Calamity / Snow Day

The Ummah Center School understands that the decision to close schools due to inclement weather or loss of utilities, or other unforeseen events, or implement a two-hour delayed start has an enormous effect on all of our families. As the School’s Principal, I am responsible for the final decision and work to finalize the decision by 5:30 a.m., so that we can notify parents and staff via phone, social media, and our website.

Closing School for a Full Day

The following information may help you to better understand the process used when making the decision to close school, which are based upon a careful analysis of all relevant factors, such as:

Information on road conditions from our staff, maintenance staff, local safety forces, and road crews
Amount of accumulated snow and ice
Whether or not precipitation is expected to continue throughout the day
Temperature and wind chill, focusing on wind chills at or below -15°F to -20° during key drop-off and dismissal times
Weather predictions from satellite systems, local radar, and National Weather
Timing of the storm
Neighboring schools' operational status (Columbia Station and Strongsville)
Building conditions, such as utility
Parking lot/school property conditions
Discussion with the construction crew about possible class disruption or drop-off and pick-up disruption.

Why we want to minimize closing days: As a chartered school, we are required to maintain a minimum number of hours of class instruction. Although we have a few snow days built into our calendar, when we exceed that number of days, we risk dropping below the minimum. In turn, we will have make-up days at the end of the academic year.

I hope that this explanation helps in understanding the process used to make the best possible decision for everyone in our local Ummah.