The Unfortunate but Excellent Snow (Ice) Day...

Snow days are not supposed to happen at boarding school...
Friday morning came very early as many of us were woken up around 2:00 AM by the non-stop popping and cracking of breaking branches and falling trees. Winchendon had been hit hard by the ice storm and plunged into darkness and slippery-ness by the severe ice storm that left over one million people without power. Power lines were down all over and roads were impassible. Just making your way around campus was dangerous as branches and trees came down throughout the day.

Key administrators made their way to the campus at around 4:00 am to coordinate efforts. Very special thanks go out to a number of members of the Building and Grounds and Dining Hall teams who made their way in by foot and otherwise and worked to keep the campus safe. The dining hall crew did an amazing job in providing the whole school a hot meal mid-morning (the meals were hot, the room was cold!).
After speaking with police, fire department and the power company, it became clear that it could be several days before we would get power and heat back or the wires picked up around campus. Concerns were compounded by wind warnings and forecasts of freezing temperatures. It quickly became clear that trying to keep the students on campus was not a good option. A number of us passed around the few cellphones that still had signal and made arrangements to move the student body. Many families were able to come pick up students and friends, but what to do with 160 students, teachers and dogs at a time like this?
Fortunately, there was a Hampton Inn in Natick, MA that still had enough vacancies that we could get everyone into. We packed the vans and were able to secure two other large buses to transport everyone east. By about 4:00 PM we were safely settled at the Hampton Inn, and thoughts turned to food and keeping the troops quiet. A long trivia contest, pizza dinner and visits to the mall rounded out the day and what appears to be a happily quiet night!

Back at campus, a core crew continues to work on the campus and coordinate arrangements that will allow us to return as soon as possible. In the meantime, the best snow day for those of us in Natick continues...

My thanks especially to a faculty and staff who have done a wonderful job during this challenge and also to the students who did miss a day of classes but have been patient and great through missed meals and games, broken schedules and the general disruption of the last 24 + hours.

More to come...

-The big oak was one of the few to survive unscathed!