Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI Days)

Be prepared for Inclement Weather Days this school year
In Missouri, school districts will not be required to make up school hours that are lost or canceled due to exceptional or emergency circumstances (up to 36 hours) if the district implements an Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) Plan. Exceptional or emergency situations might be weather related. The first inclement weather day this school year will be considered a traditional snow day. The next five (5) inclement weather days will be AMI Days.

On days when the district enacts AMI, families will be notified through the regular communication channels (phone call, text, email, app notification) utilized by the District and their child’s school.

Fort Zumwalt will send notifications multiple ways to ensure all families and staff receive information in as timely a manner as possible. Parents, legal guardians, and foster parents who have opted in for communication will receive calls, texts, and/or emails. We will also post pop-ups on our websites and announcements in the family and student portals. Be sure your contact information is current in the FZSD Family Portal. This will enable the district to have accurate information so that you are contacted in the event of a crisis, emergency, or school closing situation. If you are not receiving Fort Zumwalt messages and believe you should be, please contact your school's registrar.

Caller ID will display 636-272-6620, the number of the Fort Zumwalt School District’s main office.

If you answer live, there will be a short pause following your initial greeting and then the message will be played. The system will leave a voice message.

Fort Zumwalt staff and families have a variety of communications channels they prefer. With that in mind, we make our best effort to connect with everyone as quickly as possible during inclement weather events. That means some families will receive the message multiple ways:

Phone call
Text
Email
Pop-up alerts on all of our websites
Alert through the Fort Zumwalt app (Remember, you must go into your settings and select to receive these notifications)
Post to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Notify television Channels 2, 4, 5 and 30.

Early Childhood & Elementary students will have access to printed materials that will be utilized for AMI and students will have access to District-provided devices and hotspots if necessary. Packets come home around parent-teacher conferences. They can be accessed using the tabs on this page if you have a printer at home. You should keep them in a safe spot for each of your students. During the school closing, students will be assigned learning activities to complete. Students will be required to submit completed learning activities upon their return to school. Teachers will be accessible for questions, clarification and feedback through their district e-mail. If your child has art, PE, music, library or technology on an AMI Day, that teacher will also contact you with activities. Student assignments must be completed and submitted on the next day of in-school attendance in order for the student to be marked as present on the AMI day.

Secondary students should log-in to Canvas in the morning where their assignments will be available at the start of the school day. Some teachers might opt to teach live, but these sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend. Students without internet access will be provided alternate assignments. Teachers will be available to students as well as to parents/guardians via email throughout the school day. Student assignments must be completed and submitted on the next day of in-school attendance in order for the student to be marked as present on the AMI day.

AMI Day to-do list for families

If there is inclement weather in the forecast, families can do a few things to get ready for an Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) Day.

Download the Fort Zumwalt app so you will get a notification from the district if in-person learning is canceled due to inclement weather. REMEMBER: You will also get a phone call, email and text, just like on a traditional snow day. And remember: We always post school cancellations/closures on all of our websites. Click to download for Apple or Click to download for Android
Elementary families should bookmark the AMI Packets page. You can always get to this webpage from your school website. Just pull down to AMI Packets under the Academics tab. Packets are on the site by grade level and should have been sent home from your school. Keeping the printed versions of the first two packets on hand might be helpful should the district call an AMI Day. When students turn in their assignments for the AMI Day the state doesn’t require us to make it up! (The state allows us to use five (5) AMI Days.)
All staff and students should come home prepared. If there is inclement weather in the forecast, be sure to bring home the materials you will need for an AMI Day.
Secondary families: Your child(ren) should bring home Chromebooks and chargers. Should the district call an AMI Day, secondary students should check-in on Canvas for the assignments for the day. When students turn in their assignments for the AMI Day the state doesn’t require us to make it up! (The state allows us to use up to five (5) AMI Days.)

Did you know: During their 13 years of school, the Class of 2025 has only experienced four years where the district had six or more inclement weather days? 2013-2014 (1st Grade); 2019-2020 (7th Grade. Doesn't include COVID-19 closure); 2020-2021 (8th Grade) and 2021-2022 (9th Grade). However, since the new AMI rules went into place in 2020-2021, students only had to make up five of the 17 inclement weather days. In total, the Class of 2025 has had to make up 28 snow days during their academic careers.