Bishop McNamara Catholic School plans to resume classroom instruction this week, but students at one campus will return a day later than the others after storm damage forced a temporary closure. The change affects families directly and comes as crews continue structural assessments and repairs at the hardest-hit building.
School leaders announced that the Bradley and Bourbonnais campuses will reopen for in-person classes on Monday, while the Kankakee site will shift its restart to Tuesday. The delay follows a tornado and severe weather that struck the area last Tuesday and caused significant damage to the Kankakee facility.
In a Friday update on the school’s Facebook page, administrators said recovery work is underway. Contractors from SERVPRO of Champaign/Urbana and PSI Construction have been on site, inspecting the structure and beginning initial remediation.
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Damage overview and immediate steps
According to the school, the Kankakee building suffered damage to multiple systems and exterior elements. While the full restoration will take time, engineers and the remediation team currently report no structural conditions that would prevent limited occupancy.
- Areas affected: roof, windows, interior flooring, HVAC systems, exterior facilities and several school buses
- Current status: on-site assessments completed by contractors and engineers; no immediate safety concerns cited
- Next actions: phased repairs and replacements, with construction and cleanup continuing over coming weeks
The school emphasized the recovery will be gradual. Replacing a damaged roof, windows and climate-control equipment and repairing interior finishes are all on the to-do list, and each step requires coordination with contractors and safety officials.
For families, the delay may affect morning routines and transportation. Officials did not provide a detailed timeline for when all repairs will be finished, but stressed the goal is to restore the Kankakee campus to full working order as quickly and safely as possible.
School administrators said they will keep the community informed as assessments progress and repair schedules are set, and they thanked local crews for their prompt response to the storm damage.
