What to Do When Winter Weather Strikes

  • Winter weather is on its way, and with it comes emergency closings. Division staff makes the decision to either close or delay schools by 5:30 a.m. Once the decision is made, the Office of Communications begins to inform the community using a variety of media. Below is a list of the different communication channels you can use to find official closing information. 

    School Websites

    An on-screen alert is posted on the division and school websites. In the event of a school closing, an alert will appear on the screen and must be dismissed in order to access the site.

    Local Media

    News media in the Fredericksburg, Richmond, and DC areas are notified of our closings, including:

    • Free Lance-Star
    • Washington Post
    • WFLS 93.3, The Vibe 99.3, The Rock 96.9, WNTX 96.5
    • WBQB 101.5, WFVA 1230 AM
    • Thunder 104.5, WGRQ 95.9
    • WTOP 103.5
    • ABC 7 WJLA
    • CBS 6 WTVR
    • FiOS 1
    • NBC 4 WRC
    • NBC 12 WWBT
    • FOX 5 WTTG
    • CBS 9 WUSA
    • ABC 8 WRIC

    Social Media

    Closing updates are also available on the division’s social media pages. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staffordschools,  Twitter at www.twitter.com/scpschools, or Instagram at www.instagram.com/stafford_ps/.

    ParentLink – Phone Call/Text/Email/Mobile App

    A phone call, text, email and mobile app notification are sent via ParentLink to all phone numbers and emails subscribed to emergency alerts. Phone calls can occur as early as 5:30 a.m. Contact your child’s school to update, add, or remove your contact information from the emergency alert system.

    Stafford Alert

    Stafford County offers a subscription-based emergency alert system. Options for notification include text, email, phone call, and TTY/TTD device. In addition to school updates, Stafford Alerts allows you to subscribe to updates on traffic, government closures, parks and recreation, public utilities, and more.

    Stafford Educational Television

    Check out the division’s public access channel for weather updates. SETV is available on Channel 18 for Comcast and Cox subscribers, and Channel 38 for Verizon subscribers.

    Central Office Phone

    A voice message is placed on the Central Office line at (540) 658-6000 in the event of an emergency closing.

    If you have any questions on emergency closings, please contact us at (540) 658-6000 or communications@staffordschools.net.