SCHOOL NURSE-TEACHER NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents:

Cathy Villieneuve and I would like to extend a warm welcome to all students and their parents. I am looking forward to working with you and your children at Central Elementary School during the 2013-2014 school year. To ensure your child’s health and safety I would like to share a few items with you.

HEALTH CONCERNS: Please inform your school nurse of any severe allergies, surgeries, accidents or new health problems that occurred during the summer months or which may occur during the school year.

MEDICATIONS: NO child is to take or carry PRESCRIPTION OR OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATIONS to school. If a child, by order of a physician must receive medications in school, a change in state law now requires both parent and physician signature prior to administrating medication. Therefore, a prescription label IS NOT acceptable in lieu of a doctor’sorder. A written order must be obtained.

Our new Medication Permission Form must be completed and signed by both physician and a parent. This form, along with the prescribed medication in its original container,must bebrought to school by the parent/guardian. All medication MUST be administered in the nurses’ office. If you administer medication which could affect your child’s performance before he/she comes to school, please send in a note to the teacher with the name of the medication, how much you gave, and what time you gave it.

ILLNESS/ABSENCES: Please contact the school office in the morning if your child is to be absent and inform them why he/she will not be attending. Please be as specific as you can as often there are several “flu” viruses around at the same time. If your child has been ill, he/she should be free of a temperature over 99.6 degrees, without the use of acetaminophen or ibuprofen, for 24 hours before returning to school.

If your child is diagnosed with any of the following communicable diseases please notify the nurse as soon as possible: strep throat, chicken pox, impetigo, scabies, head lice, pink eye, vomit/diarrhea illness and Fifth’s Disease. The exclusion time for each is:

  • Strep Throat and Impetigo – 24 hours after initial dose of antibiotic
  • Chicken Pox – 7 days or until lesions are crusted over
  • Scabies/Ringworm – 24 hours after initial of medication and a doctor’s note
  • Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) – 24 hours after initial dose of medication
  • Fifth’s Disease – exclusion at discretion of your family doctor or until fever subsides
  • Head Lice – after hair has been treated and nits removed
  • Vomit/Diarrhea – 24 hours after the last vomit or diarrhea episode

SCREENINGS: As per RI State Law the following screenings will be done at Central Elementary School. During the school year information will be provided through the newsletter and website giving specific dates for the hearing and dental screenings, so please watch for this information in the newsletter and website.

  • VISION SCREENING: will be conducted by the school nurse throughout the school year.

If your child wears glasses please remind him/her to wear them every day. You will be notified only if your child does not pass the screening.

  • HEARING SCREENING: Done by the Rhode Island Hearing Center. The date of the hearing screening for this year will be Tuesday, January 14th, 2014.

Hearing screenings are important. Permission slips for this screening will be sent home by January 6th, 2014. It is your responsibility to send those slips back so that your child can be screened. If the permission slip does not come back it is almost impossible for me to call every parent to remind them, so please make every effort to return them as soon as possible. Without this completed form we will not be able to screen your child.

  • DENTAL SCREENING: No date at this time. We anticipate the dentist will be here on a Monday sometime in January or February. The dentist will screen all children unless a stamped dental card completed and signed by their dentist is on file in the nurse’s office or a parent informs the nurse that they do not want their child screened. Cards are available in the nurse’s office or your private dentist can send a note to school with your child informing me that they have been seen.

FLU FACTS/INFORMATION: The flu is a highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory tract. Although the flu affects everyone, children tend to get it more often than adults. The season for the flu is usually from November to April with most cases occurring between late December and early March.

Information will be sent home with your children about the upcoming Flu Clinic to be held at the Lincoln High` School on Monday, November 18, 2014 from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Students, parents and siblings are all welcome to attend this clinic.

The flu is often confused with the common cold, but flu symptoms tend to develop quickly (usually 1 to 4 days after a person is exposed to the flu virus) and are usually more severe than the typical sneezing and stuffiness of a cold.

Symptoms of the Flu may include:

FeverChillsHeadache

Muscle achesDizzinessLoss of appetite

TirednessCoughSore throat

Runny noseNausea or vomitingWeakness

Ear infectionDiarrhea

Symptoms can last for a week or two. The flu is very contagious. It is spread by coughing or sneezing into the air. People who are infected with the flu are contagious as long as they show symptoms (most of the time that means about a week for adults, but for children it can mean up to two weeks).

Ways to Prevent the Flu:

  • To have the flu shot if your pediatrician feels your child should have it.
  • Wash your Hands thorough and frequently.
  • Never pick up used tissues.
  • Never share cups and eating utensils.
  • Stay home from work or school when you’re sick with the flu.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

How Do You Treat The Flu?

  • Stay home from school.
  • Drink lots of fluids.
  • Get plenty of sleep and take it easy.
  • Call your doctor for a fever or achiness so that he/she can let you know what to give to make your child feel better.
  • Return to school when your child is better.

Asthma Information

Every year CVS and Hasbro Children’s Hospital team together to promote educational programs for parents and children who have asthma. The program, called “Draw a Breath”, is held at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence on a variety of days, both weekdays and weekends. The schedule can be obtained on the Central Elementary School website under School Nurse. All of the classes are taught by experienced asthma educators, in English and Spanish. The classes are to help families learn how to manage asthma and to answer any questions they might have about living with asthma.

Topics for each session include:

*Asthma lungs and airways*Medications

*Recognizing symptoms*Controlling asthma triggers

*Using peak flow meters spacers*Communicating with doctors, nurses, school staff, & families

Refreshments are served and children receive a free peak flow meter and spacer. A free parking pass is given to everyone who attends class.

To register for a class or if you have questions about this program, please call 444-8340.

HEALTHY SNACKS AND LUNCHES: The Lincoln School Department has implemented a Health and Wellness Policy. The purpose of this policy is to develop healthy lifestyles for students, and establish policies that improve school nutrition and physical activity. The Lincoln School Department has developed a target for children to increase their consumption of healthy food and increase their physical activity at school. It is, therefore, our goal that children will develop healthy eating habits during lunch and snack times.

Just a reminder:snacks eaten in the classroom must be nut and peanut free. We have nearly 20 children with severe allergies to certain foods, most to nuts and peanuts. Please help to keep these children safe by sending non-nut/peanut snacks to school. However, children are allowed to eat peanut/nut snacks in the lunchroom since we do provide a peanut/nut free table. Another way you can help keep the children who have food allergies safe is to remind your children that they should not share food at school. The teachers and other adults in your child’s life strongly discourage any sharing of food in the classroom and in the cafeteria. We are encouraging you to help us meet this goal by packing healthy lunches and snacks for your children.

Following along with our goal to keep all children with allergies safe, and following the Lincoln School district’s Health and Wellness Policy, I am asking all parents to refrain from bringing food in to celebrate your children’s birthdays. We all remember fondly when someone in elementary school had a birthday and we had a special treat. Today I am asking you to do something special for your child’s birthday, without the use of food. Please speak with your child’s teacher and see if there is something you can do to celebrate your child in a different way: coming in to read a story to the class, sending in special pencils, helping with a craft, sending in a game for the class to use, donating a book to the library in honor of your child and reading the book to the class first, etc. I am sure there are dozens of other ideas not listed here. In advance, I thank you for your help in this important matter.

I hope this information is helpful to you. I know both Cathy Villeneuve and I hope you have a safe and healthy school year. If we can be of any help throughout the year please don’t hesitate to call us at 334-2800, ext.2 or email us at or .

Sincerely;

Ms. Cathy Villeneuve, RN

Mrs. Linda Newbury RN