Porter’s Chapel Academy has decided to release its students at 10:30 a.m. Monday due to safety concerns during the solar eclipse, which will start locally at 11:53 a.m. and reach its peak at 1:24 p.m. before ending at 2:52 p.m.

“We read some articles, we talked to some professionals and we decided that it would be best for the safety of all if we closed early,” PCA principal Pam Wilbanks said. “It is going to be right around most of our lunch times and people getting out; we are just going to make it safe for everyone.”

Students are required to be off campus by 10:45 a.m. Wilbanks said sport practices and other outdoor afterschool activities will be allowed to occur as long as they start after 5 p.m.

The Vicksburg Catholic Schools announced Thursday that they will release students at 11 a.m. Monday after previously planning to have a school-wide viewing of the eclipse on the football field.

St. Aloysius principal Buddy Strickland said the decision was made to close school after they decided to not view the eclipse as a school, but still wanted to allow students to have the opportunity to view the event with their parent’s permission.

Each student at the VCS will be given a pair of NASA approved ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses.

Vicksburg Warren School District spokesperson Christi Killroy said the district has no plans to alter its schedule for Monday.