Illnesses and Contagious Diseases
Illness & Contagious Illness
If your student becomes ill at school, the School will make every effort to contact you or whomever you have designated on your child’s emergency form. Until you are contacted, we will keep your student as comfortable as possible. Please keep ill students at home until symptoms have abated. If your child has a contagious illness (impetigo, pink eye, rashes, etc.) the School must be notified. All instances of contagious illness require a doctor’s “return to school” clearance note for the health and safety of all.
When children are sick, they should remain at home for their own comfort and to keep the illness from spreading to other children and staff. In addition, there are individuals in our school community who should not be exposed to particular illnesses. Some symptoms of illness include: fever, rash, runny nose with discharge that is not clear, cough, sore throat, pink eye with discharge, earache, diarrhea and vomiting (taken from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Communicable Disease Summary). If a child exhibits any of these symptoms at school, we will call you and ask you to pick up your child. Please keep your child at home until he/she has been symptom-free for at least 24 hours. For those children requiring antibiotics, the school follows general medical recommendations and asks that a child remain at home until he/she has received a full day’s dosage, or until 24 hours has passed since beginning medication.
Parents must let the school’s front office and classroom teacher know if a child has had a contagious illness (i.e. strep throat, lice, pink eye). For the safety and health of all, children with contagious illnesses—or those who appear contagious, such as a rash—should be seen by the child’s physician.
For lice, children will be checked by school personnel (please refer to the lice policy below for further details).
St. Anne's School of Annapolis Head Lice Policy
St. Anne’s School has a “No Lice/No Nits” policy, meaning that students will be sent home for treatment if lice are found, and students cannot return until all lice or nits (eggs) are gone. Re-checks of children who are classmates, but are not considered affected with lice, remain the responsibility of the family and should be conducted on a regular basis. Classroom teachers and office staff do not conduct regular checks for lice.
Procedure: If nits or lice are found at school, the affected student is brought to the front office. All those involved in this step proceed as discreetly as possible so as not to draw attention to, or embarrass, the student. Parents are
called to pick up their child, given treatment instructions and asked to keep their child out of school until the lice and nits are completely gone. Each child will be reevaluated by school staff when he or she returns.
Injury and Student Emergencies
If your student is injured at school, we will make every effort to contact you as soon as possible. A full account of the injury, including cause, location, time and treatment is documented in the School’s Accident Log. In emergencies requiring immediate medical attention, your child will be taken to the nearest hospital emergency room, and we will endeavor to reach you as soon as possible.
Medications
Health Department regulations prohibit school staff from administering any medication to a child without a signed Request to Administer Medication During School Hours form. This form is available from the front office. All medications must be brought to the office by an adult, accompanied by the appropriate permission form (see below). Medications are kept in the locked medicine cabinet in the front office. Under no circumstances are any medications to be brought to school and kept in a student’s possession.
Students who are taking medications regularly must continue to take them on class trips. Parents should supply a sufficient amount of medication, along with dosage instructions, in a re-sealable plastic bag to the teacher in charge prior to the trip. A special medication form for field trips is required and can be printed off the St. Anne’s website.
Prescription Medication: A Medication Order Form for Prescription Medication must be completed and signed by your child’s physician in order for school staff to administer medication. Prescription medications must be in a container labeled by the pharmacy or physician with the child’s name, dosage instructions and expiration date. This form is on the St. Anne’s website or can be picked up from the Front Office.
Over-the-Counter Medication: A Medication Order Form for Non-Prescription Medication must be completed and signed by a parent or guardian. Medication must be provided by the parent and should be in the original packaging container. Please note that cough drops and ointments such as hydrocortisone cream are considered over-the-counter medication. Over-the-counter medication will not be given for more than two successive school days without a written order from your child’s physician. This form can be found on the St. Anne’s website or the Front Office.