COLORADO SPRINGS — With schools having e-learning options now, snow days are looking a bit different for many kids.
Many students in School Districts 11, 20 and 49 were told they’d still need to attend class virtually Tuesday.
Despite that, News 5 still found dozens of kids at Cottonwood Creek Park Tuesday with their sleds, trash can lids, inner tubes, even snowboards--making the most of the snowy weather.
“Well it’s a snow day… it’s snowing a lot,” middle school student Greyson Wise said. “And why not sled?"
Wise and his family spent the better part of Tuesday morning sledding at the park.
“Even though it’s snowing, we still have to do some work,” Wise said.
School was still in session for him, despite Tuesday’s weather.
“Snow days during a pandemic look drastically different than they did--for some students,” Academy School District 20 spokesperson Allison Cortez said.
Districts like D20, D11 and D49 all called for many or all of their students to take Tuesday as an e-learning day, rather than a full day off.
“E-learning was actually something we had actually started thinking about years ago,” Cortez said.
In Colorado, the state requires schools to have students in class a set number of minutes each school year.
“And if we go over there’s no penalty, but if we go under, we do have to build time into the calendar at the end of the school year,” Colorado Springs School District 11 spokesperson Devra Ashby said.
But even though school was technically in session Tuesday, those kids sledding at the park weren’t necessarily playing hooky
“A lot of our teachers are opting to have students do independent learning today,” Ashby said. “So they can knock out their school work and still be able to go sledding.”
“I just had to do a few assignments,” Wise said.
Days like this one can also be a learning opportunity.
“One of the teachers I just recently spoke to today,” Cortez said. “She’s developing assignments where she takes them and says go outside and I want you to find these elements for our assignment.”
Sure, snow days may operate a little different now.
“I’m okay with it. I think it’s necessary,” Wise said.
But for kids like Wise, when snow falls, gravity will always still call.
“It was fast, it was fun,” he said.
