The snow goes on

Over January, there have been five days in Loudoun County Public Schools canceled due to snow. On the latest snow day, schools were canceled on Jan. 20 as Loudoun County was under a winter weather advisory.

During the first week of January, the cancellations came as 12 inches of snow fell throughout Northern Virginia. Loudoun County was the only county in the area that offered in-person classes that week, opening on Thursday and Friday. Other counties, such as Arlington and Fairfax, closed throughout the entire week. With schools canceled due to the snowstorm, Alexandria Public Schools moved to virtual learning. Many criticized the move to online learning because power and internet outages prevented many from attending school online.

Throughout Loudoun County, students had to rush assignments before the end of the quarter due to the snow days. That was because multiple B-days happened as a result of the cancellations. Many teachers were negatively affected by this as well.

Some have entertained the idea in Northern Virginia that virtual learning during snow days could persist, since online learning has become common since the spread of the COVID-19. However, many have disagreed with the decision to go virtual because issues similar to those students faced in Alexandria could persist for all in the future.