LANSDALE  – It’s noon on a school day, and you’re just waking up. You look out the window and see the ground covered in snow. You don’t have to go to school. You don’t have to join a google meet. However, there’s still work to complete. 

Members of the North Penn School District met this past week to discuss the structure of “snow” days this school year. The final decision was to make these days asynchronous, a change from synchronous virtual days last year.

“We want to provide similar opportunities to all of our students. In some cases, learning synchronously is very difficult for students,” said Superintendent Todd Bauer. “Asynchronous learning offers additional flexibility and does not need to be exclusively online learning.” 

Now students don’t have to worry about the constant “connection issues” or falling asleep in the middle of class. They can do the work whenever they may choose. At the same time, teachers don’t have to stare at profile pictures and feel like they’re talking to nobody. For some, they have to also help their own kids with their schoolwork.

“Asynchronous instruction offers staff members more flexibility. Many of our staff members need to worry about their own children learning on a snow day which can pose its own set of challenges,” said Bauer. “Couple that with a need to shovel, plow, and help neighbors and other family members, we believe that asynchronous learning will offer that flexibility.” 

The change will help keep the final day of school from being pushed back later into June. Completing a day of school from the comforts of your home to help limit the number of days we go to school in June will allow a lot of people to be enjoying their summer break earlier. This change is a very important one in the North Penn School District, and one that will benefit the lives of many students, teachers, and families.