Greetings UTSC Families,
We want to inform and remind families of our inclement weather protocols, school closures, and the updated eLearning guidance from the State of Indiana. As many of you know, the timing and intensity of Indiana weather can be difficult to predict, and this winter is forecasted to bring significant snowfall and precipitation. We understand that these conditions can impact travel to and from school in ways that vary across our district and throughout unincorporated Porter County.
Please know that UTSC makes all delay and cancellation decisions with student safety as our top priority. We monitor weather conditions closely and collaborate with local officials to ensure our decisions are made with the most accurate and timely information available. We truly appreciate your patience, understanding, and support on these days.
At the same time, we respect that parents and guardians are best positioned to make safety decisions for their children. If you feel that road conditions in your area are unsafe, you always have the option to keep your child home, even if school remains open. Thank you for your partnership as we navigate another Indiana winter together. Your support helps us keep students safe and learning, no matter what the weather brings.
Below, please see our options should school close due to inclement weather or another unforeseen circumstance.
Option 1: Traditional Snow-Day where students are off of school and the day is made up on one of our built-in calendar snow days.
Option 2: Traditional (asynchronous) eLearning Day where students obtain activities and assignments from their teacher and work independently. Under the new state guidelines, each school corporation is only allowed three of these days and we have two of these days left to utilize.
Option 3: Live/Virtual (synchronous) eLearning Day. The State of Indiana passed a new law that requires schools to provide at least 50% live instruction on any subsequent days past the three traditional eLearning days in Option 2. To be in compliance with the guidance of this option, students will be online live/virtually with their teachers for approximately half of the school day. This will be accomplished through a live Google Meet link located in Canvas. JSE/UCE, UTMS, and WHS will follow a specific schedule aligned with their typical daily schedule and appropriate for the building level. We understand that it may not be possible for some students to log in and follow along online on an inclement weather day, especially for our elementary students. Therefore, teachers will make accommodations either through recorded lessons or other arranged means.
While our tentative plan is to utilize Option 1 and 2 first, we want our families to be aware of all options available to our corporation. Each school building will relay a schedule and expectations for eLearning option 2 and 3 in future communications if one of these options is utilized.
2 Hour Delay Schedule: No Breakfast Served
WHS and UTMS start at 9:45am
UCE and JSE start at 10:50am
We would also like to remind all families to ensure their contact information including email and phone numbers are up to date in Harmony. Families may receive alerts through email, text message, UTSC website and Facebook.