Mountain Vista and surrounding Douglas County students rejoiced as they awoke to the news of a snow day on Thursday, Jan. 6.

Even though there was at most five inches of snow in some places around Highlands Ranch, the iced-over roads and low temperatures were enough to cancel school for the day.

“[I] absolutely [did] not expect a snow day, I don’t think our superintendent is going to call many more,” senior Blake Waechter said.

While some students got together with friends and went sledding or to see a movie, Waechter had a day of errands and relaxation.

“I got up at 9:30 a.m., ate breakfast, did some homework, went to the rec center, went to Target and picked up my mother from [Denver International Airport],” Waechter said.

These schoolless days are a nice break for students who might not be able to drive in the dangerous conditions, but at the same time many, like Waechter, feel that there’s never much to do and they can be more mundane than a normal school day.

“I sort of dislike snow days because most people are stuck in their homes and it’s such a pain to drive which causes there to not be many things to do,” he said. “If a snow day happened on a Monday or or a Friday though I’d be excited.”

To many student’s joy and to some’s dismay, late last night a delayed start for the today was called due to the still icy roads and single digit temperatures.

“I like them in some ways but at the same time I dislike them because I wish they would just call another snow day,” freshman Andrew Schumacher said.

The roads remain icy and temperatures are still well below freezing, but school will continue on a delayed start Thursday schedule.