The snow is falling outside, layering the ground in a fluffy white blanket. The smell of pancakes wafts up to the second floor, and your blankets are so warm and comfortable that you want to fall back asleep, one of the many benefits of a snow day. Then you remember you can’t, because you go to Abington Heights, and snow days are being replaced with virtual days. You get ready for school, knowing that as you stare at a screen in 43 minute increments, trying to listen to your teacher talk through staticky audio and unstable wifi, your friends from other districts will be spending the day skiing, or building snowmen with their younger siblings.

Virtual schooling was a great solution to the problems that the COVID-19 pandemic posed, however, the time for that has passed. While it was an effective way to teach students from the safety of their own homes, it can not do the same in unannounced, one day spurts when both students and teachers were unprepared for a virtual day. Even if both parties involved were given a warning, the science classes might have been conducting an experiment, which would not be able to continue remotely or needed the additional 28 minutes that the lab classes offered. The teachers who had tests planned would have to push them back a day and attempt to find filler work, or conduct the exams virtually at the risk of students cheating. 

When virtual days are sprung on students quickly and without warning, many do not have the materials they need to continue assignments and projects they had been working on in class. They might not have the notebooks they take notes in, and would not be able to record important information from their teachers. This goes both ways. The teachers might not have been warned beforehand, and could have left lesson plans and other materials at the school. They’d have had in person lessons planned, or even a substitute for the class, meaning that they would not be able to meet virtually, wasting a day of school. 

The internet connection is another obstacle that virtual learning presents. Many people have unstable connections, causing their audios and videos to lag or cut out, and sometimes even kicking them off calls. This means that even when students are on calls, they don’t know what is going on and do not benefit at all from the experience. It results in 43 minutes spent staring at a screen in confusion, wasting time that could have been spent on other activities. Teachers might suffer the same problems, being unable to properly communicate with their classes and effectively teach what they hoped. Sometimes classes are unable to meet, due to varying circumstances. When this happens, a filler activity is typically posted, but it is often something that had already been covered in class, leaving little room for benefits. Other times, assignments previously started can not be continued, pushing the classes behind schedule and leaving them less time to complete what they need. 

If a snow day was called in place of a virtual day, these problems could be avoided. Rather than trying to learn or teach something to a class that might not be able to receive messages, students and faculty would be able to take a day off to rest and mentally relax, leaving them better energized for the next day of school. Teachers wouldn’t have to waste a day trying to teach something, only to have to reteach it again in person, and would instead be able to resume where they left off once classes picked up. Although a snow day would mean that summer break was pushed back a day, students would not have to spend the next week trying to catch up and cram whatever they were supposed to learn on a virtual day. People would not have to worry about the materials they left in school, or what they missed when their wifi cut out, and would instead catch up on much-needed sleep. 

Virtual days might seem like an easy solution to a common problem, but typically end up creating more problems than they solve. While it is appealing to learn from home and not shorten our breaks, it is much more beneficial to just accept that our summer break might be shortened in exchange for a better learning experience.