RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — With a blizzard this week and another day of frigid temperatures, this winter feels like it’s dragging on. The latest storms mean snow days are stacking up for schools across KELOLAND, but not in Rapid City.

A massive snowstorm across the Midwest cancelled schools all over.

“Anytime you have snow days, it disrupts our learning, it kind of disrupts the flow and so everybody loves a snow day. They are a nice surprise but as principal I want learning to continue so snow days interrupt that to a degree,” Principal Beth Keeney, Robbinsdale Elementary School, said.

This week, the Rapid City Schools planned ahead to prepare teachers and students to learn remotely.

This week was the first week the Rapid City Schools incorporated e-learning so that students didn’t have to make up any more days at the end of the year.

“We don’t really want to extend school any farther because people have vacations planned, things going on, graduation has been scheduled for a long time now so it’s easier to be able to incorporate those e-learning days that way we don’t have to add on those days for students,” Bobbi Schaefbauer, Community Relations Manager for RCAS, said.

At Robbinsdale Elementary, teachers sent students home with work packets. If students had any questions they could message their teacher.

“It’s pretty straight forward with paper and pencil tasks, there’s not too much confusion with that,” Principal Keeney said.

The district learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that there are a couple challenges that come along with e-learning. Including access to internet, less participation and difficulty with communication.

“So, it’s not the most optimal way of learning for kids, but when we have to do it, we have to do it,” Schaefbauer said.

And the school district believes e-learning is a great option when it comes to snow days.

The Rapid City School District says that on the high school level, students would work on their computers at home.