What Happens When The Glen has a Snow Day?
Snow Day Procedures
Now that winter has fully arrived, it is a good time to review The Glen’s winter weather procedures.
Consistency and routine are essential in Montessori. We never choose to change a child’s routine lightly. Inclement weather, however, sometimes makes consistency impossible.
Weather-related delays or closure decisions are generally made by 6:00 AM on the day of a weather event. The two options are:
– 10:00 a.m. start for a weather-related delay, or
– School Closure. The Glen does not offer flexible or remote instruction.
How do we tell Parents about a Delay or Cancellation Due to Weather?
ONE CALL NOW, a rapid communication system, allows us to reach families, faculty, and staff by phone and email quickly and efficiently. Each family/faculty member may enroll up to five phone numbers for the system to contact in case of delays, closures, and emergencies.
Please contact Ms. Luisa if you want to enroll additional phone numbers in the system. Be sure to mark the ONE CALL NOW phone number as one of your Favorites and use an Emergency Bypass so you will hear the notification when it comes through.
Additionally, we also post information with KDKA and WPXI. The Glen will announce any televised delay or closing using its name: “The Glen Montessori School.” (notice the “T”!)
Information will also be available on the school website and social media. We also ask teachers to email their classroom parents directly.
The same ONE CALL NOW procedures are followed for other emergency closings (through the years, we have had to close mid-day for power outages, plumbing issues, etc.). Parents receive a ONE CALL NOW notification and are expected to pick their children up, per the details conveyed in the message, usually within one hour.
Safety
Safety is always our number one priority. All decisions are made based on the information affecting our area at the time. We factor in the current road conditions, temperature, wind chill, and forecast. If roads are impassable or unsafe, we must delay or close for the day, depending on the forecasted conditions.
We consider the safety of students traveling by school bus and those traveling in personal vehicles. While The Glen does not operate transportation for families, many students depend on their home school district to bus them to and from school.
Unlike a public school with a limited geographic area, weather and road conditions can vary widely within the communities and school districts of Glen students. Terrible roads or snow squalls at the school may not be present in Pine Township or even Emsworth. Similarly, horrible conditions could occur across the Ohio River in Moon Township or Crafton, but only a dusting of snow and wind at 950 Perry Highway. In these cases, please trust your judgment on whether it is safe to travel or put your child on a school bus, and communicate with your child’s teacher.
For those students traveling by school bus:
Please remember, if your home school district delays or cancels school, follow their guidelines for transporting your child to and from school that day.