School Closings: How to Know if it's a Snow Day in New York City

Snow days are the stuff of childhood magic during the winter. Photo by Anita Gregorio Marsault
Snow days are the stuff of childhood magic during the winter. Photo by Anita Gregorio Marsault
12/6/21 - By Anna Fader

How do you find out if your kid's New York City school is closed because of snow? In short, snow days are unlikely for public school students during the 2021-22 school year. The mayor made waves by announcing there will be no snow days this school year at all, instead public schools are expected to host remote lessons on stormy days. Still, you'll want to know if you need to bundle up and head to a school building, or hunker down and sign on.

If you've got children in the city's private schools and nursery schools, they tend to close more often.

Here are the best resources for finding out if New York City schools are closing for a snow day, as well as ideas for what to do in the event of snowmageddon, like NYC's Top Sledding Hills and snow day boredom busters to do indoors.

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Public School Resources

Email Notifications: The NYC Department of Education lets you sign up for emails that notify you of important school news, including snow closures. While school may still be in session on snowy days, it's possible school buildings will close, so this notification tool is still helpful.

Social Media: You can also follow the DOE on Facebook or Twitter, and visit the DOE website for the latest weather-related scheduling changes. Most schools now have their own websites and social media accounts, so be sure to follow your school's, too.

Notify NYC: While this citywide service offers text alerts and an app, in my experience, it's a great service for alternate-side parking suspensions and other citywide alerts, but not always for school closings.

Local Media

CBS New York has a frequently updated list of school closures on its website.

NY1 usually has a ticker at the bottom of the screen listing schools that are closed.

On the radio, 1010 Wins is a reliable source for school closing news.

Stuck inside until the blizzard passes? Check out our guide of fun activities to do at home and 25 exercise games to do with kids.

This post, originally published in 2009, is updated annually.