The Pros and Cons of Closing School

Yesterday, I was informed that all schools in my school district were going to be closed for 4 weeks (from March 16 to April 10) due to the ongoing coronavirus cases. While the district does not plan to implement online learning, there will be flexible learning options provided. Currently, in a poll I posted on my Instagram story regarding the school closure, 78% of the people voted for while 22% of the people voted against the decision to close schools. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the closure.

The poll I posted on my Instagram story

The Pros of Closing School

• There's more time to sleep. I personally feel that I don't sleep enough during school nights and so it can be hard for me to focus during class.
• Schoology is where all of my teachers post assignments and lecture notes, so I can still keep up with the work they assign when staying home.
• I don't have to worry about tests. I often don't do as well as I hoped on school tests, especially in my math class (AP Calc BC). By closing school, I don't have to worry about any test anxiety I can get from any problems that I'm not quite sure on how to do.
• There's more free time. Since I'll mostly be staying home when school is closed, I can find more time to do activities that I enjoy, such as playing the piano.

The Cons of Closing School

• School will resume on April 13, which is less than a month from AP testing. Unless College Board decides to cancel or at least postpone AP testing, I don't know if I'll feel prepared to do well on my AP tests (particularly BC calc).
• I heard that nearby school districts (e.g. Menlo Park City School District) plan to implement online learning, whereas my school district does not. I would personally prefer having online instruction because although there may be difficulties (such as faulty Wi-Fi connection at times), it is the closest the school district can get to in-class instruction when schools are closed.
• In Audio Music Production, one of the classes I'm taking this year, all of my projects are done on a computer in the classroom. Closing school would hinder my ability to finish those projects, although it is possible that the teacher might change the guidelines to the projects or postpone the due dates to them.

Overall, closing school is definitely a big change in my school experience since it's the first time I've had to deal with school shutting down. Such a change will take a great amount of time to adapt.