Greetings from your School Nurses, Jenny Auerr and Diane Williams. We hope you and your family are having a wonderful summer, full of adventures and good times together.
As you begin to make preparations for your child to return to school, we wanted to let you know of some health-related information and activities here at school.
School Nurses are present and caring for the health needs of students every school day, from 8:20 - dismissal. During the summer, we are on vacation too! We will be back in the Health Office beginning August 20th, a few days before school begins. We welcome communication about health-related needs and concerns.
You are welcome to contact us via phone,
email
, or in person.
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- Students in grades K-4 are usually accompanied by a nurse on field trips.
- Students in grades 5-8 are NOT usually accompanied by a nurse for day-long field trips. Instead, nurses do work with school staff to coordinate care for health-related needs.
- Students in grades 5-8 who go on overnight field trips will be accompanied by a nurse.
- Field Trip snacks and lunches should not contain peanuts or tree-nuts.
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In order to keep all students as safe as possible, please review this
list of frequently asked questions
about how we manage food allergies at school. Please remember and remind your child that:
- Food trading and sharing are not allowed at BFCCPS. Each child should eat the food they bring from home. If a child forgot to bring food from home, he or she should go and see a faculty member.
- Field trip snacks and lunches must not contain peanuts or tree-nuts of any kind.
- Classroom snacks must not contain peanuts or tree nuts of any kind (but lunches may contain nuts, so long as the child will not be sitting at the nut-sensitive table or eating in their classroom).
- All faculty are trained to recognize a life-threatening allergic reaction. School Nurses are available to respond quickly in an emergency, and give life-saving medicine. A list of faculty who are able to administer epinephrine to a student with a diagnosed life-threatening allergy is maintained in the Health Office.
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- To ensure that we have the most accurate health information to provide care for your students while they attend school, please complete the Health Information Form which has been mailed to your home. This form is due to the front office in advance of the first day of school. You can also click here to download a copy of the form.
- If you would like for your child(ren) to be able to receive ibuprofen, Tylenol, cough drops or Benadryl at school you must also fill out the Tylenol/Ibuprofen//Benadryl/Cough Drop Permission Form that was sent home by mail in advance of the first day of school.
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Nurses at BFCCPS conduct several different health screenings during the year, and also collect a variety of health-related information about students. These activities are mandated by Massachusetts.
The chart on the details these activities by grade.
*denotes information to be submitted by parents. Please feel free to submit this information as soon as you have it. There is no need to wait for the information to be requested.
**SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Treatment. This screening is state-mandated. Screening results are confidential (and do not become part of the student's school record). SBIRT screening assesses a student's thoughts and actions with respect to drug and alcohol use/abuse. "Screening" consists of a few questions asked in private to the student. "Brief interventions" may consist of affirmation of healthy behaviors, and/ or helping students to identify unhealthy beliefs or practices and identify healthier alternatives. "Referral for Treatment" will happen if student responses indicate a need. Depending on the level of need, students may be referred within BFCCPS, or to an outside provider.
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Reminder of Life Threatening
Allergy Policy
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In an effort to maintain the health and safety of all students, faculty, and staff of BFCCPS, and in conjunction with recommendations from allergist Dr. Pistner and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, we have established a
Protocol for the Management of Life-Threatening Allergies
. The full protocol is available on the
Health Office Website
. I wanted to highlight some of the major elements of that protocol here for you as well:
- Food can not be used in the classroom as an instructional tool, without the prior approval of the Head of School.
- Activities involving food will be redesigned to meet the same learning objectives without using food as a material.
- Parents volunteering in the classroom (i.e., Mystery Reader, holiday celebrations, etc) may not include food as part of their activity.
- Students attending After-School Activities will be required to provide their own snack. Food will not be provided for students at school, unless it is an emergency (i.e. forgotten lunch, etc…).
- Food will be limited at evening activities unless approved ahead of time by the Head of School or his/her designee.
- Ellen Fallon will continue to serve as our Life-Threatening Allergy Liaison for parents who are planning after school/evening events, as well as for parents of students with Life-Threatening Allergies. Ms. Fallon will be responsible for facilitating proper accommodations to provide the safest environment possible for students with known Life-Threatening Allergies.
- If you decide to send in an item to celebrate your child’s birthday, the treat must be a non-edible treat. Suggestions for non-edible birthday treats include: small toys, pencils, stickers, etc.
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Attention Parents Who Are Nurses
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If you are a nurse with a current Massachusetts nursing license, and you are interested in substituting in the Health Office and/or going along with classes as a Field Trip Nurse, please submit the
substitute Nurse Form
.
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Thank you for your time and attention!
Your School Nurses,
Jenny Auerr, RN, NCSN
Diane Williams, RN, NCSN
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The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School
201 Main Street, Franklin
www.bfccps.org
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