Why We Shouldn't Cancel the Snow Day

Do you remember the magic of a snow day? For many kids, few things are more exciting than waking up to see your school on the “closed” list. For parents, the excuse to stay home and spend time with family is often a welcome respite from the daily grind even when the driveway needs to be shoveled.

We need to find a way to preserve the magic that happens when everything closes because the outside is covered in a blanket of white. Due to the rise of distance learning and remote work, snow days may soon become a distant memory. 

We now have the tools and technology to learn and work from anywhere, but does that mean we always should? As a strong advocate for educational technology, a former elementary school teacher, and a mom of teenagers, I am raising my hand in defense of snow days. We need them now more than ever.

Much like the pandemic has forced us to slow down, snow days are Mother Nature’s way of slowing life down for kids, parents and educators. Here are three reasons I believe snow days are essential — during a pandemic and always.

Kelly Keane is the director of the Educational Technology program at Loyola University Maryland’s School of Education. She can be reached at kjkeane@loyola.edu.