A little polar vortex snow or an apocalyptic ice storm will no longer bring Forsyth County students’ school work to a freezing halt, thanks to a new online learning system the district will implement to recover instructional time lost during school closures. Forsyth County Schools has two inclement weather days set aside for the current school year, which were built into the calendar when it was approved in November 2013. But that’s it. For good. After those two days are spent by the fire or playing in the snow, additional snow-ins will become online learning days. Starting with the 2015-2016 school year, Forsyth County will be the first school system in Georgia to not have any inclement weather days built into that or future calendars, to the district’s knowledge. It won’t help with the hordes of cars trapped on roadways, though. Sorry. Its learning, the asynchronous – meaning not at the same time – online learning system, saw success in 2013-2014 when the district used it after missing multiple additional snow days, according to Jennifer Caracciolo, spokeswoman for the school system. Many teachers already blend face-to-face and online learning with their students. After last winter’s snow days, a committee began planning for this year when positive feedback was received from the already-used online learning system. The committee received input from four elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Teachers can give lessons, provide supplemental documents and assign homework through the online portal, giving each student a username to monitor class-wide and individual progress, said Cindy Salloum, associate superintendent of school improvement. FCS received 200 resources teachers can use as guides and templates to create their own lessons. Students are given a five-day window to complete assignments to account for power outages and to allow students to complete lessons on their own time. They are asked respond to one interactive activity a day to make sure students are not just logging in without engaging.“It’s not just babysitting,” Calloum said. “We can still provide a high level of instruction even if we have to close school.” Students without home internet access are being identified and given “smartspots” and devices. They will be instructed on how to use the system the first week after winter break, where they will be given a practice drill to be completed within five days. The district has been training its teachers on its learning over the last two years and will hold an “online learning for school closure practice drill” on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, which is a professional development day. FCS will hold a series of parent training classes on its learning from 6-7 p.m. on:- Monday, Dec. 1 at North Forsyth High School in the cafeteria- Tuesday, Dec. 2 at South Forsyth High School in the West Hall cafeteria- Thursday, Dec. 4 at Forsyth Central High School in the Performing Arts Center Additional information on its learning can be found at the Forsyth County Schools website.