Next semester, Leyden will be one of the three schools in the state of Illinois to use E-Learning Days during school closings. This will avoid adding on school days at the end of the year and avoid interruptions to instruction.

In electronic and mail messages to families, East Leyden principal Mr. Jason Markey explained, “If we have to cancel a school day due to snow, cold, or any other issue we could still count that day as an official school day by having students and teachers communicate via the web to continue the learning from their homes.” The pilot program will begin next semester for extreme weather conditions, and it will go on for three years.

The E-learning Days however, will not always occur when Leyden cancels school. If it can be determined early enough to close school due to weather conditions, then a notification to students and teachers, whether it’d be via email, Twitter, or phone call, will be sent to prompt the E-learning day, usually by 8 PM the night before. If it’s too late to determine, we get a normal snow day. Once the day comes, students will have to check in for attendance through a Google form. Check-ins must be taken before 1 PM to count as present. Students will also receive emails from teachers on what the day’s assignments are by 9 AM.

“I want the old snow days back,” said one freshman about E-learning Days. “I don’t want to sit in front of a computer the whole day. I want to go snowboarding or just play xbox while I’m at home.” This appears to be a common misunderstanding of what these days will be like.

Teachers have been asked not to overwhelm students with work. “You should not expect students to complete 48 minutes of classwork and 30 minutes of homework for each class,” superintendent, Dr. Nick Polyak tells staff in a letter about expectations and notes. Luckily for students, this means there’s still time to have snowball fights and hot cocoa.

“I think it’s easy enough to sign in,” said Jodi Dubrock, a junior who is a part of the E-Learning Day committee. “So as long as you sign in, you’re present for the day, and then it’s up to the students whether they want to do the work or not.” Although many kids are not happy with having to work during a snow day, Dubrock believes that most students are ready for the new program.

Teachers are also not expected to be available and in constant communication with students throughout the whole day. Times may be set up with students can contact their teachers.

Connectivity will be given students who do not have Wifi at home to ensure that they do not miss out on class activities during the E-Learning Days. If any problem comes up, Leyden’s technology staff and the administration will be available to be contacted.

The efforts to become a pilot school started about a year ago when legislators began considering the idea of virtual snow days. Dr.Polyak organized a committee including administration, teachers, and several students, which in turn prepared our application to the state. The committee had to consider and develop answers to questions about how the days would operate, including the procedures to take attendance, to provide modifications for students who may need it (such as wifi), and how to ensure that the learning is moving forward.

“We felt like we were able to answer all of things in the application,” Mr. Markey said, and thus, we were approved. The other two schools taking part in the pilot is West Chicago and Gurnee Elementary District.

Benefits of the E-Learning Days include avoiding having to add on schools days at the end of the year. “It complicates our schedule,” Mr. Markey said. “People would want to know when school would end, so they can plan their vacation. Also it helps make sure we have days before major benchmarks like AP exams. It doesn’t help to make up to those after the exams have already taken place.”

“My hope would be that we look at it as an opportunity and as an advantage,” shared Mr. Markey. “I hope that we continue to push forward with our learning and help students become more successful.”