Health & Wellness

The NYC Department of Health has strict medical requirements for new entrants to school (public, private and parochial). All students entering a NYC school for the first time must have a complete physical examination, all immunizations, plus a variety of screening tests. For detailed requirements, contact a school secretary. The school checks each child’s weight, height, vision and hearing. If there is a problem, the parent is required to follow up with a doctor’s checkup with either your child’s physician or, with your consent, a Dept. of Health school doctor. You will also be informed if the school doesn’t have an updated medical form for your child. Do not send children who do not feel well to school. Parents whose children become ill at school will be contacted to take the child home. Please see Blue Card regarding essential contact information. It is important that parents and guardians supply the school with their telephone number and at least two alternate phone numbers where someone can be reached in their absence. In case of an emergency and if time permits, PS 321 staff will make every effort to contact you before deciding what action to take to insure your child’s health and safety. In the event your child has an accident outside of school, please send your child’s teacher a note. This is not meant to be an invasion of your privacy, but we are required by the NYC Department of Health to investigate unusual injuries observed by staff members.

Blue Cards

It is essential that these cards are filled out completely and returned to the Main Office as soon as possible. In the event the school needs to contact you regarding your child, it is important to list all the telephone numbers where you or your designated caregiver(s) can be reached during the school day. Please provide at least two emergency numbers. Also remember that if your child attends after school at PS 321 and you are in transit during those hours and can’t be reached, the school must be able to contact someone if your child needs to be picked up. Children are not released to anyone whose name is not on the Blue Card. If information changes at any time during the year, it is important that you come into the Main Office and update the Blue Card with one of the secretaries as soon as possible, so that the information can be changed in the school computer. If your address has changed, you will need to furnish utility bills showing the new address.

Accidents

A child who has an accident that results in an injury during school hours will be seen by a Nurse. In the case of minor injuries where the child returns to class, she or he will be given a note by the Nurse to take home to parents/guardians. In the case of an accident that results in more than a minor injury, the staff member who is in charge of the child at the time of the injury will fill out an accident report, required by the DOE. A parent or guardian will be contacted by one of our nurses.

Nurses

Sandra Wallace, School Nurse and Ellen Sargeant, Public Health Advisor, both work at our school full-time. They are located in the back half of Room 123. Children who are ill or injured during school hours are accompanied to the nurse’s office by a staff member or another student. Parents of students who need regular medication, or who have inhalers or Epi-pens for emergency use must fill out and have a doctor sign a 504 form available from the nurse or the Guidance Department. No adults in the school are permitted to administer medication without this form.

718-369-9083, 718-499-2412, x 1232

Lice

Unfortunately, head lice is an unpleasant fact of school life. They are neither a health hazard nor a sanitary problem, but they are a force to be reckoned with. If there is a case of head lice in a class, a letter will be sent home informing you of that fact and giving suggestions for their removal. A small resource library with books and videotapes directed to families dealing with lice is available in the Parent Center.

All the information you ever wanted about head lice: http://www.headlice.org

Here is the official, NYC Department of Education, information about head lice.  Please be sure to scroll down to find links with additional information: http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/Health/Pediculosis

The Center for Disease Control official site: http://www.cdc.gov/lice/head/ 

Here is a link to an informative video about how to check for nits: http://headlicetodeadlice.com/freemovies/flash/nitcheck_demo.html

The Nuvo method of removing head lice: nuvoforheadlice.com

Pictures of head lice: http://nuvoforheadlice.com/louse_pictures.htm 

Here is a Website with a good diagram of “Where to Look for Head Lice”: http://www.loogootee.k12.in.us/west/headlice.htm 

THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD NIT COMB! Here are three:

1. NISSKA
2. LICEMEISTER
3. TermiNITor

THE FACTS ABOUT HEAD LICE

What are they?

• Head lice are small insects with six legs usually the size of a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns).
• They live on or very close to the scalp and don’t wander far down the hair shafts for very long.
• They can only live on human beings; you can’t catch them from animals.
• Nits are not the same thing as lice. Lice are the insects which move around the head. Nits are egg cases laid by lice, stuck on to hair shafts; they are smaller than a pin head and are pearly white.
• If you have nits it doesn’t always mean that you have head lice. When you have gotten rid of all the lice and picked nits out, some may stay stuck to the hair until it grows out.
• Anybody can get head lice.
• Head lice infections are caught from close family and friends in the home and community, generally not from the school.
• Spread of head lice requires direct head to head contact.  They can’t swim, fly, hop or jump.
• The best way to stop infection is for families to learn how to check their own heads. This way they can find any lice before they have a chance to breed.
• Instruct children not to share hats, combs, brushes, etc.
• All bedding, towels, and clothing from the infected individual should be cleaned with soap and hot water and placed in a dryer for at least 20 minutes to help kill any remaining lice. Dry-clean all clothes that need to be dry-cleaned. Seal the infested individual’s stuffed toys in a plastic bag and leave them for 10 days to allow all lice to die of starvation. Dispose of or soak combs and hairbrushes in rubbing alcohol or the medicated shampoo used to kill lice. Throw out any hair accessories, such as hair elastics and ribbons. Thoroughly vacuum carpets and upholstered furniture.
• Pets cannot become infested with head and body lice, so no precaution is required.

Prevention ‑ can you stop them?

Returning to School

• Students may return to school the day after treatment for head lice as long as there are no live lice upon re-inspection by school personnel.
• Students found to have live head lice will be excluded from school.
• Consult your healthcare provider if you are having difficulties getting rid of your child’s head lice.

GUIDANCE FOR FAMILIES ON GETTING RID OF HEAD LICE

Fine tooth combing ‑ how to do it

• Wash the hair well and then dry it with a towel. The hair should be damp, not dripping.
• Make sure there is good light. Daylight is best.
• Comb the hair with an ordinary comb.
• Start with the teeth of the fine tooth comb touching the skin of the scalp at the top of the head. Draw the comb carefully towards the edge of the hair.
• Look carefully at the teeth of the comb in good light.
• Do this over and over again from the top of the head to the edge of the hair in all directions, working round the head.
• Do this for several minutes. It takes at least 10 to 15 minutes to do it properly for each head.
• If there are head lice, you will find one or more lice on the teeth of the comb.
• Head lice are little insects with moving legs. They are often not much bigger than a pin head, but may be as big as a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns).
• Don’t treat unless you are sure that you have found a living, moving louse
• Check the heads of all the people in your home.
• Only treat those who have living, moving lice.
• Treat them all at the same time
• Put the lotion on to dry hair.
• Use the lotion in a well ventilated room or in the open air.
• Part the hair near the top of the head, put a few drops on to the scalp and rub it in. Part the hair a bit further down the scalp and do the same again. Do this over and over again until the whole scalp is wet.
• You don’t need to put lotion down long hair any further than where you would put a pony‑tail band.
• Let the lotion dry on the hair. Some lotions can catch fire, so keep well away from flames, cigarettes, stoves, and other sources of heat. Don’t use a hair dryer.
• Treat all of them again seven days later in the same way with the same lotion.
• Check all the heads a day or two after the second treatment. If you still find living, moving lice, ask your healthcare provider for advice.

If you are sure you have found a living louse:

• Check the heads of all the people in your home.
• Only treat those who have living, moving lice.
• Treat them all at the same time
• Put the lotion on to dry hair.
• Use the lotion in a well ventilated room or in the open air.
• Part the hair near the top of the head, put a few drops on to the scalp and rub it in. Part the hair a bit further down the scalp and do the same again. Do this over and over again until the whole scalp is wet.
• You don’t need to put lotion down long hair any further than where you would put a pony‑tail band.
• Let the lotion dry on the hair. Some lotions can catch fire, so keep well away from flames, cigarettes, stoves, and other sources of heat. Don’t use a hair dryer.
• Treat all of them again seven days later in the same way with the same lotion.
• ·Check all the heads a day or two after the second treatment. If you still find living, moving lice, ask your healthcare provider for advice.

For more information and resources, please visit www.nyc.gov/health