WELCOME TO THE ELEMENTARY HEALTH OFFICE

PLEASE DO NOT SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL IF YOU BELIEVE THEY MAY HAVE STREP THROAT!  Strep is a communiacble disease and can cause severe illness in some of our children. Untreated beta strep group A infections can lead to heart damage, it is a serious illness!   Many parents ask, “When is my child sick enough to stay home from school?”   This is not always an easy question to answer!  We hope that these tips can help!   A child who is sick will not be able to perform well in school and is likely to spread the illness to other children and staff.  We suggest making a plan for childcare ahead of time so you will not be caught without a comforting place for your child to stay if he/she is ill.   Our school policy states that you should not send your child to school if he/she has: §         Fever in the past 24 hours §         Vomiting in the past 24 hours §         Diarrhea in the past 24 hours §         Chills §         Sore throat §         Strep Throat (must have been taking an antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school) §         Bad cold, with a very runny nose or bad cough, especially if it has kept the child awake at night §         Head lice – until your child has been treated according to the nurse or doctor’s instructions   If your child becomes ill at school and the teacher or school nurse feel the child is too sick to benefit from school or is contagious to other children, you will be called to come and take him/her home from school.  It is essential that your child’s teacher have a phone number where you can be contacted during the day and an emergency number in the event you cannot be reached.  Please be sure that arrangements can be made to transport your child home from school and that childcare is available in case of illness.  If your daytime or emergency phone number changes during the year, please notify your child’s teacher immediately.   Should I call my childs MD??? Follow the American Academy of Pediatrics Symptom Checker: http://www.healthychildren.org/english/tips-tools/symptom-checker/pages/default.aspx

The role of the school nurse is to assess a student’s condition through objective and subjective data in order to make appropriate decisions and recommendations to parents/guardians about illnesses or injuries occurring during the school day and when/ if to seek out medical evaluation and treatment. Please do not send students to school to be diagnosed. Do not administer medication to lower abnormal temperatures so that they may attend school. The risk of spreading an illness is detrimental to staff and students in the building. Also, please do not send sick students to school to take important exams and tell them they can go to the nurse after it is done. Students should be feeling well when they take exams. Taking exams when not feeling well will not benefit the student. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the nurse, Ms. Amy Burdett, RN.

Please call if you have questions.

589-9668 ext.2520