I grew up in a Scandinavian country but have never been able to skate to school. We have a lot of snow and ice but only the ice on the lakes and the arenas has been appropriate for skating where I grew up. The ice on the roads between my home and my schools has not been skateable with skates. Short stretches of it maybe.
If there's no sand, you could use a potkukelkka / kick sled. Back in the old times, old people especially could use this to get to the store when it was very slippery.
Yeah, skating is only applicable if there is a lake between where you are and where you're going.
But what I did as a kid up in the mountains in Norway was using a kicksled if it was icy, or skiis if it was snowy. Full send down the 2 km hill to school, I think everyone in my neighborhood grew up learning to be adrenaline junkies.
People would say folks in scandanavian countries were able to skate to school or work and we would all just dream how amazing it would be.