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ILLNESS OR INJURY
We will call you if your child becomes ill or injured during the school day and is unable to participate in classroom activities. Our office staff and the school nurse will provide tender loving care until you are able to make arrangements to pick up your child. The Lower School Office, however, does not have the space or equipment to provide long-term care for sick children. Parents are encouraged to have options available if their child requires care at home during the school day.
Determining if a child is well enough to participate in the school day is sometimes a difficult decision. Obvious signs of illness and or communicability are a fever above 100.4°, vomiting, diarrhea, some rashes and skin infections, red and/or swollen eye(s), or an eye with discharge, severe sore throat, active coughing, sneezing, and nasal drainage, or evidence of head lice, scabies, or ringworm. When these obvious signs are not evident, careful evaluation and judgment is required. The following guidelines may give assistance in making decisions regarding school attendance.
- Is the child well enough to benefit from and participate in all classroom activities?
- Is the child actively contagious to others?
- Would the child recuperate more quickly if kept at home for the day?
- Would the child’s symptoms be a distraction to others in the classroom?
- If the child has had a fever, has his/her temperature been in the normal range for at least 24 hours?
RECESS
Sometimes children bring notes from home asking for them to stay in at recess. Although on rare occasions a child may need to stay inside (for example, someone who is just back to school after a long illness or surgery), we ask all children to go out at recess for the fresh air and change of scenery. If a child is too ill with a cold or sore throat to bundle up and be outside for 20 to 30 minutes, then he or she should probably be at home. If the weather is too miserable for anyone to be out, then appropriate activities will be conducted indoors.
It is important for children to wear clothing appropriate to weather conditions, as they spend time outside during recess and traveling from building to building for special classes, chapel, and lunch. Since it is often much warmer by the end of the school day than it is in the morning, children might be happier with layers they can remove as they warm up.
MEDICATION AT SCHOOL
When children need to take over-the-counter medicine at school, we will administer it, as long as we have the physician’s current orders and the parents’ written instructions. Bring the medicine in the original container with the label attached. Complete the form available in the Lower School Office or on the OES website. We will need the generic name of the medicine, dosage, time to be given each day, and dates to be administered. Do not send medicine to school for your child to keep and take on her or his own.
When your child requires a prescription medication to be given at school, it should be brought to the school office in the original pharmacy container. The pharmacy label provides the written health care provider’s instructions that are required by the Oregon statute. As the parent, you will need to complete the OES form that provides the faculty and staff with information needed to safely assist your child and gives them permission to do so. This form is available in the Lower School Office or on the OES website. For the protection of all students, students may not carry or self administer their own medications. Exceptions may be considered for students who require immediate access to asthma or anaphylaxis medications. Please contact the OES nurse if there are concerns regarding this policy.
EMERGENCY FIRST AID
When a student is injured during school hours and on campus, they are usually brought to the Lower School Office for simple first aid treatment. Health and emergency information on file is consulted before any treatment is given. If the injury is more serious than Lower School Office personnel are qualified to handle, the School Nurse is called. She will treat the child or provide advice as to further action. If the injured person is moved to a hospital, a School representative will accompany the child. In all except very minor cases, the parent or guardian will be notified of treatment and an accident form will be issued.
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