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Exton, Pennsylvania, 12,109 students in 17 schools

West Chester Area School District Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in West Chester, measured against West Chester's own big snow morning of 5.4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will West Chester close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Exton.
The West Chester playbook

How West Chester calls a snow day

How families hear

By phone call, text message, email, the district website and local TV.

“WCASD families will receive a phone message, text message and email notification. Text and email notifications will also be translated and sent out in Spanish as well as English.”
Inclement Weather Procedures - West Chester Area School District

1 built in snow day

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “Snow Day”.

“We will first use our one traditional snow day in the event of inclement weather. Once we have exhausted that day, we would then utilize an FID.”
Source

Flexible Instructional Days

West Chester has Flexible Instructional Days in its winter plan.

“No. In the event of severe storms or power outages, the Superintendent may determine to fully close all schools. The WCASD plans to its built in snow day first and then utilize FIDs.”
Source

Making up a lost day

One make-up date is built into the calendar: the Snow Day on June 14, 2027, after the scheduled last day.

“Yes, the district builds one make-up date into the district calendar . However, please note that a benefit of calling a FID day means that the day does not have to be made up later in June.”
Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day August 31, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 24 to Jan 1
  • Last day June 11, 2027
District calendar

Read from West Chester’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is wcasd.net.

Ten winters of school mornings

West Chester’s snow record

15.6inches of snow a winter
2.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.1with 4 in or more
5.4 ina big snow morning in West Chester: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
0.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
0.6Nov
2.4Dec
4.8Jan
5.6Feb
2.3Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 12 in on February 2, 2021
  • Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 45.3 in
  • 6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 15.1 miles away. Mornings are the 7 am snow reading on a weekday from December 1 through March 31, over the ten winters from 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026, from NOAA GHCN Daily.

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The Pennsylvania rule

How Pennsylvania counts a lost day

Pennsylvania requires either 180 days, or hours: 900 for kindergarten through grade 6 and 990 for grades 7 to 12, as the district chooses. The state forgives no days; districts are expected to build make-up days into the calendar for closures beyond any Flexible Instructional Days.

The Pennsylvania rules in the agency’s own words, and every Pennsylvania district

Next door

Districts near West Chester

DistrictSnow a winter4 in mornings
Great Valley School DistrictMalvern15.6 in1.1
Downingtown Area School DistrictDowningtown17.8 in0.9
Phoenixville Area School DistrictPhoenixville15.6 in1.1
Coatesville Area School DistrictThorndale17.8 in0.9
Tredyffrin-Easttown School DistrictWayne15.6 in1.1
Owen J. Roberts School DistrictPottstown17.8 in0.9
The schools

17 schools

Every school in West Chester follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

  • West Chester Henderson HS, West Chester
  • West Chester East HS, West Chester
  • West Chester Bayard Rustin HS, West Chester

Middle

  • E N Peirce MS, West Chester
  • J R Fugett MS, West Chester
  • Stetson MS, West Chester

Elementary

  • Sarah W Starkweather El Sch, West Chester
  • Westtown-Thornbury El Sch, West Chester
  • Greystone El Sch, West Chester
  • Hillsdale El Sch, West Chester
  • East Goshen El Sch, West Chester
  • Exton El Sch
  • Glen Acres El Sch, West Chester
  • Mary C Howse El Sch, West Chester
  • East Bradford El Sch, West Chester
  • Penn Wood El Sch, West Chester
  • Fern Hill El Sch, West Chester
Questions

West Chester snow day questions

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More winter

More for Pennsylvania snow days

Snow day predictorClosing and delay odds for any ZIP, with the snowiest districts in the country.Snow depth mapHow much snow is on the ground right now, measured, across the country.First snow datesWhen the first measurable snow usually lands where you live.Frozen pipesThe nights cold enough to freeze a pipe, and what to do before one.Snow plow trackerWhere the plows are during a storm, city by city.Pennsylvania winter forecastThe season ahead for Pennsylvania: snowfall, cold and the first snow.
A residential street under deep snow on a bright blue morning, cars parked along the curb buried into smooth white mounds, one set of tire tracks down the middle
The morning after a big one: cars buried to the mirrors and one set of tracks down the middle. A street like this is a closing, no debate. Photo, Fairfax, Virginia, January 2016: Jarek Tuszyński, CC BY 4.0

The odds are a forecast read, and the superintendent makes the call: the district’s own announcement is the one to follow.