Health Policies
Our guidelines are designed to protect both well and ill children and center employees. The policies reflect the regulations of the State of California Licensing Division, state and local health department, standard universal precautions, recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the Professional Association of Childhood Education.

State law requires that every child must be inspected by a teacher on a daily basis for obvious symptoms of an illness. Children who are symptomatic will not be accepted. The signature of the parent on the sign-in sheet demonstrates acceptance by the designated adult. No parent should sign the attendance sheet for a child who has not been inspected by the teacher and accepted for the day.

Your child may be sent home if s/he appears to have any symptoms of illness during school time. This includes a child that has three incidents of diarrhea in a single day. When a child is sent home ill, s/he may not attend school the following day. If your child becomes ill at school, the parent will be phoned and asked to take the child home immediately. It is imperative that your registration and emergency card are kept up to date with the names and phone numbers of two responsible adults willing to pick up your child in case the Center cannot locate the parent(s).

If you as a parent are in doubt whether your child is ill, please keep her/him home. A day at home may be better than having to leave work in order to pick up your child.

Symptoms or conditions, which exclude your child from, school or for which s/he will be sent home include but are not limited to:

1. Cold less than three days old
2. Fever greater than 100.6 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Lice
4. Contagious disease symptoms (e.g. pink eye, chicken pox, strep, measles, etc.) Please notify the Center if your child has contracted or has been exposed to communicable disease
5. Vomiting
6. Diarrhea
7. Rashes- new onset, unexplained by other causes; physician’s written statement may be required.
8. Skin infections, which are weeping or pus-filled
9. Running nose with thick or colored secretions
10. Child is drowsy or unable to participate in program
11. Sore throat, earache, swollen glands
12. Constant cough

Please call the center by 9:00 AM if your child is ill and not coming to school that day.

Before returning to the center, the child needs to have been free of symptoms and fever for at least 24 hours; your child may be re-admitted with a written doctor’s release.

Hand washing
Frequent hand washing is the single best way of preventing disease and illness. Please join us (if you’re not already!) in helping your child to develop the habit of frequently washing her/his hands. Children should learn to use warm water and soap, and to vigorously rub their hands together when washing. Hands should be washed when arriving, before eating and after toileting, as well as throughout the day.

Medication
If your child requires any medications, the parent will need to make arrangements with a physician for special instructions and prescriptions for use at the center. No medication, including over-the-counter medications, will be given without a doctor’s signed permission slip.  The proper Medication Dispensing form, located in each classroom, must be completed by the parents each day before medication can be administered by our staff. For parent convenience, we issue individualized medicines containers to use. Parents will measure out exact dosages and label the containers with the child’s name. Extra containers may be purchases through the office at a nominal fee.

Accidents and Emergencies
We will make an immediate attempt to contact a parent. If we cannot reach you, we will call the child’s physician. If necessary, we will also call an ambulance or paramedic. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure the phone numbers and emergency numbers on file for your child are up-to-date and to make sure any emergency information is accurate. Because of the time it takes to locate a parent and the very serious nature of some emergency situations, we strongly recommend that parents notify the Center and leave alternate phone numbers when they will be away from the office or home for any significant length of time.

Emergency Preparedness
Each month we do a fire or earthquake drill according to regulations. In addition, the school is continuing preparations for a large school emergency.

Childhood Immunizations
In accordance with County Health Department regulations children must have the required immunizations for their age prior to entry. Immunizations must be kept up-to-date to remain enrolled in the center. The child’s immunization record or written statement signed by the child’s physician will be required to verify immunizations.

Children may be exempted from the immunization requirements for child care center entry because all or some immunizations are contrary to personal beliefs. In this case, a parent must understand that if an outbreak of any of these diseases occurs at the center, the child may be temporarily excluded from school for her/his protection.