the city would
allow students to remain home for
the remainder of the school year
without an education, so the Department
of Education adapted on the fly.
Teachers and students made use of
the gear they had to shift classes
online.
But most everyone involved in
education — teachers, parents,
elected officials, even students — has
come to one conclusion about remote
learning: It is absolutely no substitute
for a classroom education.
And while students and teachers
will return to the classrooms soon
enough, there’s one thing that won’t:
the snow day. Because with an announcement
and the flick of a few
keyboards, the classes can go on
even in the middle of a blizzard.
Every bit of progress indeed
comes with cost, and so it seems the
snow day is the victim of progress.
Some parents may rebel and let their
kids enjoy the fun anyway. Days of
hooky, virtual or in person, are still
absences in the city’s book.
But we feel sad for the future
generations of students deprived
of the thrill of a “school’s closed”
announcement, and carefree weekdays
of sledding, snow angels and
snowball fights.
Now it’s just another day at a
desk.
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