If it snows on occasion where you live, you’re familiar with snow days when school is canceled due to dangerous driving conditions.

Most students are ecstatic when they awaken to learn from their parents or a radio/TV announcement that they don’t have to go to school. They immediately make plans to enjoy their day off, but there can be a down side.

Most school districts build several snow days into their yearly schedule, but if Old Man Winter delivers more snowstorms than were calculated, students may have to add school days at the end of the year, or possibly give up a Saturday sometime in the spring to meet the state’s demands for the number of days or hours they must be in class.

Could snow days soon be a thing of the past? Yes, they could be, if some private schools (and a growing number of public schools) have their way. A Minnesota private school was among the first to substitute virtual classes in place of snow days. The students work at home and get credit for their time. In today’s world, many students have their own computer or Internet access, and thus the school can direct their studies for the day. If they don’t have these means at their disposal, Blizzard Bags are prepared with their assignments.

Apparently, students who have experienced these Virtual Classes in place of snow days are singing their praises. They love working at home — no big surprise — and are thankful they won’t have to make up the hours they’ve missed by not being in the actual classroom. Word of this educational experiment quickly spread, and while private schools had more flexibility in offering Virtual Classes, public school teachers are anxious to know more about the concept, and in some states, as many as one thousand schools have already applied to their respective Departments of Education for approval to try it in their own school.

The odds are very good that it will become the new norm instead of snow days as we know them. For one thing, many students already do a lot of independent work from home. It’s good experience, because students going on to higher education after high school graduation will be completing much of their schooling outside of the classroom.

Snow days can be a big headache for teachers and students alike, and nobody likes having to make up their classroom time later, especially if it means giving up a weekend to satisfy the state’s requirements.

Will we try it locally? Would it work? Only time will tell, but on the surface, it looks like an idea which could — and should — get the approval of the Department of Education if Maine public schools decide to give it a try. Parents should be all for it because their student won’t be sitting in front of the television all day, or complaining of being bored.