A Note from the School Nurse
Hello Parents and Students-
We are looking forward to having you back on campus in person very soon. Our entire staff has been working diligently to ensure a successful return for each student. In that preparation, we are implementing measures to, not only bring students and staff back safely, but to keep students and staff back in school safely. I hope that you will partner with us in our efforts for a safe return.
Daily Home Screening
Attached to this letter is a daily home screening checklist. Please ensure that you go through the symptoms screener prior to your arrival every day. If any symptoms are present before you arrive at school, it is really important that you stay home. Notify your teacher that you are staying home due to illness and ensure a parent calls the attendance line at 949-936-8901.
Illness on Campus
If a student becomes ill on campus, it will be necessary to send the student home immediately to limit exposure to students and staff. In years prior, we may have determined that a student can rest in the health office and then go back to class with minor symptoms, however, this year we are taking extra measures to slow the spread of any possible illness. We ask that parents pick up students immediately after notification that your student is ill. In the event that a parent or guardian is not able to pick up immediately such as working a significant distance away from school, we recommend that a backup plan is in place for another adult to pick up the student in a timely manner when parents are unable to do so.
Students with symptoms of illness will be waiting for parent pick up in an isolated area away from non-ill students. There may be other students who are also ill awaiting the arrival of parents in the same room so ensuring a prompt pickup will limit unnecessary exposure to both students and staff. We also ask that when picking up an ill child from school, parents wait in the car at the curb outside our front office. Please call the health office at 949-936-8919 once you arrive at the curb and a staff member will walk your student out to you, eliminating the need to come into the office.
Please also take time to review the attached updated Illness Notification Letter. It will now be necessary for students to stay home for 10 days since symptoms of illness began and the student has been fever free without medication for three days and symptoms are improving. If you do not feel that the student is experiencing illness despite symptoms exhibited at school, it will be necessary for the student to be cleared by a physician to return to school prior to the 10 days of the onset of symptoms. We realize that these measures may seem extreme but these are the guidelines established by local health authorities to mitigate the spread of illness in our community.
Persons with COVID-19
If your student or a member of your household is determined to be positive for COVID-19 or is awaiting test results, please notify me as soon as possible. Prompt notification will ensure that we partner with local health agencies and ensure all proper guidelines are met. Patient confidentiality will always be a priority and private information will never be shared with others. Please also ensure that unnecessary rumors are not spread about students or other families suspected of having COVID-19. If there are any concerns, please contact me directly via email at claudetteahern@iusd.org.
Illness Prevention
We have implemented many measures over the past several weeks to ensure that students and staff have the resources they need to stay healthy including:
- Increased access to hand washing and sanitizing
- Required cloth face covering or face mask while on campus (be sure to bring an extra as well as a bag for proper storage when mask is not in use)
- Physical distancing in the classroom and in common areas
- Increased air filtration in indoor spaces
We also ask that students limit unnecessary time on campus before and after school and ensure that they are adhering to physical distancing in common areas such as hallways and bathrooms. The school campus will remain closed to parents as in years past. Any parent coming onto campus will need to check in at the front office. Parents, please also ensure that you wear a face covering and adhere to physical distancing when coming onto campus.
We realize that this year is going to look different in many ways but we are confident that we will have a very successful school year. Welcome back, Cyclones!
Claudette Ahern, RN, BSN, CSN, PHN
IUSD School Nurse
Cypress Village Elementary
Santiago Hills Elementary
claudetteahern@iusd.org
CLICK HERE for the Daily Home Screening for Students.