GAINESVILLE -- With a rare total solar eclipse coming to northeast Georgia, the Hall County School System is hoping to use the event as an educational opportunity for its students in the days before.
Throughout the rest of this week and on the day of the eclipse, Monday, August 21, the school system will be encouraging teachers at all grade levels to teach courses about the event, which is crossing the continental United States for the first time in almost 40 years.
At the school board's Monday meeting, officials unveiled the plans that will feature three different sets of courses for varying grade level groups as well as plans to offer live streaming video of the eclipse. Superintendent Will Schofield said C.W. Davis Middle School Principle Eddie Millwood played a major role in preparing the courses.
"They've been put together by our own science teachers and Eddie Millwood and his team have just done a wonderful job of putting those resources together for all of our classrooms," Schofield said.
The live streaming video will be especially used in the county's elementary schools, where Schofield said students will not be allowed outside during the event due to safety reasons. He said parents who want their students to see the event in person are encouraged to check them out of school.
"Check your students out and enjoy it as a family, we'll consider that an instructional experience and they will not be counted absent," Schofield said.
The school system decided to delay the closing of schools by two hours on August 21 to make sure students were not unsupervised on school buses during the event.
High school teachers in the county, Schofield said, will be given the option to allow their students outside for the event with supervision.
