On Monday, August 21, 2017, the moon’s shadow will block the sun from view and a solar eclipse will occur. In Beebe, the partial eclipse will begin in Beebe at 11:48 a.m. and end at 2:46 p.m. With safety as our number one priority, during this time we will need to be very careful and make sure students and staff members do not look directly at the sun without protected eyes.

According to NASA, “It is one of the most stunning sights that can ever be seen in the sky, and the opportunity to do so only emerges rarely. However, it is also highly dangerous, and viewing it incorrectly can damage eyes. Anyone looking to observe the eclipse must not do so directly. Instead, they must use eclipse glasses. Looking directly at the sun, during the eclipse, can be dangerous to retinas, but it is safe to view the eclipse with special glasses. The District has ordered an adequate number of glasses for students in grades 4-12.

Students in grades Prek-3 will watch the eclipse on live stream, but stay inside. Parents of students in these grades, who want their child to view the eclipse, are encouraged to come check out their child. In addition, if the child checks out with the parent to view the eclipse, it will be counted as an excused absence. We ask that parents checking out a child come no later than 11:30 a.m.

Any child who views the eclipse at school will need written permission from parents.  A high school student who wishes to look at the eclipse with eclipse glasses, must return a permission slip from parents and also sign a form acknowledging the danger of looking directly at the sun with unprotected eyes. All students will stay in one building and no transitioning between buildings will take place during the three-hour time span.

If a student does not have written permission from a parent, he/she will not be allowed to go outside and view the eclipse through the special glasses. Each building will be sending permission slips and developing special schedules that will reduce the amount of time outside.

All students will have the opportunity to view the live stream of the eclipse, and since it should end in Beebe at 2:46, we will resume our regular schedule at that time and buses will run as usual.