In-person school is out Friday for thousands of students across west suburban Chicago as a winter storm moves into the area, with school districts mostly switching to e-learning.

The Chicago and Northwest Indiana area is under a winter storm warning from overnight Thursday until mid-afternoon Saturday with a forecast that calls for for several inches of snow and blizzard-like conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

In Elmwood Park, the four schools of Elmwood Park School District 401 will do e-learning Friday “due to the anticipated winter storm,” Superintendent Leah Gauthier told Pioneer Press in an email.

The 3,500 students of Franklin Park-based Leyden Community High School District 212 will do asynchronous e-learning where “students get to learn on their own schedule, within a certain timeframe,” district officials announced in a notification to families.

According to the notice, assignments would be posted Friday morning by teachers, and students complete them any time throughout the day.

“There would be no expectation that students login into Zoom or into class, but rather, complete the assignments by the end of the day,” the notice states.

Notices of a switch to e-learning went out to families of other area school districts as well.

The National Weather Service issued the winter storm warning Thursday, predicting snow accumulations of 3-inches to 5-inches, with at times, wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Additionally, as the snowfall is expected to taper off by late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, air temperatures are predicted to drop from a high of 35 degrees to a low of -7 degrees.

At Oak Park-River Forest High School, the lone school of Oak Park and River Forest School District 200, officials announced students would do remote learning Friday, with teachers expected to take attendance within the first five minutes of each class.

“By closing our building and implementing the district’s E-Learning Plan, we are able to provide continuity of learning, while also keeping our students and staff safe,” SD200 Superintendent Greg Johnson announced on the school’s website.

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 also moved to remote learning Friday, a school district spokesperson told Pioneer Press.

Sports, extra-curricular, after school and other programs across area school districts were all canceled.

Schools were already set to be closed Monday for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. And looking ahead to Tuesday and later next week, school leaders announced that officials would continue to monitor the weather as subzero temperatures — bringing with it dangerously low windchill factors — have been predicted.

Families are urged to monitor school district websites and social media for additional information.