The early weeks of 2014 have brought about many frigid days across the state of Minnesota. This brutally cold environment makes traveling outside extremely dangerous as one has the chance of getting frostbite within minutes of being exposed to the subzero air. Thus, many schools across the state have decided to close school multiple times during the month of January, BSM included, and are forced to develop alternate methods of schooling.

BSM stands out from other metro area schools due to the fact that every student and teacher has been assigned a personal laptop. This laptop program enables teachers at BSM to give assignments, whether through Haiku or email, allowing online school to be possible over the most recent “cold days.” Online school was designed to allow students to receive homework from their teachers without having to physically attend classes at BSM; because of this, online schooling days would count as a regular school day. Therefore, there would be no need to prolong the school year by adding extra days in June.

The faculty at BSM was told last Friday about the possibility of having school cancelled and were prepared to post assignments online if necessary. Because of this preparation, online school was academically a success as teachers were able to stay on track with their curriculum: “Thank you to all of the teachers and students that made online school a success. I think it was a great way to problem solve the days we had off,” Dr. Skinner said.

While online school was a success in the eyes of the administration, students had varying viewpoints on receiving homework on days off. Most students appreciated the fact that school days will not have to be rescheduled due to online school, but some felt that the work assigned was excessive. “I felt like I got a lot more assignments from having online school rather than regular school,” sophomore Emily Anderson said.

Other students felt online school was beneficial because it allowed for more time to get work done as teachers had their assignments posted by 10:00 a.m. both days. “I liked it because I could do homework whenever and it took me less time to complete my assignments than on a regular school day,” sophomore Abbey Nichols said.

Though the adjustment to online school was difficult for some, overall, the ability to complete assignments at home rather than attending extra school days in June was greatly appreciated by students and teachers alike as they remained indoors during these frigid days.