As the D.C. region braces for one of the most severe winter storms in recent years, school officials are also sharing guidance with families about the potential impact on classes.
At least two districts, Montgomery County Public Schools and D.C. Public Schools, will be closed Monday for a previously planned day off for students.
Officials in other districts say they will monitor conditions before making a call on whether to hold classes. School leaders say they consider a number of factors, including road conditions, in deciding whether to adjust their schedules.
For the latest forecast, check out updates from the Capital Weather Gang.
Here is a roundup of inclement-weather policies for several large districts in the region:
D.C. Public Schools
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) decides whether to close D.C. Public Schools, according to the district’s inclement-weather policy. She uses factors such as snow and ice, wind chill, road conditions and the availability of public transit to make her call.
Families will be notified via email and text if the mayor decides to have a snow day, and officials will post information online and with local news outlets.
In the event of a closure, the district would have traditional snow days, meaning schools won’t offer virtual instruction. Snow days will have to be made up at the end of the school year if the district drops below the required 180-day school year.
The district did not build snow days into its calendar for the current school year, so any snow days will have to be made up after the last day of school on June 17. Officials will let school staff and families know in the spring about any makeup days they add because of weather-related closures, a district spokesperson said in an email.
Officials may also decide to start school late or dismiss early because of weather. Typically, schools will open two hours later than usual and before-school programs will be canceled. Individual school leaders will determine how to alter their bell schedules and whether they’ll serve breakfast.
Other times, if wintry weather develops during the day, school may end early. In these cases, students will be served lunch before getting dismissed. Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee will decide whether to cancel after-school programs and athletic events.
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Snow day procedures vary across the city’s more than 130 public charter schools.
Most follow D.C. Public Schools’ weather-related closure and delay decisions, according to Tomeika Bowden, spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Charter School Board. The board maintains a list of information about the 66 nonprofit organizations that run the campuses, including whether the school day has been canceled or delayed and the method administrators use to communicate updates to families.
Alexandria City Public Schools
Alexandria Schools Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said in an interview that the school system monitors and considers many elements before making the call to close or delay school.
She works with a team to consider snow accumulation, ice presence and temperature. They weigh factors such as sidewalk conditions for students who might walk or bike to school and road conditions for staff who live outside the city.
Kay-Wyatt said her team begins organizing for snow days about 72 hours before a storm is expected. They strive to communicate the decision by 6 the evening before but will send a final update the next morning if needed.
Kay-Wyatt said the district also works with community groups and partners to communicate any planned cancellation of after-school programming or child care. They consider whether food can be distributed to students who rely on school meals and whether power outages might affect students’ ability to participate in online learning.
The district does not have any “traditional” snow days built into its calendar for the 2025-2026 school year and told families they should be prepared for virtual learning in grades three through 12 on days when weather prohibits students from going to school. The district would use live, synchronous instruction to allow teachers to continue lessons already in progress.
“There are so many factors that I don’t think people know that we put into the decision,” Kay-Wyatt said. “We spend many hours making those decisions.”
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Arlington County Public Schools
Arlington County Public Schools leaders collaborate with county staff to assess factors such as road conditions and snow or ice accumulation. Typically, the district will make a decision by 6 the evening before a weather event and communicate it to parents. Leaders then review the weather forecast again at 4:30 a.m. with a final update made by 5 a.m. the day of school.
Arlington has 12 traditional snow days built into its calendar for elementary schools students and 15 for older students. If the district exceeds the allotted days, it will turn to distance learning to avoid adding makeup days. Otherwise, students are completely off from school.
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Fairfax County Public Schools
In Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia’s largest school district, “decisions about the impact of weather conditions on school operations are made with a focus on the safety of students and staff,” FCPS spokeswoman Julie Allen said in a statement. “A team of employees, in conjunction with emergency management and state highway administrators, assess the road conditions. School personnel also go out and inspect roads, sidewalks, FCPS parking lots and bus lanes.”
The district uses a traditional snow day policy.
According to the weather policy online, the school district aims to have a decision on whether to delay or close school the evening before a weather event. When there’s uncertainty, leaders will wait for the morning forecast. In those cases, parents can expect the superintendent to make a final call by about 4:30 a.m.
Fairfax is a large district where different parts of the county experience different weather outcomes. The policy notes that leaders make decisions about closures based on the entire district rather than closing schools in only some parts because some students travel across the county for certain school programs.
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Loudoun County Public Schools
In Loudoun, the superintendent decides when schools are delayed or closed based on a recommendation from the district’s chief operations officer, who works with the district’s transportation and facilities services directors, the division of safety and security, local utility companies and others to make the recommendation.
According to the district’s website, a decision “will be made as early as possible.”
The district uses a traditional snow day policy, with snow days built into its calendar. Loudoun, which is the northernmost county in Northern Virginia, can experience more snow than some surrounding areas.
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Montgomery County Public Schools
Montgomery, Maryland’s largest school system, typically announces any weather-related closures by 7 the evening before classes. But if officials decide to take more time, an announcement is made in the morning before 5 o’clock, according to the school system’s guidelines.
Officials monitor weather and road conditions before making a decision.
The school system doesn’t conduct partial closures; all schools will close even if just one area of the county is affected because, officials said, poor conditions can make it difficult for staff or families to arrive.
Montgomery County students already have Monday off because it was scheduled months ago as a day for teachers to focus on planning and grading, spokeswoman Liliana López said in an email. Currently, staff members must report, but they will be notified if that changes because of the weather, she said.
The school system won’t conduct a virtual instruction day if there’s a closure. If schools are closed for three or more days, there are eight allotted makeup days left, according to the school calendar.
Superintendent Thomas Taylor, who has gained fans with his videos announcing schedule changes, released a faux movie trailer in December that mimics the closing scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” In the short video, Taylor walks into a warehouse filled with crates. He wears a black fedora as he shines a flashlight on a crate that reads “Severe weather only” in black letters. Taylor lifts a red box out of the crate that says “Emergency. In case of snow, press button.”
“Are you ready?” the trailer teases. “Snow day 2025/2026.”
Read the district’s weather policy here.
Prince George’s County Public Schools
Prince George’s officials aim to announce decisions about whether to close schools because of inclement weather before 5:30 a.m. on the day of classes. School officials say they try to make a decision with “as much advance notice as possible,” according to their policy.
Interim superintendent Shawn Joseph is tasked with making the decision, according to the school district’s weather policy. Officials monitor the National Weather Service, county agencies and other school systems in the area before making a call. The transportation team also surveys roads, school driveways and sidewalks.
The district instructs families to monitor their social media, phone and other methods of communication to get word of any weather-related closure.
So far in the 2025-2026 school year, the system has used only one inclement-weather day, spokeswoman Lynn McCawley said. It has six potential makeup days in the calendar.
Read the district’s weather policy here.
This article has been updated since it first published in January 2025.
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