2023-2024 | Weather-related School Closings
School Closing Procedures
2023-2024
In circumstances where inclement weather compels the SAU to close schools, these closures will serve as either a "good old-fashioned snow day" or a "remote learning" day for students and teachers.
In the case of a remote learning day: Each school will craft appropriate schedules and expectations for students, teachers, and parents. Students and teachers will participate in various synchronous and supported asynchronous learning activities per the school's schedule.
Delays or Early Release- delayed openings or early release from school will result in an abbreviated in-person schedule for teachers and students. These schedules will be communicated at the building-level.
Closing school is among the hardest (and most public) decisions a superintendent and team have to make. Student safety is always the primary concern. We also consider that students and families rely not only the opportunities and enrichment of education, but on the stability it provides. Additionally, we are fully cognizant that delays, early releases, and closings impact adult schedules.
When we suspect weather might be an issue, an intricate process begins "behind the scenes." The previous evening, the team is put on alert and asked to have their phones with them and to prepare for early communications. At around 4am, SAU and district personnel begin texting and chatting about the road conditions and what will be best for students and employees. We also reach out to road agents and colleagues (other local school decision makers). We closely monitor WMUR, AccuWeather, NOAA, and other radars; the forecast heavily influences the ultimate decision. In the our districts, the first buses are typically on the road by about 6am and employees are pre-tripping buses up to an hour before that (depending on the weather). With information and forecasts in hand, the goal is to come to a conclusion about school cancellation by approximately 5:30am. It is a very collaborative and communicative process, but in the end it is the superintendent's decision.
Sometimes forecasts are not correct (a benefit of living in New England) and we have to deal with wintry road conditions. Our bus drivers are all very well trained and take every precaution in ensuring student safety. We will continue to strive to make the best decisions we can. Thank you for your understanding and support of our schools.
School Closing - additional information
SAU #46 Schools Are Closed:
All schools will be closed for the day
All meetings, field trips, after-school activities will be cancelled for the day
SAU #46 Schools Are Delayed - 2 Hour Delay:
All schools will open two hours later than typical start time
Depending on weather and participating school status, after-school and extracurricular activities may be impacted
SAU #46 Schools Are Released Early - 2 Hour Early Release:
All schools will close two hours earlier than typical end time
All meetings, after-school activities and extracurricular activities are cancelled for the day
School Closing Announcements and Notifications
WMUR News9 Weather - online and TV channel
Rapid / Mass Alert Notification - through Alma, the District's Student Information System (SIS). Alma alerts are sent as either an email or SMS message (text). Emergency messages come from the following numbers:503-946-XXXX (5333, 5323, 5221, 5267, 5167, 5332, 5306, 5240, 5186, 5154). More information is included in the dropdown "Additional Information about Alma" below
Additional Information about Alma
Messages will only send as a text message when a user has confirmed that setting , otherwise it will be sent via phone call (a phone call is the default setting for Alma accounts)
Phone Calls:
All emergency messaging is done through an automated computer voice.
If the same number is listed for multiple users, the number will only be called once.
The first number listed for each user is the number that will be called. The same applies to email addresses. Only the first email listed will receive a message.
Emergency messages come from the following numbers:
503-946-XXXX (5333, 5323, 5221, 5267, 5167, 5332, 5306, 5240, 5186, 5154)
Text Messages:
The first number listed with "can SMS" checked will receive a text message.
If an emergency message is longer than a standard text message (as determined by a user’s phone/carrier), corresponding text messages will be split into several different messages or converted to an MMS to accommodate the length.
Emergency messages received via text will come from the following numbers:
503-946-XXXX (5333, 5323, 5221, 5267, 5167, 5332, 5306, 5240, 5186, 5154)
User Settings for Organization-wide Alerts
Each user can determine if they wish to receive emergency messages via phone call or text message. To change your setting hover over your name and click “notification preferences.”
• Merrimack Valley School District •
• 105 Community Drive • Penacook, NH 03303 • 603.753.6561 (phone) • 603.753.6023 (fax)