There will be no in-person instruction Friday at Poland Community School as crews continue to repair and assess water damage discovered Monday, school officials say.

Friday will be the fifth day the school has been closed after water damage occurred over the weekend in the custodial closet on the second floor. About 35 spaces in the school were damaged, with the first floor getting most of the damage.

“The flow of water between floors caused damage to ceiling tiles, walls, flooring and belongings,” Superintendent Amy Hediger wrote on Facebook on April 6.

It is unclear when the school will reopen. On Friday afternoon, Hediger posted an update on Facebook saying they have been focused on how to provide in-person learning, knowing that the two-story section of the school may not be usable for a few weeks.

Despite that, Hediger said, there are signs that repairs are progressing nicely.

“During my morning walk-through with the professional teams,” she wrote, “two different sensors showed that many of the walls are dried or very close near the main entrance. It was encouraging to see fans removed or relocated, signaling good progress there.”

Hediger said the school’s fire alarm system also passed inspection by town fire and code officials. Those officials were helping the school system with an eventual return to the single-story section of the school as soon as possible.

On Facebook, school officials say professionals, including plumbers, electricians and water restoration technicians, have been assessing and fixing the damage across the school over the past several days.

The school posted Thursday afternoon that cardboard has been put on the floor, with the floors underneath being cleaned. It was also mentioned that drywall is starting to be replaced in the school.

Earlier Thursday morning, students and their families were instructed to come to the school to pick up learning packets and bagged lunches.

Poland residents Beth Piercey and Kathleen Paquette were among the parents who picked up learning packets from the school. The packets varied depending on the grade level.

Both parents said they also received notes from the school on ways parents can talk to children through stressful events.

“The way the school has gone above and beyond in helping the kids has been amazing,” said Paquette. “It shows dedication and that they care about the kids. It goes to show my kids are in the right school district.”

Paquette said school staff weren’t the only ones going above and beyond. The Poland Parks and Recreation Department’s Before and After School Childcare Program, which usually runs from 6:30 a.m. to when school starts and from school dismissal to 5:30 p.m., notified parents that they could bring their children in for as long as they wanted at no charge.

“This is such an amazing program for us,” said Paquette. “My daughter gets to play all day with her friends and I get to focus on my job. It takes the stress off of me to watch them while working.”

Piercy agreed that town and school staff were rising to the occasion. “I took my children to play on the playground today for some normalcy at the school and some of my kids’ teachers popped over to say hello,” said Piercy.

“My kids made ‘We miss you PCS!’ signs and the teachers absolutely loved them. It really is all hands on deck at school and you can just see the commitment to the school and the children by the efforts with the packets, notes to the children and just seeing teachers bringing materials in.”