To ensure the health of our students and families and prevent the spread of illness, Open Door will contact parents to pick up their children if they have any of the symptoms listed below. Sometimes, a doctor’s note may be required before a child returns. If no parent/guardian for the child can be reached within a reasonable amount of time, the persons listed on the Permission to Pick Up list or Emergency Contact sheet will be contacted to pick the child up.
Please notify the school when your child is absent due to being sick. We will alert other parents if there’s a communicable disease concern without naming the affected child, usually after the second report of similar symptoms in a short time.
Children who have the following symptoms MUST stay at home until they’re symptom-free for twenty-four hours without symptom-reducing medication:
- Fever — an axillary temperature of 100 degrees or more
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea or loose stools inconsistent with usual bowel movements
- Any suspicious rash
- Lice (See lice policy below)
- Persistent colored nasal discharge (longer than five days)
- Any contagious illness, unless treated with prescription medication for at least 24 hours.
- Any symptom requiring one-on-one care or causing severe discomfort
- Any open, oozing sore, bacterial infection, or bloody gums
- Chicken pox – lesions must be completely dry, and the child must have no other symptoms. (Please note that the chicken pox vaccine is not completely effective, and a vaccinated child can get this illness.)
If a nit, egg, or louse is found on a child, the child will be sent home and must be treated before returning to school. When a case of head lice is found on a student or reported by a parent/guardian, all students in that classroom will have their heads checked by a member of the ODS staff that day and periodically afterward for up to two weeks.
Hats, scarves, and dress-up clothes that come in contact with the head will be washed in hot water or bagged. Depending on the circumstances, ODS staff may decide to check the heads of children who use the affected child’s classroom or other children in the school. Should your child be diagnosed with lice at home, please notify the school. We will notify the class without naming the child.
A child must remain home for a minimum of 24 hours after the time of surgery and must present a physician’s permission before returning. Please assess your child and determine if they can participate in school activities.
If an unimmunized or under-immunized child is exposed to a vaccine-preventable illness, that child must stay home for the duration of the incubation period for that illness.
Parents have both the right and the responsibility to share in decisions about their children’s care and education. For the safety of all children at Open Door School, we ask that parents notify the director in writing via registration form, emergency card, and medical report regarding any special physical, emotional, or health concerns of their child.
Special concerns include (but are not limited to) children with chronic medical conditions, physical disabilities, psychological illnesses, developmental disorders, or severe allergies.
Open Door School reserves the right to assess a child’s condition and the school’s reasonable ability to keep the child safe while respecting the rights of other children and families. Once enrolled, some children will require special consideration and an extra effort on the part of ODS staff, the child’s parents, and (in some cases) classmates’ parents to keep the child with special needs safe.
A chart listing all the children with allergies or health-compromising conditions is composed before the beginning of each school year and posted in the office, every classroom, and (in the case of food or chemical allergies) in the kitchen and on supply closet doors.
In the case of a child with severe food allergies, a classroom ban on food items might be enforced. All parents are expected to comply with any such food ban.
When a child with special needs is initially enrolled, the director may request a meeting with the child’s family and teachers before the school year begins to discuss what information should be communicated to other children in the class and to their families. ODS believes that sharing simple, accurate information about children with special needs helps everyone involved be more caring and understanding.