Keeping Our Community Healthy

To keep everyone healthy this season, here are some good guidelines:

• Please do not send an ill child to school: Help limit the spread of illness. Please review the exclusion criteria for guidance on when a child should remain at home and return to school. Exclusion examples include:
  • temperature of 100.4℉ or greater
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • new, unexplained rash
  • unusually sleepy or lethargic
  • active cough
  • any symptom(s) that prevent the student benefiting from or participating in all classroom activities (e.g. excessive runny nose)
• Whooping Cough: Oregon is experiencing a large rise in whooping cough (pertussis) and ended 2024 with a registered 1,105 cases of pertussis (the highest it’s been in 74 years). If you notice symptoms of whooping cough, please call your health provider and follow all recommendations. If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please notify us at health@oes.edu as soon as possible so we can align on return to school policies and notify individuals who may have been exposed. Vaccination (DTaP/Tdap) remains the most effective way of protecting yourself against whooping cough (you can view our school’s immunization rates here). 
• Respiratory Viruses: We strongly recommend wearing a mask when a child has mild respiratory symptoms for which our guidelines do not recommend exclusion. If you have symptoms of a respiratory virus that meet exclusion criteria, you should remain home until:
  1. You have not had a fever for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medicines) AND
  2. Your other symptoms are improving.
  • For at least 5 days upon return, you should wear a well-fitting mask while indoors around other people.  
• Communication: Notify the school if your child is sick with a contagious disease (e.g. chickenpox; whooping cough; diarrhea caused by E.coli, Salmonella, or Shigella; COVID) as this can help us track health trends at the school and communicate with families accordingly. For more health-related questions, please see the Student Health Guidelines or reach out to the Student Health Team at health@oes.edu.