January 13, 2016

Dear Parents:

There have been several reported cases of head lice here at H.W. Mountz since vacation. It is important to check your child’s head for head lice daily. Mass screenings take students away from instruction time in the class room. However, when a case is reported to my office the class is brought in to my office to be checked. Students may come in contact with lice during extracurricular activities (dance, gymnastics, CCD, sleepovers, or just playing with friends, ect.)

Parents should check their children frequently for head lice at home. Mass screening of children in school is not nearly as effective as parents at home in detecting lice in their children.

Here are some facts to help you in detecting head lice:

§ Persistent itching and scratch marks at the nape of the neck and behind the ears.

§ Nits (whitish eggs) firmly attached to the hair shaft with a sticky material. (They cannot be easily removed like dandruff).

§ Head lice are difficult to see. They are grayish-tan, wingless insects that crawl on the scalp, usually behind the ears and at the nape of the neck.

Some additional information that should prove helpful to you is that head lice are usually transmitted from one infested person to another by direct contact with hair. Such contact generally does not take place in the school setting, but rather during sleepovers, parties, or in any situation where there is head and/or clothing contact. Please take the time to educate your children not to use or share anyone else’s comb, brush, hat, scarf, etc.

Girls with long hair should wear their hair up so that it is not making direct contact with others students in their class. This could lead to infestation with head lice.

If you should detect head lice in your child, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can take the appropriate measures at school to stop any spreading of the head lice.

There are several products that can easily be used to help prevent infestation. Please call your pediatrician or my office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hanlon

Mrs. Hanlon, RN

School Nurse