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Weather Information
Inclement Weather Plan
There will be no announcement specific to Nesbitt Discovery Academy for a closing or delay, so NDA students are expected to follow the Erwin District closing and delay decisions announced for Buncombe County Schools.
Below is a summary of the Inclement Weather plan for NDA students:
Closing or Delay
· If Buncombe County Schools are closed or on a delay, we are closed or on a delay as well.
· If the Erwin District is closed or on a delay, we are closed or on a delay as well.
· *If school is open for the Erwin District, but closed or on a delay for your home base school district, you do not report to school or will report on a delay.
*Important Bus Information: If a student’s base school is on a regular schedule, NDA students will be picked up on regular schedule. If a student’s base school is on a delay schedule, NDA students will be picked up on a delay schedule.
Early Dismissal
· If your home base school dismisses early, your student will be transported back to their base school early.
· If Erwin District dismisses early, NDA students will be transported back to their base school in time for early dismissal or until their base school dismisses.
*If there are any changes to the above Inclement Weather Plan we will communicate with you by phone via school messenger.
Below is a summary of BCS inclement weather protocols for all students.
What happens when we must close our buildings to students due to inclement weather?
--If a weather event is truly severe and impacts power or the internet in our area, the day would be a ‘no school’ day where no instruction would occur.
--For significant but less severe weather events, we are able to utilize a certain number of remote learning days that will count toward our state-mandated instruction per year. This means we will not have to make up those days later in the school year.
Remote learning (beginning at 10 a.m.) would be asynchronous on the first day of the weather event and synchronous on all subsequent days of that weather event. Any work assigned must be made up within five days.*
Day 1
*Asynchronous means that the teacher will assign tasks that will be completed online, but there will be no live teaching.
Day 2, 3, 4...
*Synchronous means that there will be a blend of live virtual instruction and independent work.
Our Synchronous Learning Schedule via Google Meet is below. Students will participate in 30 minutes of direct instruction at the beginning of each period then have the remaining time to work on assignments.
1st Period: 10:00 – 10:50
2nd Period: 10:55-11:45
Lunch: 11:50-12:35
3rd Period: 12:40-1:30
4th Period: 1:35-2:25
--Should an isolated area of the county be severely impacted by a storm or your family has extenuating circumstances, please work with your school and teacher to make up the work.
--If we expect a weather event, we’ll ask all students to take their school-issued device home with them.
What happens during a delayed start?
Should a minor weather event cause us to delay starting school for students, you will receive more specific instructions that day to let you know when to drop your child off or have them at the bus stop.
What happens during an early dismissal?
Should we have to send students home early due to a weather event, students will eat lunch before they leave. The district will let families know when they can begin picking up students or expect them on the bus. We’ll also include information for after-school activities and athletics. If a parent is delayed in picking up their child from school, the child will be safe and supervised until the parent arrives.
Please note that it is our policy that if weather is impacting more than two districts, the schedule change will impact ALL BCS Schools.
We want to remind you of the various ways you can receive weather and emergency notifications.
--The fastest way to receive notifications is through the Buncombe County Schools app for your smartphone or tablet. Simply download the app and turn on push notifications. Visit buncombeschools.org/app to download the app for iOS or Android.
--Please follow Buncombe County Schools on social media. (@BuncombeSchools)
--Also, our local TV stations post the most up-to-date closings and delays on-air and online via their weather ticker.
--Please ensure your phone number and email address are correct. This information should be verified each school year. You can check that in the PowerSchool Parent Portal.
--Finally, if you don’t have internet access, you can call our weather hotlines for updates: 828-255-5939 (English) or 828-255-5948 (Spanish).
Please log on to buncombeschools.org/notifications to learn more about the ways you can stay informed during severe weather or emergency situations! We also maintain a list of inclement weather daycare providers in our area.
--We try to make a decision and get the message to our families the day before OR no later than 6 am. Please know that phone calls will be the slowest to arrive. Please download the BCS app for the fastest notifications.