After Monday, the next total solar eclipse seen from North America won’t occur for another 20 years, experts say, and by that time, current elementary school students will be in their late twenties and thirties.

To give students an opportunity to learn about the eclipse, some schools in Butler County are incorporating eclipse-related activities or allowing for excused absences to accommodate parents wishing to keep their children home for the event. Others are modifying their schedules Monday, April 8, altogether due to safety concerns.

Jeff Beckstead, president of the Mars Robotics Association, which donated about 3,500 pairs of eclipse glasses to elementary students at Mars, Knoch and St. Luke's Lutheran schools, said the astronomical event could be used as an educational experience.

Eclipses are frequent occurrences, Beckstead stated, but “total solar eclipses are rarer.”

“In this case, the moon and Earth are at the right distance, so the size of the moon is the same or larger than the size of the sun’s core,” he stated.

“For a total solar eclipse, this gives scientists a chance to study the sun’s corona — the outer gas layer of the sun,” he stated. “Normally the (entirety) of the sun is too bright to see the corona.”

Studying the solar eclipse could offer a glimpse into other phenomena, Beckstead said, such as shadow bands, which are waves of light and dark that appear on surfaces before and after a total solar eclipse, or even animal behavior.

“Animals are also confused,” he stated. “Birds get quiet thinking it might fall. Nocturnal animals come out.”

Students in the Butler Area School District and Karns City Area School District will attend class Monday with no change to the school day. According to Butler superintendent Brian White, the district has provided teachers with grade-level-appropriate activities and a link to a video stream of the eclipse.

Both school districts will allow excused absences for the day with a note.

Knoch School District

Students in second through fifth grades will be able to view the eclipse outdoors during dismissal.

Students will be provided glasses from the Mars Robotics Association and will be required to wear them before dismissal.

Kindergarten and first graders will not be participating in the event, but will take part in classroom learning activities.

Mars Area School District

Mars Area School District will hold a remote learning day that will end at 2 p.m. There will be no two-hour delay with modified kindergarten schedule. Additionally, indoor afternoon and evening activities are canceled. Outdoor activities planned during the eclipse, between 2 and 4:30 p.m., will be held at different times or locations.

Information can be found at https://marsareaathletics.com/events.

Viewing glasses donated by the Mars Robotics Association were distributed to students in March.

Seneca Valley School District

Students will be dismissed early, with different dismissal times found on the district’s website.

Each student and staff member will receive a pair of eclipse glasses from the Seneca Valley Foundation before leaving school.

Freeport Area School District

Freeport Area School District will be running on an early dismissal Monday.

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh

Schools under the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will operate under a flexible instruction day. Teachers are encouraged to use the eclipse as a learning opportunity.

HIS Kids Christian School

Students are invited to stay after school if they would like to view the eclipse. The school will provide viewing glasses to every student and will be making pinhole projectors from cereal boxes.

On Friday, April 5, the school will host Jody Farr from the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh to explain the eclipse to students.