Elementary Eclipse Plans Changed
After receiving our solar viewers yesterday afternoon we have made the decision that students at the elementary school will not go outside to view the total solar on Monday, August 21. We had been planning that our students would be wearing eclipse glasses to view the eclipse. Instead we received solar viewers which are a card that must be held up to the eyes in order to view the eclipse.
In a large group setting we do not feel the solar viewers are age appropriate for our young students to safely view the eclipse. Although we will not go outside to view the eclipse we will still follow its progress from classroom windows, on-line and through local television coverage. Students will stay in for recess and physical education classes during the duration of the eclipse.
We are obviously disappointed that our students will be unable to experience the solar eclipse outside. That being said, our responsibility for student safety is greater than our disappointment. If you would like to take your child out of school so that you can experience the total solar eclipse together, please call the office at 402-269-2382 to notify the school. When you contact the office you can also make arrangements to obtain a solar viewer for your child to use. The absence will be counted as excused. Again, we feel the solar viewers are safe to use, they are just not age appropriate for our young students in a large group setting.