When Inclement Weather Threatens APS

Colder temperatures and severe weather are approaching Atlanta already. As I do every year around this time, I am reminding everyone in the Atlanta Public Schools community to be safe in the coming weeks. I also want to re-share the district’s action plans – how we go about our decision-making process for weather-related school delays and closings and how we promote the learning process even when our kids cannot make it to school.

Safety is always our top priority, but, as educators, we know that students who miss multiple school days could suffer learning loss in their subject areas. That’s why it’s so important in times when schools are closed due to inclement weather that we not only protect our students and keep them safe, but we must also find ways to protect the valuable instructional time our students need to master the curriculum at hand.

In this age of technology and online access, a day without school should not have to be a day without learning. That’s why we launched APS WeatherWise, our new online learning platform that helps prevent learning loss by supplementing missed classroom time. I wrote about it extensively when we launched that initiative in February, so please review that blog again.

I have also addressed our weather procedures on this blog in the past, detailing the decision process about when we close school operations should weather conditions impede a safe school day. You can review that post here. Although it was written in expectations of wintry weather, it applies all year long.

Finally, I encourage you to log in to the campus portal for parents and update your preferences for emergency notifications, which include robo-calls, text messages and e-mails at http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/CPP. And follow me on Twitter @CarstarphenMJ.

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