Children Love Snow Days. The Pandemic May End Them Forever. [View all]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/nyregion/nyc-schools-snow-days.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Children Love Snow Days. The Pandemic May End Them Forever.
In New York City and elsewhere, classes will be held online no matter how bad storms are this year in a shift that makes some parents wistful.

“Snow day.” These two words have charmed New York children for generations, conjuring thoughts of sledding down Central Park’s Pilgrim Hill or building snowmen at Forest Park in Queens; of strapping on ice skates and heating up hot chocolate.

But as school districts adapt to the pandemic by moving classes online, the ability to teach and learn remotely could make the beloved snow day a thing of the past. In New York City, the season’s first big snowfall, which is expected to begin blanketing the streets on Wednesday, will simply mean another day of school in front of a screen for students.

The city’s school system, the nation’s largest, is one of many districts across the United States that plan to forgo the tradition of canceling classes in response to heavy snow this year. Instead, schools are preparing for the now-familiar routine of logging on for virtual lessons, plowing ahead remotely even when winter weather hits.

The shift could be permanent. School leaders in several areas, including the city, are considering whether to continue the online approach to snow days even after most students fully return to in-person learning after the virus has been curbed.


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Still, with the virus already depriving students of several other traditions — a typical back-to-school, prom, graduation — some parents said they planned to declare their own snow day on Thursday if, as predicted, some parts of the region get more than a foot of snow.

Sarah Allen, a parent in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, said if streets near her home are coated, her four children will not be attending classes as usual.

“I felt like no matter what kind of learning we’re doing this year,” she said, “this isn’t something that needs to be taken away from kids who have already lost a lot, ranging from not being able to see friends to losing parents to Covid.”