Loudoun Schools Dais

Schools Will Open One Hour Late Tomorrow

Unless we get a serious amount of snow today, schools will open one hour late tomorrow. The school property should be accessible, but its up to VDOT, parents, and concerned neigbors to make sure the approaches to the school are "OK".  If your child walks to school, please make a dry-run today to ensure your neighbors have cleaned off the sidewalk. If your child rides a bus, take a shovel and help your neigbhors and parents digout the bus stops. VDOT wasn't supposed to push piles up at the bus stop areas, but with over 40 inches of snow to plow, it's hard to say where the snow ended up.

I'm in DC this afternoon to watch my daughter's Volleyball team compete in the Capital Classic Volleyball tournament, but I will be out with my shovel afterward.

Tomorrow, if you're going to drive your student to school, please car-pool with your neighbors to reduce the traffic.

Be safe and Welcome Back!

Loudoun Schools Closed for the Entire Week, February 8-12

Dr. Hatrick has decided to close Loudoun's Public Schools for the remainder of the week. This is a wise decision. We're digging out from one storm and another storm will hit tomorrow. By making the announcement now, parents will have ample time to make plans for their younger children.  Due to our calendar, students shouldn't have to make up any snow days. 

 Here is the letter that will be posted on the Schools website shortly:

All Loudoun County Public Schools will continue to be closed for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, February 10-12, 2010.  This closure includes school activities, practices, and other uses of school buildings.  The decision to close is made because of the severity of the snow we already received.  It will probably take until Sunday to dig out our 770 buses and make them trip worthy.  We are working as fast as possible to open school parking lots and clear walkways on campuses.  In the meantime we appreciate the work being done by VDOT, Loudoun’s towns, and homeowner associations to open up secondary roads and community streets.  In order for buses to use these streets they must have more than single lane passage, and intersections must be sufficiently cleared to allow for turning.

As we prepare to re-open schools on Tuesday, February 16, the day after the scheduled President’s Day holiday, we will need additional help from Loudoun’s citizens in clearing sidewalks for the more than 20,000 students who walk to and from school each day.  We also are counting on community assistance to clear bus stops for students to wait to board buses.

Decisions about opening schools are always made with student safety first and foremost, both for walkers and bus riders.  It is likely that some neighborhoods will open up before others, but our ability to staff schools and get students safely to their schools involves more than just a neighborhood area.

We appreciate all of the support Loudoun’s parents and citizens will give to helping us get back to school.  Please remember to be safe, particularly as young people and others start to walk in streets because sidewalks are not uncovered.   Having pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the roads at the same time creates a very dangerous situation.

Thank you again for your understanding and assistance as we deal with the worst snow storm in many years.

     Sincerely,

    Edgar B. Hatrick, Superintendent