Lori Wade knows how refreshing it is for her children to have a couple of weeks off from school around the holidays, but enough is enough.
After 21/2 weeks of Christmas break, students in Hamilton County and around the region have had anywhere from one to two days off this week because of wintry conditions. While some parents appreciate the extra time with their children, others say it also can be a logistical hardship for those who work.
“A two-week break at Christmas, it rejuvenates them. But now I need my rejuvenation,” said Mrs. Wade, the mother of a seventh- and an 11th-grader at East Hamilton School.
Like Mrs. Wade, who works from home, Selena Conley, a teacher from Cloudland, Ga., had no trouble finding child care since she had Friday off, too.
She stayed home Friday with her husband and two children, and the family spent a fun day playing in the snow, napping and reading.
SNOW DAYS Hamilton County Schools has seven “inclement weather” days built into the calendar. The system has used two this year. Source: Hamilton County Schools
“It is always lovely to see snow on the mountain,” Mrs. Conley said. “Everything is still and quiet and so peaceful. It was exactly what we all needed.”
Carla Vaughn works part time in the medical billing business and said she has appreciated the extra time her teenage daughter, Kyndall, has been forced to spend with her.
Along with her husband, Kenny, Mrs. Vaughn and Kyndall spent time playing Uno around the dinner table and planned to spend Friday night enjoying a movie marathon.
“As a teenager, Kyndall doesn’t always want to spend time with us, but when she has to … we’ve gotten to have a little quality family time,” Mrs. Vaughn said.
She said she also appreciates that students at least went to school for a few hours on Thursday.
“I’d rather have her in school, but at least they got in half the day,” she said.
Deciding whether or not to cancel classes is always a tough call, said Karen Reed, a chemistry and physics teacher at East Hamilton School and mother of kindergartner Emma Sam, who spent Friday morning watching lots of “Hannah Montana.”
On the one hand, it’s a liability to have teenage drivers on icy roads, she said, but otherwise students miss valuable instruction time and parents are inconvenienced.
Since East Hamilton is on a block schedule, Mrs. Reed had just started a new batch of classes this week and hadn’t gotten much beyond introductions.
“Normally, I’d be grading papers at home today, but we hadn’t really started anything,” she said Friday. “As far as timing, it wasn’t a bad time.”
Even though their children had the day off, few parents were out and about visiting places such as the Tennessee Aquarium.
“Things were pretty quiet due to the road conditions,” said Thom Benson, spokesman for the aquarium. “People are staying in, which is understandable.”