It’s that time of year we have all been dreading. With the cold air settling in, the walk into Highland Park High School seems to last forever in the winter. Thankfully, winter brings more than just cold air; it brings the possibility of snow days!
Since COVID-19, what used to be a day off for students has now turned into an online e-learning day. E-learning days allow students to complete their work from home on an asynchronous schedule, keeping them up to date on their classwork while simultaneously staying warm at home. This plan represents the ideal weather-oriented issued day off.
Assistant principal Matthew Wallace highlighted the benefits of e-learning, providing insight into the administration’s decision-making. He noted that it allows the school to stay on schedule while also accommodating students who have other priorities at home.
“If older high school students have to take care of their younger siblings that day, the asynchronous nature makes it so [they] can still get [school work] accomplished,” Wallace said.
Wallace added that although e-learning may not be as effective as in-person learning, it keeps the overall school schedule on track, ensuring that no extra days need to be added to the schedule due to emergency snow days.
While this plan is ideal for the staff, it is also very accommodating and seemingly beneficial among the HPHS students. Highland Park High School sophomore Sam Jones agreed, noting that e-learning has some stellar benefits compared to snow days.
“I don’t like snow days because you add a day to the end of the year rather than e-learning because I can do my work over the weekend,” Jones said.
E-learning provides students with flexibility to complete assignments on their own schedule, while still allowing them the benefits of snow days—time off from school and a day spent at home to relax.
However, Sophomore Chloe Boron remarked that she was missing snow days, and how learning at home is very inefficient, especially because of the lack of instructional time gained with teachers.
“Snow days are much more effective than e-learning because most students do not do their e-learning work properly,” Boron said. “It is much more efficient for the schools to just add on an extra school day because it makes for more quality learning time rather than the unhelpful busy work assigned on e-learning days.”
Not only do snow days allow students to have fun without worrying about doing their work, but they also allow learning to be more beneficial in class. Having a teacher there to help makes the time spent on work a lot more productive, as well as decreasing distractions.
Although snow days have their benefits, is e-learning better? Does trading sleds and hot chocolate for Google Classroom and Schoology really make winter storms less magical?
The answer is the same as all other things in high school: it depends on who you ask. For administrators, e-learning keeps the calendar on track as well as classes on schedule. For some students, it’s very flexible, allowing them to balance responsibilities at home and classwork. For others, it is like a snow day in disguise, just without the fun.
The snow day has evolved, transforming from a day full of sledding into an at-home desk work day. At the end of the day, whether you prefer e-learning or snow days, winter at HPHS is always something to look forward to.
When you bundle up and brace yourself for what the weather brings, remember that even if snow days look different now, the excitement of waking up to a winter wonderland will never need Wi-fi.