Unit District 5 Schools hard at work for Students

Photo Courtesy to Unit 5 Facebook page

NORMAL, Ill.- Unit 5 continues to closely monitor and plan for the rapidly changing Coronavirus health issue in Illinois and the US.

With the new “Stay-At-Home” issue from Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office the Unit 5 schools will be planning for what is to come.

As of now all schools in Illinois will remain closed until April 7. Unit 5 is tentatively set to reopen on April 8.

However, school is not only a place for education.

The concern for meals for the students on free-lunch or reduced-lunch programs is growing.

Director of Communications and Community Relations Dayna Brown has been working hard to communicate the District’s next steps.

Unit 5 schools are on spring break this week and the District sent home food bags with some students before it started.

However, meals will not be available during the District’s planned spring break, the week of March 23.

“We do that every break. We had not planned meals during this week. We are coming back with a new plan after spring break that will include mobile drop-offs and walk and pick up options,” said Brown.

Although students will not physically be coming into the schools, Unit 5 is prepared to continue their education.

“We also have a remote learning plan, and will share that out after we get more information from the state,” said Brown.

“Grab and Go” meals were made available to students in need from available on Tuesday, March 17 through Friday, March 20, and Monday,
March 30 at five centralized sites.

Unit 5 has stated, ” We understand this is a challenging situation for our families. If you are unable to access food for your student, please contact your school principal and we will work to connect you with services,” stated by Unit 5 Administration.

“This is unprecedented but our staff and faculty members are working hard to make sure students have the resources they need,” said Brown.