Cancellations and Delays

The decision to delay or cancel a school day is officially made by the Orenda Charter Schools Superintendent, and that decision is posted on the school website and "Gateway Tech" Facebook page no later than 6 AM on the days in question.

On any school day with threatened bad weather the Superintendent, or designee, literally drives a 15-mile radius around the two Gateway school campuses between 5 - 5:30 AM.  

The decision to delay or cancel school is based on actual driving conditions (not just news reported) in the early morning hours, along with local weather reports and radar, and with consideration for parents with careers whose work has not been canceled or delayed.   

The decision to delay or cancel school can be made earlier or the evening before, but only if severe weather conditions warrant such.  Assume school will start at the regular times until you see the official notice delaying or canceling school.  

Sometimes our decision will be different than the local ISD’s.  We are not a large ISD with a fleet of buses and 15 schools in the area.  What the ISDs decide is considered, but is not a sufficient condition in our decision-making process.   

While most of our Gateway families live in Round Rock and Georgetown, we do have a small percentage who live in outlier areas where driving conditions may be different from the area surrounding our campus.    If our school is not delayed or canceled, and/or the driving conditions where you live are more treacherous, you may choose to arrive later or remain at home until those conditions improve.

Our philosophy is to always prioritize safety but also to save delayed days and canceled school days for the really bad weather.   If conditions are such that a little extra drive time allows the vast majority of our school families and staff to arrive safely, we will start school on time so we can continue our critical work of academic instruction for a full day.