Dear Clarence School Family,

I wanted to let you know that because of the predicted winter storm, we will be closed for school tomorrow (Friday, November 18). Additionally, our facilities will also be closed on Saturday, November 19, and as a result, all scheduled activities will therefore be cancelled.

However, because we do not anticipate the snow hitting Clarence until later this evening, we will hold all after school and evening activities as scheduled tonight—including our High School play, The Play That Goes Wrong. (The Friday and Saturday performances will be rescheduled to this coming Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.)

Finally, instead of my usual Friday email, I thought I would focus this message on how we approach school cancellations because of unsafe weather conditions, and then pass along a handful of additional updates on Tuesday before we turn our focus to Thanksgiving. 

How do you decide whether to cancel or delay school?

Closing school is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make. While we want our students in school each day, the reality is that we live in Western New York and the weather can change very quickly. Decisions to cancel or delay school are made very carefully, and only after consulting weather resources, local highway departments, our transportation supervisor, and area school administrators. 

How will I know if there is a weather-related cancellation or delay?

In the event of a closing or a cancellation, I will send out a notification over our Phone Call/Email/Text system, and we will also post the information on our school homepage as well as our Twitter account. In addition, the information will also be communicated via Buffalo TV and radio stations. (WBEN, Channels 2, 4, and 7.) To give parents enough time to make needed childcare arrangements, I will try to communicate cancellation decisions as close to 6:00 a.m. as possible.

Will snow days be replaced with remote learning days?

You may have seen that certain schools around the country have abandoned or rethought traditional snow days because of advances in online learning. However, at this point in time, Clarence will not be asking students or staff members to engage in remote learning if school is cancelled due to weather. Instead, we would encourage individuals to spend a quiet day playing in the snow, reading a good book, or watching a favorite movie.

Stay warm, be safe, and have a great weekend, Red Devils.

Matt Frahm, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools