INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — In an effort to prevent students from damaging their eyes from looking directly at the sun during next week’s eclipse, the School District of Indian River County plans to move all outdoor activities indoors.
The U.S. will experience the partial solar eclipse August 21, school district officials said. A solar eclipse is when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun.
For Indian River County, the eclipse will begin at 1:23 p.m., will be at its maximum at 2:54 p.m. and will last until 4:17 p.m., school district officials said. To decrease the chances of students looking at the sun, all outdoor activities between 1:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at all schools will be moved indoors.
These activities include physical education classes, recess, athletic practice, band practice, aftercare programs and more. Outdoor activities will resume after 4:30 p.m.
All schools will follow the regular bell schedule during the day and will dismiss students at the regular times, school district officials said. Anyone who wants to keep their child out of school during the eclipse will be given an excused absence.
The district’s science department has given lessons to teachers about the science involved and how the eclipse affects our planet and environment, school district officials said. Teachers will be encouraged to post their experiments and activities on the school district social media to compete for a chance to win tickets to the planetarium at Indian River State College.
For more information, contact school district spokeswoman Cristen McMillan at 772-564-5527.