Welcome to winter! When it comes to cold and snow and a morning commute, Columbus Academy makes decisions in an independent fashion regarding whether or not to have school even when low temperatures and wind chills compromised the busing from numerous school districts. Here are some guidelines as we enter a season when school closings may happen.
All current families will be notified of any decisions to close or delay school by phone and/or email via our emergency communication system as soon as possible after the final decision has been made. Your contact information has already been automatically entered into our system by our technology team (email techhelp@columbusacademy.org with any questions or concerns). You can also follow the local media sites monitoring school closings: 10TV, NBC4, ABC6/FOX28.
"Cold Days" exist when school districts around us may close due to wind chill factors at the time of bus pick-up. We may or may not make that same decision to close because of the temperature. If we choose to have school on a day when buses do not run from school districts, we hope that you can find an alternative form of transportation. However, your child's safety is most important and the decision about whether or not your child should go to school that day remains, as always, yours as parents. Your child will not be marked unexcused and will face no penalty from being absent from school that day.
In these circumstances, if you plan to be late in getting your child to school or feel that it is safer for your child to be at home, all we ask is that you please call the appropriate division office(s):
Snow days are a little different because decisions to close school are often related to the condition of the roads at the time of the morning commute. In these cases, we may enact "delayed starts" when it appears that the difficulty of getting to school has more to do with the road conditions at an appointed hour than the likelihood that they will be compromised throughout the morning. During delayed starts, we ask that you do not drop your children off early so as to allow Columbus Academy faculty and staff to arrive safely to school. The same allowances for cold-day absences and tardiness will be given for delayed-start days as well.
All of us love traditional "snow" days. The serendipity of found time with our family and the chance to just take a break in the middle of winter is a pleasure of attending school in northern climes for faculty and students. I am sure there will be some in our future!
Enjoy this time of year; it will be gone before we know it.
My best,
Melissa
Head of School
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