Welcome!
In addition to caring for your children during the school year, my role includes helping you navigate the health requirements and ensure your student is set up for success from a health standpoint.
My goal of having a website is to allow you to click directly on what you need versus sorting through multiple papers sent home with your student or trying to find it back on a social media site or email, create a one-stop-shop for all things health-related in school, and be a health resource for parents and students.
I look forward to working with you and your student(s) this school year!
Nurse Kait
Parent/Guardian's guide to 'should I keep my kid home or not'
Click through the slideshow for guidance on how to handle common illnesses.
Please do not be surprised if you give your child tylenol or ibuprofen/other medicine before school and once it wears off, the school is calling because the symptoms returned. This is not recommended as it can put immunocompromised (gets sick very easily) children at risk for serious illness.
Sending your child to school with an illness that falls into these categories allows them to spread it to other students, who, may pass it (or something else) back to your student a couple weeks later. The cycle never ends.
You can find the entire Exclusion Criteria Document from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services <here>.
This document is what the school nurse and staff will be going by to determine if your child should go home or not.
When to go the Health Office
Please have discussions about the right time and reason to go to the Health Office with your child(ren).
New cut/scrape at school that needs more than a band aid from the classroom/recess duty teacher
Can't breath well
Suspected broken bone
Nausea (not nerves), vomiting, diarrhea
Fever
Stung by an insect
New injury at school that is swelling and/or bruising
Take a scheduled medication/complete a prescribed medical treatment
Get a new clothing item because of an accident
Thinking of harming yourself/others
Vision changes
Newly broken tooth
Pain that is stopping you from doing subjects/activities you like (not just the ones you don't like)
Injuries that happened at home and parent/guardians are aware
Injuries/'it hurts' from more than a day ago
Minor injuries at school with no broken skin or bruising/swelling (i.e. my locker door hit my arm and it kind of hurts)
To get a cough drop when you're not coughing or don't have a scratchy throat
Get an ice pack when there is no bruising or swelling from a new injury
Get an ice pack for an old injury that suddenly hurts again because you don't like what's going on in class.
To sleep
Mild cough, runny nose