From preschool to senior year, snow days have always held a dear place in the hearts of students. The anticipation of whether or not your parents would come into your room early in the morning and say school was canceled was a feeling like no other. However, the stress of catching up with work before school ended cancels out the joy, which raises an important question: Should we make up for the snow days we lost? 

Head of Upper School Katie O’Shaughnessey believes that it is unnecessary. However, the number of days lost matters. “I think there’s a world in which a school has the responsibility to make up for educational time. When we think about making up academic time, the context matters,” she said. “And when I talk to teachers, they still feel that they can meet their curricular goals for the year and they have adjusted timelines to make up for the lost days. So at this point, I don’t anticipate that we will make up for the snow days.” However, she also expresses that if a fifth snow day were to happen, PDS would have to add an extra day to make up for the lost academic time. 

Junior Jaylen Peng says, “Snow days are a nice break from everything. The best part about them is that they are spontaneous. So far, most of my work has not been unbearable and it wasn’t too difficult to get back on track.” Most students agree with Jaylen’s statement. However, it is still important to find a balance between having fun and having enough time dedicated to being successful in school.