Private Schools Should Make Their Own Weather Decisions

[Anonymous]

I have kids at 3 different privates and they finally came to their senses and unhooked from ridiculous MCPS. They all are back in school today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they could follow the county for the first 3 days. After that private schools do not have the same issues as publics---namely buses and large geographical boundaries.

I agree with you but some have buses and most pull students from large geographical areas. What they don't have is hundreds of different parking lots and adjacent sidewalks to worry about, just their own. They also don't have staff people assigned to monitor the situation in every area their students are traveling from, which is why it may make sense to follow the public system for the 1st couple of days anyway.

Then why do some privates do their own thing? It must not be that hard. Baltimore area privates pull from large areas and also run busses and many do their own thing. Glenelg Country in HoCo draws from a large area and also has their own busses and they do their own thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at 3 different privates and they finally came to their senses and unhooked from ridiculous MCPS. They all are back in school today.

You're lucky! I have kids at 2 different privates - one private went back last week and one private is still out because they follow MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Yep, my kid attends a Baltimore private and they have been back since last Wednesday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they could follow the county for the first 3 days. After that private schools do not have the same issues as publics---namely buses and large geographical boundaries.

I agree with you but some have buses and most pull students from large geographical areas. What they don't have is hundreds of different parking lots and adjacent sidewalks to worry about, just their own. They also don't have staff people assigned to monitor the situation in every area their students are traveling from, which is why it may make sense to follow the public system for the 1st couple of days anyway.

Then why do some privates do their own thing? It must not be that hard. Baltimore area privates pull from large areas and also run busses and many do their own thing. Glenelg Country in HoCo draws from a large area and also has their own busses and they do their own thing.

Some are more willing to take on the risk of a wrong decision themselves and others would prefer to put the risk on the anonymous public school system? I'm just guessing, I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Private school on a major road - still out today because they're tied to MCPS (at least they're doing virtual assignments). But by Thursday last week all sports were practicing, parking lots and even sports fields completely clear of snow, but no school because...following MCPS is paramount??

[Anonymous]

Norwood went back Thursday with a 2 hr delay and is back to normal operations. It's been easy given the lack of traffic...The roads, though are nuts. Exits on Clara Barton were never plowed. Two lanes abruptly narrow to one with an ice boulder on each side. Turning aprons are filled. I haven't seen a plow anywhere in Bethesda since Wednesday. Erlich and the County DOT really sh*t the bed.

[Anonymous]

Our private high schools follows MOCO. It's a bit frustrating for those of us in DC. But, I believe they follow MOCO because kids and teachers come from way out in VA and MD to attend and can't get to the school.

[Anonymous]

I’m fine with our school following their documented policy, which should not strike any parents as a surprise. Our school has no buses, but plenty of walkers, and we pull from several neighboring communities, too, so I’m not sure what universal criteria they would use to make the decision that would make everyone happy. We are doing asynchronous learning, so the kids are still engaged and moving forward.

If the policy needs to change in the future, so be it, but I knew what to expect in August for better or worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To those with kids at private schools in the area that are already back, would you mind listing the school and when?

Norwood had a 2 hour delay on Thursday and was back to normal starting Friday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else frustrated that their private school follows the county public schools for weather related closures? It seems to me you can certainly take guidance from what the local county decides but in the end make your own decisions. The private schools that make their own calls went back last week with 2-hour delays and this makes sense for those privates. I fully understand the decisions the public schools have had to make but the privates that follow MoCo in particular are now paying the price of not doing their own thing.

Our private in Maryland has been open since last Thursday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they could follow the county for the first 3 days. After that private schools do not have the same issues as publics---namely buses and large geographical boundaries.

They do pull from a large area, the difference is parents are already providing transportation to school so it is not a burden to ask parents to drive their kid to school.

[Anonymous]

Our small private in Arlington near public transport doesn't have buses, so we opened again today. But I totally understand any school that's less urban and/or has buses being careful.

[Anonymous]

Our private follows our county, but they had sent out an email over the weekend saying that starting tomorrow we'd be back no matter what the county does. Fortunately our county is a two hour delay today, so that's what we're doing too, but I was glad to see the school was willing to pivot when it made sense.

[Anonymous]

SSSAS pivoted from a planned 2-hour delay to remote learning again on Thursday and then opened on time Friday (and today).

Based on the roads in on Friday morning, I think they made a good call. But they are also pretty good at managing remote learning and making it pretty effective, at least for US. Not as good as in-person, but not bad.