Snow Day Extended Learning refers to the practice of assigning work to students to make up for lost learning when school is canceled for reasons such as inclement weather. Each school year as the winter months settle in; schools do their best to prepare for unexpected school cancellations due to inclement weather. While many students might welcome a day off from school, cancellations pose unexpected interruptions to the teaching and learning process. Cancelled school days are added to the end of the school calendar in June, which is not optimal for timely, focused learning experiences. David Ellis Academy West has had an average of 6.1 canceled days a year for snow over the last decade. This not only interrupts the learning for students but adds days to the end of the school year when learning is not as structured as it is in the middle of the school year.
The Snow Day Extended Learning program provides the students of DEA-West with real-time, authentic learning opportunities to replace canceled school days. Teachers provide curriculum-based learning that their students can complete in place of a canceled school day.
Although we firmly believe that the highest form of learning takes place in a classroom with a highly qualified teacher, support staff or specialist, we also acknowledge that days made up at the end of the school calendar are not of the same quality as those that could be offered with extended learning opportunities. Students in the twenty-first century will likely have at least one online class in college, and many will be preparing for employment set in a work-from-home environment. The extended learning opportunities help build a foundation for this type of learning and work production for the students of David Ellis Academy West.
Upon students return to school teachers will assess each student's assignment to provide a grade.
As always, your first line of support will be the classroom teacher, followed by the grade band Academic Assistant principal. Email your student's teacher, and she/he will get back to you. If additional assistance is needed please feel free to reach out to the Academic Assistant Principal.
Educationally Yours,
Marcy Novak Matthew Golusin Kimberleyn Robinson
Pre-K-2nd Grades 3-5 Grade 6-8