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McMeen Elementary
Weekly Message from McMeen Nurse
09/06/23, 4:29 PM
Good Afternoon McMeen Families!
Well it's official, the back-to-school illnesses are here for sure! We're seeing plenty of viral respiratory illnesses, including some Covid infections. We have also had some bacterial cases of strep throat. Please remember to educate and encourage your children to wash their hands regularly, especially after using the bathroom and before eating. Also, to prevent the spread of illness throughout our school community, please follow our fever-free policy. No staff member or student should attend school if they have had a fever (100.4 degrees F or higher: If you don't have a thermometer in your home you can find very affordable ones in the pharmacy section at your local grocery store) within 24 hours. Someone with a fever should not return to school until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours WITHOUT medications (and, or course, if it's Covid, they also need to have been isolating for 5 days). Medications such as Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, or any flu or cold medicine like Dimetapp, all have the ability to lower fevers but do NOT cure the illness. If someone needs medication to keep their temperature normal, then they are still sick and potentially contagious and should not be at school. Please refer to the follow link if you're wondering how sick is too sick for school.
How Sick is Too Sick? in English
How Sick is Too Sick? in Spanish
Another hot topic right now is super tired students. Believe me, I know it's really hard to adjust after a summer break and get back to healthy sleep habits in order to be awake and ready for school. I have been seeing plenty of students in my health office that are absolutely exhausted, especially after the weekends (such as this long Labor Day weekend). Please remember, just as our students can't learn effectively when they're hot or sick, they also cannot learn well if they are tired. Please click on the following link for more information about the importance of appropriate sleep for our children and ways to improve your child's sleep.
Thank you and, as always, please feel free to reach out with questions, concerns or comments.
Nurse Miriam
