An e-learning day has been declared at WEGO for Friday, Jan. 23, as dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are forecast for the area.

The weather over the past few winter months has been chaotic, rising to the 40s and dropping back into the 10s within the same week. During the week of Jan. 9, where the highest was 46° Fahrenheit,only to fall to a high of 19 degrees Fahrenheit five days later on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The weather forecast predicts that the temperature on Jan. 23 will drop to a low of -12 degrees Fahrenheit and a high of -4, with an average “feels like” temperature of -23 degrees Fahrenheit, accompanied by winds up to nine miles per hour.

According to the National Weather Service, the wind is supposed to make it feel like 30-40 degrees below zero.

A cold watch has been issued for West Chicago from 3 a.m. to noon. A cold watch is issued when the temperatures are dangerously cold, but the exact conditions, timing, and location remain uncertain.

“The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 35 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes,” AccuWeather said.

Multiple sources among WEGO’s staff reported that a staff email was sent out to teachers to plan accordingly for a potential e-learning day. Later, the superintendent, Dr. Kurt Johansen, sent out an e-mail to students, staff, and parents officially announcing an e-learning day.

The announcement will be shared through phone calls, emails, text, and any other form of contact information that is listed on PowerSchool. Notices for the e-learning day have also been posted to the D94 website, the school’s Facebook account, and the school’s X account. 

“I mean, I hope we are going to have an e-learning day tommorrow because I feel like waking up so early to go to school is just a waste of time,” Jesus Alvarez, a freshman at WEGO, said. “I just hope we can just work from home, I wake up too early.”

Staff have been prepping their students for an e-learning day with procedures and expectations.

“Quick review for e-learning procedures, I have no insider information, just be sure to charge your Chromebooks and sign in on attendance,” Jennifer Ward, English teacher at West Chicago, said.

E-learning for students is not the same as it was during the COVID days. The E-learning procedure nowadays is the following.

E-learning Expectations for Students
1. Log in to Google Classroom for each class.
2. Fill out the Google attendance form for each class by 1 pm.
3. Students do NOT log in to their Den Google Classroom on an e-learning day. Attendance will NOT be posted for Den.
4. Complete the assignments that are posted in Google Classroom.
5. Submit completed assignments in Google Classroom.

While students will not be in the building, classes will continue Friday through the district’s e-learning plan.

Revision

Jan. 22, 2026

This article was updated on Jan. 22 to reflect the official declaration of an e-learning day. The headline, lead, and accompanying photo were revised for accuracy.