As the 2012-13 school year begins, here are some tips for dealing with potentially warm classrooms during the first few weeks of school in Poudre School District:

• Encourage students to wear loose-fitting, light colored, lightweight clothing and open toed shoes such as sandals or flip flops.
• Send students to school with water bottles (your school will allow students access to water bottles, even if school policy typically does not allow water bottles in the classrooms.)
• Make sure students remain well hydrated during the day

PSD Facility Services has programmed occupied and unoccupied schedules into the HVAC systems in schools. Typically, these systems start one hour prior to the beginning of the school day and shut down at the end of the school day.

Additionally, PSD staff may take the following steps to help students remain cool in classrooms:

• Allow students to sit on the floor where the air is cooler
• Provide water coolers on the playground
• Plan indoor activities as opposed to going outside for recess or PE
• Keep blinds down and closed during midday
• Open windows first-thing in the morning to let the cool morning air in
• Use a circulating or box fan to spread cool air

Please remember warm weather conditions are typically temporary. As the days get shorter and night-time temperatures begin to cool down more quickly, daytime temperatures traditionally take longer to reach their highs. This helps reduce the heat load gained in the buildings during the day and should keep inside building temperatures at more comfortable levels.

If you have questions regarding how your school handles warm weather, please contact your school principal.

Thank you for your cooperation as we work together to help create positive learning environments in every classroom during the short warm weather period we may experience.