If your child is ill, we ask that you keep him/her at home until he/she is completely well. A sick student affects everyone around him/her. All of our classrooms are sanitized daily. ACS Staff keep hand sanitizer in each classroom and at other locations around our facility. However, all of our care will be for naught if students come to school already sick.

If we notice that your child is not looking well or if he/she is complaining of feeling unwell, we will contact you. If your child is sent to the office because he/she is not feeling well, we will take his/her temperature. If your child registers a fever, even a low-grade fever, we will ask you to come and pick him/her up from school.

If your child has seasonal allergies, we need you to keep us informed of that. If we notice a student with a persistent runny nose or red, watery eyes, we may ask you to come and pick him/her up to ensure there is no infection.

Students who have contracted Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease may not return to school if they have any blistering either on their hands, feet, or in their mouths. This is an extremely contagious virus, and we need to do all that we can to prevent its spreading whenever there may be an outbreak.

If your child has contracted ringworm, you must inform his/her teacher(s) and the front office. We will need a doctor’s note stating that treatment has been given and that the child is no longer contagious. Occasionally a student will be found with head lice. Should this occur, the student may not return to school until all of the nits have been removed and the student is lice free.

As directed by the Department of Health, a student who has been sent home because he/she is vomiting, has diarrhea, or has a fever may not return to school until he/she is vomit-, diarrhea-, and/or fever-free for twenty-four (24) hours WITHOUT the aid of medication. ACS will continue to keep in place the COVID health and wellness screening policies below that were set in place and stated in our Department of Health Safety Plan and expect for our parents to do so as well. 

At Arundel Christian School, the health and well-being of our students, staff, and families is a shared responsibility. To help prevent the spread of illness and maintain a safe learning environment, we ask that all families adhere to the following health guidelines:

Students should not attend school if they are experiencing any of the following:

• A fever of 100.4°F or higher

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Any other symptoms of a contagious illness or viral infection
  
  

Please do not send your child to school after giving fever-reducing or anti-nausea medication to mask symptoms. If a child becomes unwell during the school day, the school nurse will contact a parent or guardian to arrange for pick-up.

We ask that families ensure they are readily available, or have an alternate emergency contact, who can promptly pick up the child in the event of illness. A sick child should not remain at school for an extended period while waiting to be picked up.

Students may return to school only when they have been symptom-free (no fever, vomiting, or diarrhea) for a full 24 hours without the use of medication.
If the 24-hour period ends during the academic day (e.g., 10:00 AM), the student should not return until the following school day.

By working together and keeping children home when they are sick, we can help protect our entire school community and minimize the spread of illness. Thank you for doing your part to keep ACS healthy and safe for all.

Every student must have up-to-date health records of immunization, a copy of his/her birth certificate, transcript from another school(s), and a social security number on file by the first full day of school. ACS will comply with the immunization requirements as indicated by the Department of Health. All students in grades 5 through 12 must have a Hepatitis B shot and their second Chicken Pox vaccine. Please check with your child’s pediatrician before school starts to ensure that his/her immunizations are up to date. Please bring in or fax all records to the school office. The ACS fax number is (410) 859-8575.

• Due to the many extreme changes in fashion trends, it has become necessary to focus on certain details crucial to personal hygiene, grooming, and appearance. The following regulations shall apply to all students: Boys are not to wear nail polish. Young men do not have to wear a short haircut; however, they may not have their hair cut in a long, shaggy cut that covers their faces. Young men are to be well kept and wear deodorant.

• Young ladies may wear cosmetics only if applied in an appropriate manner for their age, before arriving at school. We do not allow false eyelashes unless professionally applied in keeping with a natural length. Girls may wear jewelry however, any student wearing inappropriate jewelry will be instructed to remove it. Fingernails should be groomed and kept at a modest length. Pointed natural/false fingernails will not be permitted. Young ladies should wear deodorant.

• Students should arrive at school in a clean and pressed uniform.

• Students are not to wear any kind of cap or head covering while in school.

• All students must make a personal commitment to daily hygiene. Each student must be able to handle his/her own personal bathroom needs such as cleansing, buckling, buttoning, zipping, etc. Arundel Christian School staff and faculty are not allowed to handle or to touch the students in any way or to leave class to assist one student in the bathrooms except in the case of an emergency.

• ACS is not responsible for any damaged or soiled clothing. Remember that clothing tends to “get dirty” when young people play outdoors. Please do not send your child to school on Party or Dress Down Days in clothes that cannot be played in.

Please Note: Failure to comply with the Personal Grooming Guidelines as stated will be treated as a UNIFORM VIOLATION and the same consequences as stated under that heading will apply

**ACS recommends students to bring a toiletry bag and store it in their lockers for hygiene purposes.

Students will be assigned a specific bathroom based on their grade. Students will not be permitted to use bathroom facilities within the building that are not assigned to them. All students must issue a SmartPass to leave the class. Students must wash and dry hands with paper towels after bathroom use. Once they are back in their classrooms, they will be required to sanitize their hands using their classroom hand sanitizer station. All students 4-12th grade must have an issued SmartPass with them when outside the classroom during instructional time. Students who do not have the required pass will be served an infraction for not following standards.

All drinking fountains are equipped with water bottle-filling stations. All students are to bring a water bottle with them daily to stay hydrated throughout the day.

All ACS students will bring a lunch from home with them each day. All students enrolled in the ACS PM Club program must have an additional snack for that as well. Due to the increasing number of students with food allergies, ACS does NOT provide snacks for its students.

Please pack your child’s lunch thoughtfully. Choose foods for your child that will allow him or her to remain satisfied and alert in class. We also encourage you to make sure that an adequate breakfast has been eaten by your child so that he or she will not be hungry before lunch or snack time.

ACS does not provide services for warming up or refrigerating student lunches. Please make sure that you pack an ice pack if you want foods kept cool or pack warm foods in the appropriate containers.

In the case of inclement weather, Arundel Christian School will monitor the decisions made by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools for closings and delays. Because we have staff and students traveling not only through Anne Arundel County but also Carroll, Baltimore, Prince George’s, and Howard Counties, we will also monitor their closings and delays. We will also monitor Anne Arundel and its surrounding counties in regards to early dismissals or cancellations of afternoon activities due to inclement weather. Please make sure to check your emails, text messages, and our Facebook page as well as your local television stations regarding closings and delays.

When making a decision of whether to close or delay school due to inclement weather, we will consider the commute of not only our students who are driving to school from Anne Arundel County but also that of our students who reside in the surrounding counties. Once we have determined whether to close for the day, delay opening, or close early, we will notify you both by e-mail and by posting on our Facebook page. We will also post our delays and cancellations on WBAL Channel 11, WJZ Channel 13, WBAL1090 AM, and 95.1 SHINE FM. Please Note: If there is a morning delay of any kind, there will be NO MORNING CARE.

If it becomes necessary to close schools early due to inclement weather, we will have either the office or your child notify you to come and pick him or her up. All students must have an emergency contact person who will be available to pick them up from school if the parent is unable to do so.

If the school must close for inclement weather or other emergency situations, all students must be picked up immediately from school. All students registered in AM or PM Club must have two (2) emergency contacts provided in the event of such early closings. If school is closed early, there is no PM Club.

In the event of an emergency, the ACS Staff will direct the students to one of the many emergency exits in the building. Our preschool students will be escorted directly out of the building from their classrooms which have their own individual exits.

If there is a weather emergency such as a tornado warning, all students will be directed into the MPR, Annex, or to windowless classrooms to await an “all clear” release to send them back to their classrooms.

All of our classrooms lock from the inside. While we hope it would never be necessary, our students can be locked safely in their classrooms should we experience an unsafe presence in our building.

For their own safety, students are not permitted to exit the school building without the supervision of an ACS teacher. Students may not leave the building via any of the emergency exits unless they are participating in a fire drill or are escorted by an ACS staff member. If a student leaves the school campus without having been picked up by a parent or authorized guardian, that student shall be faced with suspension or expulsion. Students will not be permitted to be outside of the fenced areas outside of the ACS facility unsupervised.

In order to ensure the safety of our staff and students, ACS has a full-time security officer on site during our operational hours. Our security officer will patrol both the indoor and outdoor facilities of ACS both physically and through our multiple security cameras. If he should see a person or vehicle that is in a questionable location, he will approach that person or vehicle to determine their purpose for being on our premises. It is therefore paramount that all of our ACS families follow all of the procedures laid out in the ACS Student Handbook regarding drop-off, pick-up, and parking lot procedures and directives. Please note the following security directives:

• No vehicles are to be double parked or left standing or unattended in the parking lot.

• No one will be permitted to enter or look over the fences of the protected playground areas.

• Follow all of the parking lot signs indicating where to enter and exit the premises.

• Parents picking their children up from the office must come into the building. No student will be permitted to leave the building before dismissal unattended.

• The office must be notified in advance that you will be picking up your child before dismissal, and your child will only be called to the front office at the time of your arrival.

• The ACS front office will be locked at 3:00 pm and will remain locked until 4:00 pm every school day for afternoon dismissal. There will be no office admittance during this time.

• These policies have been put in place to ensure the safety of everyone coming and going from our school property. If you are outside of the directives listed above, you will be approached by our security officer and asked to remove yourself or your vehicle to the proper location.

In order to provide clean and sanitized work and play areas, ACS will follow CDC guidelines in daily cleaning throughout our entire facility. These protocols will be followed both in and out of the classrooms:

• Students and Teachers will clean their personal workstations in their classrooms routinely throughout the day.

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces (e.g., playground equipment, door handles, sink handles, drinking fountains) within the school between use.

• Routine daily cleaning of shared campus spaces.

• Ensure safe and correct use and storage of cleaning and disinfection products, including storing products securely away from children. Use products that meet EPA disinfection criteria.

• Restrooms and hallways will be cleaned and disinfected on a rotating schedule throughout the day.