School will be closed Thursday Feb. 21 due to weather predictions of snow and sleet. The decision was made by Francis Howell School District Superintendent Pam Sloan after watching the weather forecast closely and consulting with others.

“It’s a difficult decision a lot of the times and is very dependent on when the weather comes in,” Chief Human Resources Officer Steve Griggs said.

According to KSDK weather forecasters, the storm will roll into St. Louis near noon and could accumulate a total of three to five inches.

FHSD implemented Rapid Notification System last year, which called the phones of families in the District notifying them of the snow day.

Senior Nathan Rhomberg is excited about the snow day, but wasn’t expecting to know the District’s decision until the morning.

“I’m surprised that they called school off so early when [all the snow is] supposed to come in tomorrow around 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m., but I’m not complaining, ” Rhomberg said.

Because the first seven snow make-up days are tacked onto the end of the school year, this one will extend the school year by one day.  After that, snow days eight, nine, and ten are built into spring break.

Since Tyler Brown is a senior, he was hoping there would be no snow days this year.

“I’d just rather go to school than sit around my house all day bored,” Brown said. “I’d rather get out sooner and graduate than prolong getting out.”

Coffeehouse and the Prom Fashion Show, which were originally planned for tomorrow, will be rescheduled for another time.

StuCo sponsor Jani Wilkens who is helping out with Coffeehouse this year is enthusiastic about the winter storm.

“I think it’s exciting to have our first snow day, but it’s also exciting to know that no matter how many snow days we have, we’ll still have Coffeehouse,” Wilkens said.

To view a gallery of snow day pictures from past years, click here.