Due to inclement weather, on January 15th, 2021, the Fort Osage School district implemented it’s first Alternate Method Instruction (AMI) plan. The AMI plan made all schools residing in the district virtual. 

Sophomore Zoe Pearson believes that once school returns to normalcy, all snow days should be made up virtually. 

“I think that all snow days should be virtual so we don’t have to make them up,” Pearson said in an email.

Fort Osage School District will not be required to make up days for this year in which school buildings are closed due to sudden, unexpected short-term closures such as utility outages or inclement weather according to Assistant Superintendent of Educational Service Emily Cross. Instead, the District will implement an Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) Plan on these days. This means that ALL certificated staff members will be working on these days. Certificated staff members can choose whether to work at school or from home.

Students were to complete their task virtually as they would during a normal, in person school day. Teachers were instructed to assign work through the website Google Classroom. This allowed for students to easily find their assignments for the day and where to upload them for grading. 

“I didn’t have trouble finding the work,” Sophomore Sydnie Veach said in an email, “Most teachers did a good job of organizing.”

Students also joined virtual meetings with their teachers and easily received lectures and one-to-one learning through their Chromebooks.

“I really enjoy being in virtual meets because I can kind of relax without the stress of being judged,” Senior Luke Pahayo said.

Since class still took place, there will be no make-up snow days at the end of the year. The last day of school is May 26, 2021.