District 156 decided to cancel in-person learning on Friday morning due to a snowstorm and concerns about student and staff safety.

As a result, for the first time since Covid, MCHS implemented their Virtual Emergency Learning Plan. All students will learn remotely from home and attend classes on their Chromebooks. 

With today being online, there are some things students and staff should know.

Students will be following an early release schedule, so students and staff should follow the early release bell schedule when arriving to classes.

Teachers will host virtual classes on Google Meet. Students will be required to join all classes except for study halls. Teachers have posted links to their virtual classes on their Schoology pages.

Attendance will be taken by each teacher. The school will call home for students who don’t show up for classes and those students may not be able to make up assignments they miss. 

Because today is an early release schedule, no time for AIM will be provided.

Sophomore Kyra Hanneman says for everyone’s overall safety, the snow day is more beneficial.

“School being online prevents accidents as well as adding days to the school year,” says Hanneman. 

Teachers have been preparing their students for a possible remote learning day but, for newer teachers, this may be their first experience teaching remotely.

expresses his concerns for the snow day as he has never taught remotely before, since during Covid he was a student himself.

“I was in remote classes during college,” says English teacher John Aubert. “I feel like it’s less engaging, even though now after Covid we have more awareness on how to make it more engaging for students.”

“I’m not necessarily excited for it,” he adds. “I’d rather be in-person, but it is what it is.”

For some of the families, MCHS free hotspots may be available in case there’s a situation where WiFi is not available for them. If students or parents have questions, they can call 815-759-5137 which is the IT support number that will be able to help regarding this issue.

Due to the snowstorm, all after school activities, practices, and any athletic competitions have been canceled.

On Tuesday, the school canceled school on the first day of second semester. Some speculate, though, that it’ll be the last snow day that the district calls this year year. Moving forward, students learn from home on their Chromebook in the event of a school closure, which will prevent the school from adding more days to the end of the school year.

Still, many students and staff say they’ll miss having a day off when weather gets bad.

“Snow days also could be a nice break when school gets stressful,” says Hanneman. “With virtual learning, the concept and delight of a snow day may become extinct.”