Park Ridge High School in New Jersey recently hosted its first-ever Virtual Day, during which students attended all classes from home. In-person classes were replaced with written assignments and video chats, using a software called Schoology (https://www.schoology.com/k-12 ). The school ultimately found the experiment successful, with post-event surveys reflecting high attendance.
Aside from the appeal of having an alternative option for the cases of snow days or other emergencies, administrators also note virtual options as a way of prepping students for the future.
"Our ultimate goal is to prepare kids for life after high school," principal Troy Lederman told NPR (http://www.wnyc.org/story/study-in-your-pjs-what-a-high-school-work-from-home-day-looks-like/). "Most colleges say that kids should be taking at least one online course, and there's a lot of careers where people can work from home."