School Closure Update - 4/27/20
COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.1
149 South Elm Street
Winchester, Illinois 62694
Telephone (217) 742-3175
17 April 2020
Dear Students, Parents and Community Members:
Today, Illinois Gov. Pritzker announced that remote learning in Illinois will be extended through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Our last day of school is scheduled for Thursday, May 21.
Although in-person learning has been suspended for the remainder of the year, I assure you our entire staff remains committed to learning and engaging with all students through remote learning, as well as continuing with our food distribution program.
Like you, we are saddened by the reality that our school community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. So many of you have worked so hard to learn and grow in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities that today’s announcement may feel like a step back.
However, the final chapter of this school year hasn’t been written yet. These past few weeks have proven our school community is more resilient, more capable and more compassionate than maybe what we previously realized. I’m confident our collective strength will shine through during the remainder of the school year, and we will emerge even stronger.
Having said that, today’s announcement will result in significant and multiple scheduling changes in our district. As this announcement about the end of the school year was just made this afternoon, it will take us a few days to sort out the many schedule details, including spring sports, promotion, graduation, etc. Please be patient as we work as a district to get information to you in the next several weeks. As I mentioned earlier, all school related activities have been postponed indefinitely including prom, senior trip, NHS induction, etc.
I know this is not the school year that any of us imagined, but I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we have dealt with this unprecedented situation together. To quote Dr. Seuss – we can let this situation define us, destroy us, or make us stronger.
It’s important we continue to work together and support our students. I can't thank you enough for all that you are doing as we all work together through this.
Sincerely,
Kevin Blankenship
Superintendent