Online school and snow days loom over the SHA Community

In preparation for the upcoming winter that is approaching Louisville, Sacred Heart Academy has taken many precautions to make sure the school year will not be altered. In order to avoid the extension of the year, SHA administration is complying with the Archdiocese policy of adding online school on snow days to prevent an extended school year and keep continuity in the education of the the students.

The choice of adding online schooling was made since “we had so many snow days last year and it was very difficult to make it up,” stated our principal, Mrs. McCoy. “At Sacred Heart, we have three snow days built in. So, you’ll get those three snow days then if we have more snow days than that, we will go to online school while you are at home on that day,” McCoy adds. “Mercy started on the first [snow] day, because they had no days built in, it just depends on the school, but all of the high schools are going to it.”

We are only allowed 5 days of online schooling. If we go beyond that, then we will have to make up those days at the end of the year which is exactly what we are “trying to avoid,” states Mrs. McCoy. If we happen to have another snow day before finals, it will be built-in and no online schooling will be required. Contrary to popular belief, seniors will have to make up the school days if SHA ends up exceeding the online school 5-day limit.

When asked about the expectations from the faculty, McCoy responded by saying that “the idea is that the teachers will get up on the morning of the snow day and they will put online something for students to do that is right in line with what is going on in class.” Teachers have the choice to post podcasts, Power Points, homework, or anything of that sort for students to complete.

The work will only take up to 30-60 minutes, depending on the course. The teachers will be available through email between 10a.m. and 6p.m. to answer any questions on the assignment. Students are expected to have the work complete by the time they return to that class or turn it into Plus Portals the day it was assigned. If a student is sick during the snow day, a parent must call in to inform the school and then regular sick-day attendance will apply.

When asked about her thoughts on online school, freshman Lauren Hoffman stated that she likes the idea because “we don’t have to go to school [extra days] during summer break.” Another freshman, Kiley Polk, thinks that it “will be really hard turning in things to the portal.”

When senior Jordan Wood found out about this she found it to be “a little frustrating and almost unnecessary.” Now that the extension of school in the summer has come to play for seniors, Wood stated that she would “rather have online schooling.” Another senior, Emma Hundley, added that “it is absolutely ridiculous. I feel that snow days are for having fun with your friends of drinking hot chocolate when you’re stuck inside. I do not think you should sit and do school-work when there’s no school.”

Whether you agree with online schooling or not, it has been designed to help prevent changing the graduation date and the date of the last day of school.