With wind, cold temperatures, and snow having already fallen in our county, it’s a good time to review how decisions are made about delaying or closing school.
Kristy Tritapoe, assistant superintendent and director of transportation, and I first keep a good watch on weather forecasts. The West Virginia Watch Center of the West Virginia Emergency Management Division provides weather briefings and timely information the evening prior and the following morning of anticipated precipitation. Other local forecasts are also closely monitored. Additional steps include communication with near-by superintendents, the department of highways, other transportation directors, and citizens throughout the county. Personal weather stations (Weather Underground) provide temperatures, wind speed, and radar reports for the entire county.
Announcements are sent out through social media, emails, text messages, radio stations, and television stations. If a person does not receive a call, please contact the child’s school to ensure that one will be added to the contact lists.
Each winter, the school system can use five “Non-Traditional Instructional Days,” or NTIDs for weather related cancellations. “Summer Saver Days” is also a name that Pendleton County Schools use for these days. Students should now know how to access the first instructional materials; please ask one’s student about this. If one’s child is unsure of how to access the first “Summer Saver” lessons, please contact their teacher through Rooms. These lessons will be graded on Pendleton County Schools grading criteria; individual classroom teachers may use grading criteria such as rubrics that are established prior to the NTID. Students have two days to work on these assigned lessons with all work being turned in on the third day back from the closure of school. As NTID are instructional days that do not need to be made up later in the school year, Pendleton County Schools will utilize this option first when needing to close school.
Questions and insights are welcome. Please feel free to contact me (nh******@****wv.us) or Tritapoe (kr*************@****wv.us).
