Praying for snow?

Yesterday’s brief snow shower was a wonderful foretaste of the delights of winter in New Mexico. If we do have an El Nino winter it is likely we will days of snowy weather. School closures and delays are the purview of APS leadership and not of school principals although I had a number of excited students ask me if I was going to declare a snow day on Friday. It was a joy to see the excited looks on the faces of students and staff alike at the prospects of a snow storm. It was a reminder to me that no matter our age, a snow storm still evokes a child’s sense of excitement and wonder.

That being said, in the event of snow, most parents know to turn on the local TV or radio stations to check for closures or delays. If we have a two-hour delay, we will use our abbreviated day schedule which is on page 4 of your student’s agenda. The cafeteria will begin serving breakfast at 10:00 am. The first bell will ring at 10:15 and classes will begin at 10:20. All classes will be 34 rather than 50 minutes long. Each class will meet. Lunches will be 30 minutes long as usual. Students will be dismissed at the regular time of 3:08.

Whether we have any snow days remains to be seen. What is certain is that even though our highest courts have told us prayer is forbidden in school, yesterday there were more than a few Thunderbirds praying for snow. “The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?” -- J.B Priestley