Solar Eclipse Early Dismissal Planned For Upper Dublin Schools

UPPER DUBLIN TOWNSHIP, PA —With the partial solar eclipse just days away, the Upper Dublin Township School District has decided to send students home early to witness this astronomical event.

The township joins several other school districts in Montgomery and Bucks counties that are deciding to allow students the opportunity to watch the event with family and friends.

The dismissal schedule is as follows:

• High school: 11:15 a.m.
• Middle schools: 11:45 a.m.
• Elementary schools: 12:15 p.m.

During a total solar eclipse, the moon is positioned at just the correct distance to create a perspective where it is the same angular size as the Earth, and the moon appears to block the sun completely.

On Monday, the area will experience a partial solar eclipse, perhaps reaching over 90 percent of totality. That makes this a “deep partial” solar eclipse, where the sky will get noticeably darker, brighter stars will be visible and the sun’s profile will be reduced to a slender crescent.

In Montgomery County, the moon will begin its path across the sun on Monday around 2 p.m. and will move from south to west for nearly two-and-a-half hours, until about 4:35 p.m.

The mid-eclipse time — when the highest coverage will occur — will be around 3:25 p.m.

This is the greatest solar coverage the region has seen since Memorial Day weekend in 1984, which was at 95 percent.

The last significant partial non-annular eclipse was Aug. 21, 2017, when coverage was at 80 percent.

Related Stories

Eclipse Glasses May Be Fake, State AG Warns