Early Dismissal Tuesday for Schools in Somerset Hills, Bedminster, Bernards

Schools in the Somerset Hills district, Bedminster and Bernards Township are opening at the regular time on Tuesday, but are scheduled to close early due to predicted snow later in the day that the National Weather Service said could pile up to 3 to 5 inches of the while stuff in this area.

In the Somerset Hills School District, Bernards High School will release students at 12:15 p.m.; Bernardsville Middle School at 12:20 p.m., and the Bedwell Elementary School at 1:20 p.m. 

Parents of those students can be expected to be notified through the district's emergency AlertNow system, the school website says.

The Bedminster Township Public School website says that school is expected to begin dismissing students at 1:30 p.m., and all extra-curricular activities are canceled for the day.

In Bernards, the William Annin Middle School and Ridge High School middle and high school will dismiss students at 11:45 a.m., and the township's four elementary schools will let out at 12:45 p.m., according to the Board of Education's notification.

All after school activities and after school child care are canceled in Bernards schools.

Snow is predicted to begin at about 10 a.m. in the Somerset Hills  area, according to the National Weather Service.

On the Bernards Township school website, the school's superintendent, Nick Markarian advises that in case of early dismissals, it is important that parents work out a  “game plan” with their students.

"Please be sure your child knows exactly where to go and what to do if you should find yourself unable to arrive home before your child(ren). Ridge and Annin students are dismissed first so that they can be of assistance in supervising younger siblings," the notification says.

The website says that while schools hav instituted an emergency telephone/e-mail notification system, Instant Alert, there is no guarantee that you will always receive notice of an early dismissal.