Orange Public Schools
Gerald Fitzhugh, II, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools
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Last "Snow Day" Will be Used on Friday, June 18, 2021
Superintendent Dr. Fitzhugh announced on May 25 that the district would use the last snow day not taken during the school year on Friday, June 18, 2021. The selection of this day is in recognition of Juneteenth, observed on Saturday, June 19, 2021. The day before will allow for reflection and celebration of an important time in our country's history, and the district will be closed.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved had been free since President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became official on January 1, 1863. While the Emancipation Proclamation had little impact in Texas, due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order, the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger's regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to overcome the resistance.