A winter storm swept through Prince George’s County on Sunday, dumping two-to-four inches of snow. Wet snow caused traffic and left streets slick and slushy, delaying schools all around the state. PGCPS initially announced a two-hour delay, but as conditions seemed to get worse, officials shifted to a day of virtual learning instead.
After the county’s announcement, on Monday, February 22nd, 2026, residents of the county prepared for their first virtual learning since January 2022. Resuming on a two-hour delay schedule, students and teachers found themselves back at their desks, offices, or bedrooms ready for over four hours of virtual instruction. Here’s a quick look at how residents reacted to the virtual snow day.
Angelina Wiseman, a junior at a PGCPS school, had mixed feelings after joining her virtual classes. She says, “[virtual learning is] better than being stuck in traffic on icy roads, but seeing everyone’s faces in little boxes again is a trip. It feels insane to be back here.” With almost every student in Prince George’s County attempting to log in to Canvas, many students experienced difficulties with the program. Eric Nwuha, a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, expressed that Canvas was taking “forty-seven business days to load,” and he wasn’t the only one. Many other students experienced the same problems. Senior Vincent Chen voiced his frustration and said that “the technical difficulties made it extremely hard to attend lesson[s] or even do work.”
Interim Superintendent Shawn Joseph notes in his letter to parents and educators following the virtual learning day that PGCPS “proactively prepared” Canvas for the possible virtual learning day. Despite all of this preparation, Canvas still underperformed on February 23rd, preventing both students and teachers from getting to classes on time and causing issues when accessing assignments, as Canvas refused to load. Superintendent Joseph acknowledges this in his letter as well, as he states, “Our online platform, Canvas, experienced initial bandwidth challenges despite proactive preparation.”
The criticism wasn’t limited to students. Many teachers viewed the sudden shift to virtual learning as problematic for some students. Mrs. Jennifer Thorson, a science teacher at Beltsville Academy, states that “virtual learning only works for some kids, and some teachers are better at [virtual learning] than others.” Many students have trouble paying attention during online school, and some teachers may have trouble getting students to participate during a virtual day. She also comments that, despite online learning challenges, “the current online academy has higher graduating rates than PGCPS as a whole,” indicating the possible success of a virtual learning schedule.
Meanwhile, several parents voiced their unsatisfactory opinions concerning the virtual day, some believing it to be unnecessary. “It’s not much snow,” said Chad Samuells, a local father. “School could have been open, it’s not as bad as a few weeks ago.” Stephanie Rizk, another local parent, agreed.
“Now you know what it feels like when everyone has a snow day, and you still have to go to work,” laughed Oluwaseun Balogun, another local parent.
This inclement weather day and the shift to temporary virtual learning seemed to be unpopular, especially among parents and students who faced technological issues. However, there were just as many benefits as there were faults, like how this impromptu virtual day negated the addition of school days before summer break. With the amount of days the winter storm in January took from students, we need all the recovery days we can get, and even though it was still a day of school, there are memories to be found in its similarity to the learning experience during the pandemic period.
