It's all in the bag!

The weather across the country has created an issue with calamity days (for those states that have them) in the state of Ohio.  The days missed and days required to complete a school year as required by law are having a trickle effect on the school calendar.

To tackle the issue of days missed the Hilliard City Schools opted to implement a concept introduced by the Ohio Department of Education in 2011, Blizzard Bags.  To have a successful implementation, our district leadership disseminated specific directions to building level administrators in which they shared with building staff, specifically the teaching staff who would be responsible for creating these assignments. And, as equally significant, a district message was sent to each home.  That can be read here.  

They keys to the effectiveness of the Blizzard Bag rollout was also captured in a letter I sent home to my parents the day before we anticipated being closed.  

Weaver Parents –

Teachers have been working hard to prepare Blizzard Bags in the event they are needed. While teachers make content available online in a variety of ways, WMS students can all start with the Teacher Webpages to locate their teachers' content. Click here or go to the Weaver Web Site (http://wms.hilliardschools.org/) and click on Teacher Webpages. 

Each Blizzard Bag will provide approximately 20 minutes of work per class. The student will have 2 weeks to complete the work. If a student does not have internet access, paper copies of the assignment will be made available by their classroom teacher. 

For additional information about the district's implementation of blizzard bags, please see this message from Superintendent John Marschhausen.

Thank you in advance!

Mr. Vroom

The call to cancel came in Wednesday morning and so the process began.  The true test was about to unfold.

From the early feedback we have received, overall our first attempt was a success.  Where there were issues, we will communicate with our colleagues to correct them.  We acknowledge them and we grow. Where there was success, we share that too so others can incorporate.

And in my home, from age 4-13, my kids spent the day growing as learners on a day that in the past was a day missed from instruction.