Michigan School Launches 6-Day School Week

As a kid, I loved Saturdays. Of course, I still love Saturdays, but my point is that for a kid, Saturdays are those fun days to get your play on. Now, one Michigan school has launched Saturday school sessions. I was definitely surprised to learn about this new school schedule, but as I research the reasoning and how it's being laid out, this particular six-day work week sounds like a great program.

The district's new optional Saturday school kicked off on Feb. 24. It's for third through fifth grad kids who are not keeping up with their grade level.

The district is Kalamazoo. KPS Superintendent Darrin Slade tells MLive.com that, so far, things are going really well. "It was the first time we’ve ever done it in the district, so (the KPS community was) just happy that it was happening," Slade said in an interview with the publication.

Kalamazoo Schools announced the new, six-day school week program in January. Students who attend will be taught by teachers from 9 a.m. to noon on seven Saturdays from February through May. Sessions take place at Washington Writers' Academy. Schools that are participating include Edison Academy, Lincoln Elementary School, Woodward School, Northeastern Elementary, Spring Valley Elementary and Washington Writers' Academy. It's not all studious and serious stuff, either. There's a fun reward for students who attend all of the Saturday school sessions. Those who do get to go on a trip to Michigan’s Adventure, funded by the school district. Also, students who attend will get lunch from some of the area fast-food fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A and Burger King, Slade tells MLive.com.

For the first Saturday school session on Feb. 24, 140 students participated. While that number seems high to me, Slade wants more. He tells MLive.com that they hope to have 250 students participate in the future. Also, he adds that the lower turnout was the because of a miscommunication.

Snow days or lately, "weather days," spark much joy for some parents, but they create chaos for others. Recently, parents have been forced to scramble and shift their schedules as weather conditions prompted schools to shut down. In many households, some parents have to adjust their schedules by dropping their kids off at a babysitter, moving their work-from-home space, making the tough decision to call off work, or even resorting to taking their kids to work with them.

For many parents, this can become frustrating, especially when school is canceled multiple days in a row. In the past few weeks in Michigan, hundreds of schools have canceled classes because of snow, freezing rain, and lousy road conditions. Many school districts in Michigan have already had three snow days within ten days. Bridge Michigan reported that Michigan allows school districts to take up to six days off for inclement weather and other emergencies. They also note that a district can ask the state for waivers for more days.

Recently, Mayor Cherelle Parker and other Philly city officials declared a Snow Emergency on Friday, Jan 19. The School District of Philadelphia was ultimately closed that Friday due to the hazardous weather. This was also the case for Pennsylvania’s neighboring state, New Jersey.

Student and faculty safety is the reason why many schools declare snow days or weather days. Typically, the decision to cancel school is made in collaboration with the school district superintendent and transportation director for the school district. Some officials even do their own research by getting in their cars and driving on the roads to get a better feel for the conditions.

Once they determine how the conditions are based on their own findings or research through platforms such as the National Weather Service, parents are alerted. They can be alerted through different avenues such as text messages, automated phone calls, the official school site, posts on social media, and multiple news outlets.

And, of course, parents are going to "alert" all of their friends and family via their social media feeds about how they feel about school cancellations.

One parent took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to give a Snow Day update. She discovered a new way to give time-outs. One that includes a timer and pure silence. "Snow day update: my kids are both in a 30-minute time out. Any time I hear a noise from either of their rooms I reset the timer [laughing emoji]", she wrote.

Many parents share the same frustration when it comes to snow day alerts from the school district. They come in many forms, from text messages to automated calls. This sometimes happens at the crack of dawn. This person was less than thrilled by their wake-up call. They said, "Dear school district, Thank you for calling twice, emailing, texting, sending a dozen carrier pigeons and three owls at 5 am, how else would I have known it was a snow day !?"

There's always one post saying, "The weather isn't that bad." This is the case for this poster, who was less than impressed by the amount of snow they actually got versus the amount they expected. They wrote about how their kids received another snow day, the "6th snow day in a row, 11th straight day off from school, including weekends." They added, "Y’all, the snow (which was last Monday) was only 7-8 inches. Today’s high is 44°. Tomorrow will be 49°. Ain’t enough yoga or alcohol to get me through this [laughing emoji]."

One exhausted parent went to social media to talk about the woes of working from home on a snow day with their kid. Apparently, emailing your clients isn't the easiest with a very busy kid at home. They decided to give their followers an example of an email. They wrote, "Hello Client, I hope this finds you well. So sorry you just received an email from me saying, "jhgdfhghgrhgehgehdddvrhv butt fdjsfdfd butttttt!!! poopy butttt" It is yet another snow day & I left my laptop open & unattended near my toddler. Again my apologies, Exhausted Parent."

When school is canceled due to weather, some parents wish they could just drop their kids off at their teacher's house. Someone decided to dig through a teacher's profile to find their address. They said, "Any teacher on this app: snow day tomorrow! Me: clicking on their profile to see where they live and how far it is from me." Desperate times call for desperate measures.

With so many snow days for some schools, many parents simply lose track of what day it is. Is it Monday, or is it Friday? "It’s January 73rd, and my kids have only had nine days of school this month with another snow day today. Send help," someone said. At this point, just roll with it. Someone will say the correct date eventually.