This is what many think of when we talk about snow days. They are “called” the day before or the morning of a weather event. UPSD has three snow/emergency days built into our calendar, as well as two “make up” days (April 14, then April 18) before adding days to the end of the school year. Unfortunately, we already had to use one of our three emergency days in early September, and another on January 7, so we have one day left to use, if needed at some point during the rest of the school year.  We anticipate “calling” a traditional snow day when weather events would make transportation, face-to-face learning or virtual instruction difficult based upon the circumstances.

Student & Staff Expectations on Traditional Snow Days:

• No school, no work and no assignments - enjoy the day off!
• We may need to make up the day if we use more than three.

The district has been approved by Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) for up to five FID days that can be used in response to a weather event, inoperability of school buses/other equipment necessary to operate school, damage or other circumstance. Students will remain at home and teachers will post student work online to be completed and submitted that day, with support if conditions allow, though learning will be asynchronous in nature. We anticipate using a FID day when expecting “nuisance” weather making travel tricky, but not crippling. A FID day will only be called for the entire UPSD - all five schools on the same day. Teachers will be available at designated times throughout the day to assist with posted work. A FID day counts as a regular school day in the calendar and will not need to be “made-up.” 

Student & Staff Expectations on Flexible Instructional Days:

• Students are expected to check the teacher page(s) in the morning (work will be posted by 9am for MS & HS students and 10am for elementary students). Students should follow instructions for activities and assignments, which must be submitted during the FID day.  
• Teachers will post work by the time listed above, and should be available during office hours to assist students as needed.
• Both instructional staff and non-instructional staff may be expected to work either remotely or in-person, depending on the circumstances, and should check email and/or connect with their supervisor when a FID is called to confirm expectations for the day.

FLEXIBLE INSTRUCTIONAL DAY INFORMATION

Due to COVID-19, individual schools and/or the entire district can use virtual instructional days to provide instruction in a virtual setting, which means students would learn from home with some synchronous learning/“live” instruction with teachers, as well as some asynchronous assigned work. A schedule of classes will be shared with the students in the impacted school(s) when a virtual instructional day is called. We anticipate using a virtual instructional day if issues related to COVID-19 arise, such as shortages of teachers and/or staff, bus drivers or other support staff needed to safely and effectively run an in-person school day, and/or other health related circumstances that makes continuity of education a challenge on a given day/period of time. Virtual instructional days count as a regular school day, and do not need to be made up.

Student & Staff Expectations on Virtual Instructional Days:

• Students are expected to “attend” school virtually with teachers in live Zoom according to prescribed schedule, and be ready to learn most of the day. 
• Teachers will instruct according to a predetermined schedule using Zoom for virtual learning.  
• Instructional staff and non-instructional staff impacted by a Virtual Instructional Day at your school may be expected to work either remotely or in-person, depending on the circumstances, and should check email and/or connect with their supervisor when a Virtual Instruction Day is called to confirm expectations for the day.

VIRTUAL INSTRUCTIONAL DAY INFORMATION/HANDBOOK