Severe Allergies

If your child needs an EpiPen, your school needs to know!

Please alert your school nurse right away if your child has severe allergies that require epinephrine rescue medication.

Prevention is Key!

Your school nurse will work with families, students, and school staff to identify allergy triggers and prevent exposure at school in a manner that is least disruptive to the school day.

Students who are mature and capable may be able to avoid their triggers without any help from staff.

Young students, newly diagnosed students, and students with special needs may need controls in place to help them identify and avoid triggers. Controls may include:

    • specially prepared meals,

    • access only to food sent from home,

    • allergen-free seating,

    • considerations to avoid stinging insects.

MVSD is Peanut Free!

Mount Vernon School District cafeterias serve only peanut-free foods.

Annual Checklist for Life-Threatening Allergies - What to do every year before school starts...

Before your child is allowed to start school each year, your nurse needs the following items:

  • Doctor's orders for allergy care and medications - signed by the doctor and the parent,

  • Rescue medication - EpiPen, Auvi-Q, or other epinephrine autoinjector

  • Meet or talk with the school nurse to update the health plan.

All paperwork must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.

Families should make an appointment to drop off supplies and meet with the nurse sometime during the week before school starts.

New Students & Newly Diagnosed Students - Creating your first health plan

If your child is starting a new school or has a new diagnosis, your school nurse will meet with you to create your child's Individualized Health Plan (IHP) for seizure care at school. Please contact your school nurse right away.

Components of an Individualized Health Plan

Choose your school:

Little Mountain Elementary is the only elementary school in our district with a licensed nurse on-site every day of the week. For very young children or children with complex allergies, we recommend placement at Little Mountain. Please see Campuses for Students with Significant Medical Needs for more information.

Nurses are also on site every day at LaVenture Middle School, Mount Baker Middle School, and Mount Vernon High School.

Meet with your school nurse:

  • Describe the allergies: What are the triggers? What sort of contact causes a severe reaction? What are the early signs of a reaction? Have you given epinephrine before? Is your child capable of giving their own dose of epinephrine?

  • Does your child also require an inhaler?

  • Review the doctor's orders.

  • Discuss plans for prevention.

  • Discuss plans for care.

Think about the details and make a plan for prevention:

Where is your child likely to encounter the allergy triggers?

  • Cafeteria?

  • Classroom?

  • Bus?

  • Playground?

  • Other?

Identify who will provide care at school:

All school and transportation staff are trained in indentifying signs of severe allergic reaction, giving an EpiPen, and calling 911. Key people in close contact with your child will be trained more specifically on your child's allergies, prevention, and treatment.

Think about extracurricular activities:

After school, overnight, and off-campus activities require additional planning. Please contact your school nurse several weeks in advance of these activities. For younger students or students with complex or unpredictable allergies, parents or adult family members are encouraged to chaperone field trips, and overnight camp experiences if possible. Please note that you will need time to complete volunteer paperwork.

Create and update the plan:

Your school nurse will consider all of these things in creating a school plan.

Every spring, we will send you a packet of paperwork to get your health plan and doctor’s orders updated for the following school year. All paperwork for life-threatening conditions must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.

Please contact your school nurse at any time to update your child’s health plan.

Deliver required paperwork and supplies:

By WA State law, all students must have the following items at school before they are allowed to start in the fall:

Before your child is allowed to start school each year, your nurse needs the following items:

  • Doctor's orders for allergy care and medications - signed by the doctor and the parent,

  • Rescue medication - EpiPen, Auvi-Q, or other epinephrine autoinjector

  • Meet or talk with the school nurse to update the health plan.

All paperwork must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.

Families should make an appointment to drop off supplies and meet with the nurse sometime during the week before school starts.