Snow days offer ‘Alternative Methods’

Although Bentonville School’s first snow day of the year was a traditional day off for their students, after the third snow day a new policy may have students working at home. After three snow days, all Bentonville schools, including Cooper Elementary School, will implement “Alternative Methods of Instruction.”

According to a policy published on the district website, www.bentonvillek12.org/Page/23333, assignments for all elementary and middle school students are available on the site. Secondary students receive AMI assignments from their classroom teachers. In addition, packets are sent home with students so they can be available without internet access.

District administrators provided more detail on the application to the state Department of Education. Students choose one day of activities from their grade’s charts, which contain five days of assignments. When they return to school, they have 10 school days to turn in their completed charts and are then given credit for one day of attendance.

Teachers, whose contracts specify a certain number of work days, must be available outside of class to help with the AMI activities.

The district will announce if a snow day is an AMI day through radio, television, social media, website and phone.

Technology isn’t necessary for AMI assignments, the policy said, although it may be optional. The paper assignments ensure that work can be done even if there’s an extended power outage like the ice storm of 2009, district communications director Leslee Wright said.

So far, parents have been happy with the policy, she said.

“It gives parents more flexibility for planning after Memorial Day,” she said.

By implementing the policy after three traditional snow days, students have the chance to experience unexpected days off without giving up their plans for early summer.