HEALTH OFFICE

Doris Burns, R.N.
Health Office: 283-2637

Greetings from the Health Office.
I am here every day to serve the health needs of the children at Bell Top School.

A school nurse is on staff full time to handle mishaps or illnesses that your child may have during school hours. If your child "visits" the Health Office, the nurse may call or send home an explanatory note, depending on the treatment administered. If the nurse determines that your child is not well enough to remain in school, you (or others listed on your emergency data card) will be contacted to pick him or her up.

Assessment
A child who is sick does not benefit from attending school, and may also be contagious to others. As a parent, you know when your child is not well enough to attend, but here are a few specific guidelines on when NOT to send your child to school:

• When he/she has vomited the night before or the morning of school
• When he/she has had a fever within the last 24 hours

What Goes Around 
Please inform the Health Office of "known" contagious illnesses such as strep, chicken pox, flu, etc. The Health Office does not routinely send home health bulletins for contagious childhood illnesses, but will gladly notify families with someone at risk for such infections. Please let the Health Office know if your family is at risk!

Healthy Habits 
Please continue to encourage your children to "cover your coughs and sneezes, please," and to wash their hands frequently with soap and water. About 80% of common infections are spread by touch!

Medications 
In order to administer medication at school, the school nurse must have a written authorization(1) from your child's doctor giving the frequency and dosage of medication, the condition for which it was prescribed, and an additional note from a parent/ guardian requesting that the medicine be administered at school. The medication must be provided in a properly labeled (store or pharmacy label only) container and must be given directly to the school nurse by a parent. Students are not allowed to carry medicine (including OTC drugs) in school at any time.

Health and Immunization 
Students new to the District, as well as those in Kindergarten, grades 2, 4, 7, and 10 are required by New York State Law to have health exams. Children must be immunized against the following: measles, polio, diphtheria, mumps, rubella, haemophilius influenza B, and hepatitis B.

Forms: