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Nurse's Office

Sick Day Guidelines

 Please DO NOT send your student to school with the following symptoms of acute illness:

  • Fever is an oral temperature of 100.0 or higher and when most students are contagious. To return to school a student must be fever-free for 24 hours without needing medication such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin) to reduce the fever.
  • Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of stomach contents through the mouth. To return to school a student must not have vomited for 24 hours.
  • Diarrhea is a sudden onset of three or more loose stools in a day. To return to school a student must be free of diarrhea for 24 hours.
  • If Antibiotic treatment is prescribed for any acute illness, then the student needs to have taken 24 hours of medication before returning to school. Re-entry can only occur earlier if the primary care provider has provided documentation that the student is cleared to return.
    Other symptoms that keeps a student from participating in school, such as:
 
  • Extreme tiredness
 
  • Lack of appetite
  • Severe cold symptoms which can include: new, persistent cough, sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose

  • Body aches, earaches, headache

  • Sore throat (Please remember that a strep throat is not necessarily accompanied by a fever but can be associated with a stomachache and/or headache. If strep throat is suspected, then the student needs to be seen by a primary care provider for diagnosis and treatment.)

  • Chills

  • Nausea

  • Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

  • New loss of taste and/or smell

  • Headache
 
    Undiagnosed or unusual rash
    Other untreated skin condition
    Diagnosis with a serious communicable, (i.e., chicken pox, impetigo, pertussis, or scabies, but not limited to.) 
 
         Please be aware that the symptoms highlighted in RED can be associated with a COVID-19 infection.

Please also know that a student will be likely sent home if he or she presents to the health office with one or more of the above symptoms. 

 

School Absences
If your child is going to be absent from school for ANY reason, please call to let us know. The absentee line can be reached by calling 508-987-6066 then #2 when prompted. A message can be left on the absentee line at any time (24/7). For any extended illnesses please be prepared to provide a doctor's note.
 
Medications in School
 
All prescription (Rx) medication that must be given in school requires a physician or nurse practitioner order. The student's physician or nurse practitioner can use his or her own order form or the form that appears below called "medication order form". All medication administration (over-the-counter-OTC or Rx) requires parental/guardian consent. Please find a consent form below called "OTC or Rx consent form".  For the safety and welfare of all students, all medication (OTC or Rx) should be brought in by a parent or guardian, labeled with the student's name in the original, unopened packaging. 
 
Please be aware that cough drops are not allowed to be given to any child under the age of 12 years according to the annual medical orders provided to all district nurses by our school district physician consultant. Therefore, I would ask that no parent send his or her child into school with cough drops. 
 
Contacting Your School Nurse
Kathleen Mahoney Schoemer, MSN, RN, CPNP
phone number 508-987-6066 #2
fax number 508-987-2364
 
 
COMMON CHILDHOOD INFECTIONS
 
FLU vs COMMON COLD
Cold vs Flu symptoms