As we approach the winter season, it's time once again to think about the possibility of occasional school closings due to severe weather.  We are sharing our district's winter weather procedures below so that your family can be informed and prepared in the case of a school closing.

Closing school for winter weather

The decision to close schools is complex and the safety of our students and staff, especially those waiting at bus stops, is always the most important factor we consider when making the decision. We do not make the decision based on a specific temperature or snowfall benchmark, but rather assess a multitude of factors including temperature, wind chill, amount of snow, road conditions and geography. The National Weather Service is our source for weather information used to make this decision.

Due to the often unpredictable winter weather in Minnesota, in most cases we wait until the morning of each school day before notifying families. However, there may be rare instances when we make a decision the night before. Families are encouraged to watch the weather forecasts and have contingency plans in place whenever there is the possibility of severe weather and school cancelation.

How We Communicate

As soon as the decision is made to close school, district staff use a variety of communication tools to let people know. We reach out to all families directly with an email and phone message through our mass notification system. The contact information in this system comes from your student’s enrollment record, so if your family’s phone number or email has changed, be sure to notify your school office.

In addition to our direct messages, we also activate a pop-up alert message on our district website at www.flaschools.org and all of our individual school websites. This message will appear immediately after the decision has been made and will remain in place for most of the day. The weather hotline phone number, 651-982-8143, will also be updated whenever there is a school cancellation.

We also send school closure notifications to all Twin Cities metro area television stations, as well as WCCO radio, and we post notifications on our district Facebook page.

E-Learning Days

As you may have heard, we have implemented e-Learning days that will allow our students to continue learning on days when school is cancelled for weather-related reasons. These e-Learning days will only be implemented if more than two school days must be cancelled this year -- in other words, the first two “snow days” of the school year will not be e-Learning days.

If forecasts suggest that an e-Learning day might be possible, you can expect more communication on this topic from your child’s school and/or teachers with specific information about what students should do.

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Here Comes the Bus is now available for Forest Lake Area Schools

• View the real-time location of your child’s bus
• Access the app from your smartphone, tablet or computer
• Receive push notifications or email alerts
• Send your child to the bus stop at just the right time, every time

 

Mr. Slater named Minnesota National Distinguished Principal of the Year

Wyoming Principal Curtis Slater has been named the 2018 Minnesota National Distinguished Principal of the Year. The announcement came on May 3 from Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association (MESPA), the organization which sponsors the award. Click the following link to see the press release from MESPA

 https://www.mespa.net/resources/Documents/Honors/MN%20NDP%202018%20Curtis%20Slater%20Press%20Release.pdf

New District-Wide Bullying Prevention Form Available

Community Education's "Digital Backpack"