JACKSON — A recent spate of bad weather that caused students in the Jackson School District to miss two days of instruction will not have an impact on the end of the 2013-14 school year.
District administrators announced on Jan. 9 that two days that were previously designated as days off for students will now be regular instruction days.
Schools in Jackson were closed on Dec. 10 and Jan. 3 as a result of snowstorms that hit the area.
District Coordinator of Communications Allison Erwin said students will now be in class on Jan. 31, which was previously a high school transition day, and Feb. 14, which was previously a professional development day.
Both days were needed, according to Erwin, after the district switched to a block scheduling format.
She said high school transition days are used by teachers to prepare for the next portion of the year, when they receive new students and other arrangements are needed.
On those days, the rest of the school district closes and uses the high school transition day as a professional development day.
Professional development days are set aside for teachers and faculty members to acquaint themselves with new technology in the classroom and get up to speed on other initiatives.
“All things being equal, we would like to have kept both the transition day and the professional development day, but given the fact it is early in January and we have already had two snow days, we thought the best plan of action was to use those days to preserve the pacing and timing of the marking period,” Erwin said. “There are a great many expectations on our students, every day counts.”
— Andrew Martins