As we all know, Colorado’s weather has taken a dramatic turn–we are now experiencing good-old Colorado snow, rather than sunny and sixty degrees in December. This drastic change has had a huge effect on students’ lives when it comes to getting to school on time (safely) and getting home. How did EHS students and CCSD handle it?

“I can’t get to school and work on time. I can’t get a proper education, and wasn’t able to benefit from my time at school,” junior Gabriella Otero said. It has been hard for her and many other students to make it to work or school on time because of the road conditions caused by the snow. This caused the district to have a delayed start on Thursday, so students could get to school without feeling the need to rush for the safety of themselves and others. “[The snow] made getting to school worse, I had to walk to school, and even though I live really close, it was so hard and such a hassle because it was very cold. My mom couldn’t give me a ride because she had to go to work too,” continued Otero. Weather like this has definitely put a lot of stress not only on students but on families too. Some individuals’ vehicles are not made for this kind of weather, so many kids choose to stay home when there is snow. 

“I’m not really a snow person, but this has made life good and bad; I was glad that I got to sleep in because of the delay, but it was frustrating that we couldn’t get a snow day because a lot of kids got to school late anyways,” sophomore Jassiel Gossaye said. For her and many other students, it was frustrating to not get a snow day because of the extreme weather and dangerous road conditions. 

On the other hand, Eaglecrest was doing everything they possibly could when it came to this situation. “I think the school is doing a good job with it, they were not giving out tardy passes,” said Gossaye. Eaglecrest was not giving students a hard time about showing up 15 minutes late or so because even with the delay, students were still late; the parking lot was still full of cars coming in and out because of the road conditions, causing them to take extra time to get in and out safely. “When I finally got there after walking, I was expecting a detention. It was nice that they were understanding about the whole situation and didn’t give us detentions for being late,” said Otero. The school did its best when it came to the morning arrival with students arriving late, despite the strict tardy policy.

In the end, although some students believe that the district could have handled the situation better, delaying the start time was helpful to many, prioritizing safety over “being on time”. Students were very happy about Eaglecrest not giving out detentions in those times. This was definitely a learning lesson for all, especially as the first significant snow of the year, but overall it was most important that people made it home safely to their families.