JANESVILLE 鈥 Washington Elementary School will be closed for the rest of the school year, the 糖心Vlog传媒 School District announced Tuesday.
The district had closed the building at 811 N. Pine St. Monday following a severe storm with heavy rains last Friday that flooded parts of the building.
Kindergarten, P4J and early childhood and grades 1 through 3 are moved to Adams Elementary, 1138 E. Memorial Dr. Grades 4-5 and the school鈥檚 Talk and Learn program will go to Madison Elementary, 331 N. Grant Ave.
Washington teachers will continue teaching their students at the new locations. The district will provide transportation from Washington to the new sites and back to Washington daily.
Principal Matthew Peerenboom said that he would share room locations, busing times and school nutrition schedules at a later time.
Washington had significant water damage as a result of the flooding from the storm that dumped several inches of rain on Rock County.
The district said there has been a 鈥渟ignificant impact鈥 on essential service areas in the school, including the kitchen, cafeteria, art room, mechanical systems and several classroom spaces.
There is no remote learning for students this week. Student computers are still in the school, and the public is not allowed to enter the building for safety reasons.
With Washington closed this week, the Boys & Girls Club (200 W. Court St.) and the YMCA (221 Dodge St.) are providing daytime child care.
The Boys & Girls Club childcare program operates from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. It offers educational and recreational programming, breakfast and snacks. Families are asked to pack a cold lunch as the club explores options to provide free lunch.
There have been 22 Washington Elementary students in the Boys and Girls Club childcare program during typical school hours and the facility can accommodate more, CEO Rebecca Veium said.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e in educational programming,鈥 Veium said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just letting them be kids too. Sometimes we forget that things like this affect them too. This is affecting them. Some of them have seen the pictures. We are trying to have some normalcy.鈥
During the closure, the YMCA will offer shower access and wi-fi for anyone who needs it.
The Y has had 18 Washington Elementary students enrolled in its daycare this week, said Gabbie Wollert, the Y鈥檚 youth development director.
鈥淧roviding some stability for families that are facing some unknowns has been pretty special, and seeing some new faces here at the Y has been pretty special,鈥 Wollert said.
Washington Elementary parent Samantha Greenwood has children in grades three and four, and in kindergarten. When she saw the video of the water flooding the school cafeteria and photos of other flooding, she was in tears.
鈥淭he shift between schools today, it鈥檚 been an emotional day,鈥 Greenwood said.
Greenwood said her kids have adjusted well so far this week and she is trying to hold it together for them to make sure they鈥檙e reassured everything is going to be OK.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been OK, especially being here at the Y. The Y has provided them of keeping the same routine and stability. Their friends being here from school has helped them through all of this,鈥 Greenwood said. 鈥淭oday was a little emotional when they got the news that they were transitioning into two different schools.鈥
Greenwood added, 鈥淚 hope they get it fixed for next year. We have plenty of years left at Washington and we had no anticipation of changing schools.鈥
About 400 students and 70 staff at Washington are displaced, the district said. Washington is the only school in the district to be closed following last Friday鈥檚 severe weather.
