Since the beginning of 2025, Montgomery County has been experiencing a lot of snow fall, leading to frequent school closures and the cancellation of after school activities. How have school schedules been impacted by these interruptions? How have RM students and teachers been spending their time on these unexpected days off? How do they feel about the breaks in the middle of the academic year?
Snow days can significantly impact teachers and students by disrupting lesson plans, slowing momentum in learning and causing difficulties adjusting to a regular routine upon returning to school. Teachers often need to adapt their schedules and be flexible to accommodate snow days.
“Teachers are definitely required to be flexible,” math teacher Hannah Vogel said. “You make plans and then you have to change your plans.”
Students may initially enjoy the idea of an unexpected day off, but may find it difficult to get back on track when school resumes. The destruction in routine can make it harder to retain information, and with multiple snow days in a row, it can become even more challenging to stay on top of coursework.
“The week where we had three snow days, it kind of got inconvenient ‘cause all of my quizzes were pushed to the same two days,” freshman Alicia Chu said.
Many students share frustration of returning to school only to face an increased workload, as major assignments and tests are often rescheduled for the same time. This creates a more stressful environment, especially for students in more advanced courses such as AP or IB classes, where teachers are forced to rush or even skip through several lessons to be able to catch up with the school curriculum.
Even though schedules of both students and teachers have been impacted, RM has overall had a positive reaction to the extra days off throughout the past two winter months and the extra amount of free time.
“I definitely sleep late. That’s my favorite thing. I use [the snow day] to catch up on grading or catch up on lesson planning. I also do fun things. I have a lot of hobbies. I like to do puzzles and I like to sew,” Ms. Vogel said.
Students and teachers have more time to focus on activities they enjoy which is a lot more difficult during a typical, busy week of school. For some students, snow days provide valuable time to study and prepare for upcoming assignments and exams. “I usually call my friends and study for future quizzes,” Chu said.
Days off allow students and teachers to take a break and relax. Having a break in the middle of the week gives students more opportunities to study, catch up on homework and come back to school ready to learn more.
“I kind of enjoy the extra days off,” junior Sarah Foote said. “I actually prefer days taken away from the middle of the year more than summer break. I just feel like it’s more refreshing to have a few days off.”
