MCPS has recently discontinued using one of the operating status and color codes, Code Purple, which was used during weather related school closures and signified a shift to temporary online, virtual learning.

Operating color codes are used to alert MCPS schools and offices of school closures and emergency information, which are typically due to weather and other factors that play a role in how students and staff get to and from school every day.

Code Green is normal, meaning that all schools are operating and open, and students and staff continue their day without any disturbance or difference in normal school schedules. Code Yellow is used when school and offices open two hours late, which is usually used when weather conditions make it harder for students to get to school, or other factors that need students to come slightly later than normal. Code Blue signifies early dismissal when schools close early at an announced time. Code Orange is used when all schools close but offices telework and Code Red is when all schools and all offices are closed.

Code Purple, which signified a shift to virtual learning, was used when schools shut down, usually due to weather-related instances when MCPS would alert all schools of the shift to temporary online learning. Students were still expected to open up their computers and log into sites used daily like Gmail, Canvas, and Synergy, and continue working virtually regardless of the weather conditions that prevented students and faculty from entering school grounds.

Although Code Purple alerts were rare, students are no strangers to the difficulties and complications that come with sudden shifts to online learning. Sophomore Hailey Goldberg remembers when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit MCPS, and the quick change to quarantining and long-term online learning that followed. “I remember the pandemic was a pretty difficult time for me,” Goldberg said. “I definitely learn much better in person rather than on screens through Zoom meetings and online assignments.”

Over the past couple years as the country and county shifted away from Covid-19 influenced education, doing away with Code Purple could also be a step back to traditional school and pre-pandemic styles of learning. “I think that is a signal that we are reverting back to more traditional approaches to snow days, or how we would approach an emergency closure of school,” Principal Douglas Nelson said. “What I would want students to know is that MCPS has shifted, that Code Purple no longer exists, [but] the state of Maryland still requires us to have a virtual learning plan. So we still need to write a plan, [and] Wootton’s has been submitted because we are still required to have that by the state. And yet we don’t have the Code Purple designation,” Nelson said.

Regardless of whether the discontinuation of Code Purple alerts is another step toward pre-pandemic learning, students will no longer have to worry about rushing to complete attendance-checked assignments and attend Zoom classes. Snow days will stay traditional and give students the opportunity to relax and enjoy inclement weather conditions.