On February 5, 2016, Westford Public Schools was handed its first snow day of the school year. This day off was rather unexpected, as the day before was full of sunny skies and 50-degree weather, with little to no snow on the ground.

Superintendent Olsen’s call to cancel school today was quite appropriate, especially since surrounding towns canceled school as well. Also, this storm came at a prime time to cancel school, with a majority of the snow coming between 7am and 12pm.

Although it is typical for Olsen to cancel school the night before, there was no way of knowing what was really going to happen, seeing as though Westford was practically experiencing spring weather. It would have been more convenient to cancel the night before, but after all weathermen are not always right.

Today’s snowstorm also brought wet, heavy snow, which bring sloppy road conditions. Although a two hour delay would have been helpful, the snow continued to pile up until about noon time.

Additionally, although the snow had mostly ended by noon, dismissal would have been rather difficult as WA and the middle schools are the first schools in Westford to be dismissed, at 1:55. Therefore, plows would not have been given sufficient time to clear the roads.

Also, although Westford schools will now have to go one extra day in June, it is still worth calling for a snow day. February is the last major winter month, and with the first one coming this month, it is a likely safe to say there won’t many more.

Thursday afternoon, parents, students, and teachers probably did not expect schools to be closed on Friday. Weather predictions on news stations didn’t predict all that much snow until the evening time. In fact, Westford was only expected to get two inches of snow.

In the end, today’s snow day was a good call. In fact, some parts of the town didn’t even have power because of the storm, and downed power lines can be a dangerous situation for students walking home from the bus stop. The day off was also an added bonus for students and teachers because now Westford will have a three day weekend.

This likely will not be the last snow day of the year, there is even another chance for one on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

The Ghostwriter gives Superintendent Olsen an A+ for his snow day call today.

Bored on a snow day? Click this throwback link here to view some ideas on what to do!