It’s hard to believe we're already into December! Time with families and friends for the holidays are already in full swing and with that, we are seeing the spread of many illnesses. We have coughs, colds, runny noses, fevers, sore throats and gastrointestinal illnesses again this year. Please remember to keep your student home if they are sick and not feeling well, communicable diseases can affect each person differently so sharing those germs may mean a much bigger illness for someone else.
How do I know when to keep my student home from school and activities - the 24 hour rule of thumb is a good guide and part of our policy here at school.
24 hours without a temperature/fever over 100.0 and without the use of fever reducing medication such as Tylenol or Advil/Motrin
24 hours without vomiting or diarrhea and tolerating a normal diet
24 hours of receiving medication for treatment of an illness/infection
If your student still seems tired, pale, reduced appetite, not tolerating solid foods, and/or generally “not themselves”. It’s best to keep them home from school. Some illnesses may take longer to recover from before your student is well enough to return to school and if your student is recovering from one illness, their immune system may contract something else more easily. If you send your student to school to “see how it goes”, you are potentially exposing other children to illness. This ripple effect exposes classmates and then their siblings and families as well as school staff to illness.
If your student needs to stay home for the day, please report that absence to the school. PreK-6 grades should be reported to West Elementary. 7-12 should be reported to Central High School. Influenza like Illnesses (Influenza, RSV, COVID, any other respiratory illnesses) should also be reported to the health office. You can reach West Elementary at 836-6450 and Central High School at 836-6184. The Health Office extension is 4120.
If your student is well enough to attend school, but experiencing mild symptoms, ways to mitigate the spread of minor illnesses and help your student feel better throughout the day include, covering your cough and sneezes, frequent hand washing, staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep and staying home when you need to. Over the counter medications are allowed at school, at the high school they should be in the original container and kept in the students locker, if your student needs assistance with administration they can bring it to the health office. At the elementary school, students should have over the counter medications brought to the health office in the original container with instructions on how/when to give the medication to your student. Should your student become ill during the school day, they should report to the health office to be assessed. Please do not send your ill student to school to be sent home from the health office for attendance purposes. If your student is ill for 3 consecutive days, a Dr. note is recommended.
Feel free to contact the health office if you have questions about staying home or when your student can return to school.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season! All you do to keep our students and staff as healthy as we can be during these times of increased illness is very appreciated.
In health,
Desirée Haupert CCMA
MCC Health Services Coordinator