Clinic (Health Services)
Aldrin Clinic Health Services
Aldrin Health Room Greeting
Health Room Greeting Letter to Parents.doc
Health Room Greetings Letter to Parents-Spanish.doc
Clinic (Health Services)
Clinic services in the school, including the administration of medication and minor first aid, are performed by the clinic staff, parent volunteers, and office staff. The clinic staff may provide care only for minor illnesses and injuries.
Aldrin's Public Health Nurse - Amanda Khu, RN:
She makes frequent visits to the school as well as develops individualized health plans and serves as a resource to school staff for the prevention and control of communicable diseases.
She can be reached at @email or 703-326-6540.
Aldrin's School Health Aide - Hailey Walsh
Our health room aide, trained by the Fairfax County Health Department; is not a medical professional but is supervised by a school public health nurse.
She can be reached at @email or at 703-904-3800.
Health Information
- Please keep your child's Emergency Care Information updated.
- Ensure that ALL medical information is entered Include all medical conditions that may affect your child throughout the school day (for example, an occasional migraine headache)
- Include all food allergies (even minor ones)
- Include all allergies that may be seasonal and may require over-the-counter drugs that you will bring in
- As information changes, please provide updates as we need current information to provide the best care
Bring your child’s medications with appropriate forms to the Health Room; newly completed forms are required each year.
- If your child is to receive daily medications during the school year, please develop a plan with his/her teachers as to when your child is to go to the Health Room because the medication can only be given one-half hour before or after the prescribed time.
Illness or Injury
If your child is injured or becomes sick at school, we will notify you immediately. If we cannot reach a parent, we will call a person you have listed on your Emergency Care Form. It is important that we have an Emergency Care Form on file for each student and that the information is updated as changes occur. Please include several neighbors and family members on the form.
*ParentVUE allows you to update the emergency care information online using your FCPS Parent Account.
Home Sick
It is necessary to keep sick children at home. It is difficult for students to concentrate and do school work when not feeling well. Additionally, if your child is contagious, he/she may spread the illness to other children.
Check your child before he/she leaves for school for:
- Rashes
- Fever
- Sore Throat
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Watery and inflamed eyes
- Allergic reaction
If any of these symptoms exist, the child should stay home until a doctor determines that your child is not contagious. Fairfax County Health Department recommends that students remain home fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Please notify the Health Room (703 904-3810) if your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, chickenpox, measles, pink eye, or any other contagious illness.
Contagious Illnesses
In accordance with the communicable disease policy for Fairfax County Public Schools, students with symptoms such as rashes, skin eruptions, water, and inflamed eyes, fever, sore throat, vomiting, or diarrhea should stay home until the doctor evaluates their symptoms and determines whether they are contagious or the symptoms are no longer present. Students with an elevated temperature should be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Parents will be contacted and expected to take their child home if he/she is sent to school with symptoms of an illness, becomes sick, or develops a rash.
Please notify the school office if your child should contract chickenpox, strep throat, measles, head lice, or any other contagious disease.
If a child at school appears to have a condition that may be contagious, a Health Referral form will be written and given to the parent/guardian for an evaluation of the condition by a doctor. Your child must be picked up as soon as possible.
Typical conditions that require a Health Referral form are:
- Rashes which are signs of contagious diseases like Measles, Fifth Disease, …
- Inflamed eyes with discharge like Pink Eye…
- Skin inflammations like Scabies, Ringworm, Impetigo…
Medication
A student may carry over-the-counter cough drops, throat lozenges, bug spray, sunscreen, lip balm, and hand lotion without a Medical Authorization form. These items must be in their original container and cannot be shared with other students.
If your child requires medication during school hours, you are required to complete the appropriate Fairfax County Public Schools medical authorization forms.
Please complete all medication forms accurately before bringing medication to school.
Medication will not be dispensed without proper authorization from a physician.
- All medication (prescription/over-the-counter) must be in the original container and properly labeled.
- Parents must transport the medicine to and from the Health Room (9:00 am-4:00 p.m. daily) and must wait until all information is properly checked for accuracy and all medications are counted and stored.
- For general purpose medicine, - our health room does not have any general-purpose medicine (for example, aspirin) that it can give to students. All medication even over-the-counter must be provided by parents. Medication should be taken at home as much as possible in order to not disrupt the child’s school day by a visit to the Health Room. The first dose of new medicine must be given at home.
- For prescription medicine, a Medical Authorization form (click here) is completed by the parent/guardian and the doctor specifying child/medicine/dosage/frequency-time interval/treatment duration
- For over-the-counter medicine or an antibiotic, not exceeding a 10-day treatment, a Medical Authorization form completed by the parent for a specific child
- For over-the-counter medicine ONLY for headaches, orthodontic pain, muscle aches, or menstrual cramps, a Medical Authorization form completed by the parent for a specific child will apply to the school year
- For over-the-counter medicine (not one of the above 4 categories, longer than 10-day treatment, a Medical Authorization form completed by the parent and the doctor specifying child/medicine/dosage/frequency-time interval/treatment duration
- NO medical symbols or abbreviations are allowed on the Medical Authorization Form; simple English is necessary to avoid misinterpretation
- Follow all instructions on the second page of each form.
- Please note that if the medicine’s expiration date is within the school year, no medication can be given to your child after the expiration date.
Epinephrine/Inhaler
A student may carry and use an inhaler for asthmatic conditions when the student’s physician and parent have both completed the necessary inhaler authorization form. An epinephrine authorization form also is available.
The first dose of any new medication must be given at home. Parents or guardians are responsible for submitting a new form to the school each time there is a change in the dosage or in the time at which the medication is to be taken.
Parents are reminded that children may not transport or possess any prescription or over-the-counter medication, at any time. ALL MEDICATION, PRESCRIPTION, OR OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATION MUST BE BROUGHT TO SCHOOL BY A PARENT. However, students may bring over-the-counter cough drops in their original package. They may not share cough drops or any other medication with other students. Any child, regardless of age, who brings or possesses medication or any drug-related paraphernalia to school, will be disciplined according to FCPS Regulation 2610.
Head Lice
Outbreaks of head lice are common among children in schools and daycare, affecting all social and economic groups.
According to the CDC, current evidence does not support classroom or school-wide screening for head lice to reduce the number of head lice infestations among school children.
Students diagnosed with live head lice and/or nits(lice eggs) must be treated. A Treatment Verification form should be completed before your child returns to school. This form with an accompanying lice treatment brochure (click here) is provided to the parent/guardian.
If you discover that your child has head lice, please notify the Health Room (703-904-3810).
Injuries at School
Children with minor injuries receive basic first aid care in the Health Room and are released back to class.
Any head injury, no matter how minor, requires a 20 minute observation period in the Health Room before being released back to class. Additionally, a parent will be notified of the injury.
If there is an indication of a serious injury, 911 will be called first, and then the parents.
Vision and Hearing Screening
Vision and Hearing screenings are performed on all kindergarten students, third-grade students, new FCPS students, and those referred by a teacher.
If your child fails a screening, you will receive notification from the Health Room and be advised to take your child to a doctor for a follow-up and more thorough examination. Please return the notification form to the Health Room after your doctor has completed the examination.
A second follow-up notification will be sent if the form has not been returned.
End-of-School Requirements
All medications stored in the Health Room should be picked up by the last day of school, by dismissal. Notifications are sent a few weeks before the last day of school to all parents/guardians regarding medications that are currently in the Health Room. All medications, that are not picked up, are destroyed.
Fairfax County Health Department and Fairfax County Public School Partnership
The Fairfax County Health Department and Fairfax County Public School System participate in a partnership to offer each school access to a Health Room, a Public Health Nurse (Registered Nurse) and a School Health Aide (on site, in the Health Room during school hours).
Our goal is to promote a safe and healthy environment in which to maximize your child’s educational experience.
Role of the School Health Aide (SHA)
- Paraprofessional trained by the Health Department
- Narrow scope of practice to include
- Care for sick and injured students Facilitate medication administration
- Coordinate vision and hearing screenings Track illness trends
Role of the Public Health Nurse (PHN)
- Identify and address medical and health concerns of students
- Provide training for school staff about health issues and procedures
- Act as a liaison between Health Department and FCPS
- Resource to school staff for communicable diseases and appropriate actions to take
- Promote healthy lifestyles and teach health related topics
- Keep school community informed of Health Department resources
- Supervise School Health Aides.
General Information
- If your child is sick, please keep (s)he at home. Please state symptoms your child is experiencing when you call the attendance line.
- Your child should be free of fever/vomiting/diarrhea for 24 hours and medication free before returning to school
- Please keep phone numbers and emergency care contact information up to date in the school
- Students generally can only stay 20 minutes in the Health Room, and then a decision is made to go back to class or home
- School Health Aides are not nurses and cannot diagnose or give advice regarding care
- Medications for school use require appropriate forms to be completed
- Medications must be in their original container; the physician’s order and pharmacy label must match
- Students are not permitted to carry meds to and from school
- Student registration requirements, health information and medication forms can be obtained from the health room or online at FCPS.edu
Final Note
The Health Room seeks and welcomes volunteers to assist with vision and hearing screenings or to work in the Health Room when the SHA may need to attend to administrative work, trainings or is absent. A onetime 2-hour training given by the PHNs is required, please notify the Health Room if you are interested.
Any questions about the School Health Program or if your child has a health concern, please contact
Jean Frost, PHN at [email protected] or 571-722-5784