Nurses' Office
ILLNESS POLICY
The priority of our school nurses is to keep all of our students healthy and in school. One way that we can all work together to do this is to prevent the spread of illness. If your child is not feeling his or her best, please use the following guidelines in our GCA illness policy to help determine whether he or she should be in school:
ALLERGY POLICY
Due to the high number of various nut allergies within our student body, some of which are anaphylactic and carry a risk of death with exposure, we have adopted the following procedures for our Lower Campus:
- We ask all families to voluntarily choose to not send nuts or nut butters to school.
- All of our classrooms are nut free zones. The ONLY approved snacks to send for your student to eat in class are listed below in the Acceptable Snacks List:
Acceptable Snacks List:
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- boiled eggs
- yogurt
- fresh fruit/veggies
- regular Goldfish
- Cheese Nips
- Triscuits
- Wheat Thins
- Pirates Booty
- Goldfish pretzels
- Smartfood popcorn (White Cheddar, Reduced Fat, and Movie Theater Butter)
- Barnum’s Original Animal Crackers
- Graham Crackers
- In the lunchroom, families may choose for their student with allergies to either sit at a “nut free table” or to sit at a regular table with a placemat which helps remind him/her, his/her friends and the adults overseeing, to eliminate any nuts or nut-butters at his/her table.
- Parents of students with allergies must communicate with the nurse(s) and provide an Individual Health Plan and Allergy Action Plan concerning the student’s particular food allergy and acceptable/needed treatments. Parents will supply the needed remedies/ treatments such as Benadryl or Epi-pen(s), which will travel with the student to every location.
- All staff and substitutes are educated regarding allergies and trained on proper administration of an Epi-pen in case of an emergency.
- All treats for students must be from the “Acceptable Treats” list and be approved by the front desk before being handed out to students.
- Specific guidelines for all faculty, staff, parents, and students are available, if desired.
Healthy Celebrations/Birthday Party Guidelines:
One of the annual milestones of a child is celebrating his or her birthday. Some teachers honor children in the classroom on their special day in a variety of ways and will communicate this to parents. In consideration of the growing health and allergy concerns of our students, we must be extremely mindful of food items brought into the school building and classrooms. Our goal is to help reduce the amount of sugar intake while at school, safely manage student allergies, and protect instructional time. Parents may bring or send a special treat item for a student’s birthdays from our Acceptable Treats list to share at the end of lunchtime, but must first check in with the front desk.
Acceptable Treats List:
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- Blue Bell chocolate and vanilla ice cream cups (available at Publix, Target, Kroger, and Walmart)
- Skittles
- Tootsie Roll Pops
- Starburst
- Oreos
- Sour Patch Kids
- Philly Swirl Stix (popsicles available at Publix and Walmart)
- Minute Maid Juice Bars (available at Target and Walmart)
- Smarties
- Dum Dums
Parents are asked to ALWAYS check with teachers to make sure there are no planned parties on the day of the child’s birthday celebration when additional high sugar items may be consumed. The teacher may limit the number of treats during a week or month in order to encourage alternatives to sweets.
OVER-THE-COUNTER, NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION
Please use this form if your child needs over-the-counter, non-prescription medication at school:
PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION
Please use this form if your child needs prescription medication at school:
IMMUNIZATION GUIDELINES
Please use this form for our immunization guidelines:
If you have any medical questions or would like to reach our nursing team, please email [email protected].
