On Oct. 21, the school Board of Education reviewed and approved LT’s new and improved E-learning plan that will be used in replacement of closing school for weather emergencies. 

“We would implement [E-learning] in order to keep our students in our community safe, and so to me, that’s how it benefits the school,” Superintendent Brian Waterman said. “[E-learning is] to be used in a rare case where we don’t feel like it’s safe coming to campus, but it still allows us to continue the education at some level.”

The state of Illinois requires that schools get their E-learning plan approved once a year, Waterman said. This year, the administration built a day into its calendar in case of a weather, or in this case, winter weather emergency; this way a regular snow day can be implemented. However, after that day is used, E-learning will be implemented. 

“We’re always predisposed to be in session because we feel like the best thing to do is to keep in-person learning happening,” Waterman said. “But, with that said, our highest priority is to keep our students and community safe. So what I’ve learned in my career is that every winter weather event is different. For some, the best thing to do is to move forward with in-person learning;[for] other events, it makes more sense from a safety perspective to implement a snow day, and for others, it makes sense to implement a late start schedule. I just have found that everything is different and requires an individual decision.”

On a typical E-learning day, before 9 a.m., teachers are instructed to assign no longer than 48 minute activities for each class, which totals to about five hours and 36 minutes of engagement, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Scott Eggerding said. For students, they’ll need to log in to their Chromebooks at any point of the day, they’ll get an email from the AP office that has a link to a Google Form for attendance, and then they can find and complete their assignments on Canvas. 

“We didn’t make any changes to last year’s plan,” Waterman said. “This is only in the event of a snow emergency or rare cases. We would never just implement E-learning because we think it’s as effective as in-person learning. The most effective way students learn is in person learning from our amazing staff. ”  

For students who happen to lose power or the internet and cannot access technology during these E-learning days, the assignments given are not expected to be completed on the same day they’re given, Waterman said. Students are given a grace period of two days to complete these assignments. 

“I like that snow days are a break from school, [students] can relax and enjoy time off without the stress of classes or homework,” Alex Hermann ‘25 said. “I also love the spontaneity of it because you never know what your plans are for the day, which makes it exciting. And my snow days usually end with spending time with friends doing something fun, which I think is the best part about snow days.”