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Health Services

Nurses' Contact Information: Fax 508-416-2120

Bridget Veale

Titles: Nurse
Email:
Phone Numbers:
School: 508-416-2263

Mindy Wade

Titles: Nurse
Email:
Phone Numbers:
School: 508-416-2263

Daily Health Checks remain essential for everyone before leaving home. If you have covid-related symptoms, stay home and get tested. 

To find a test provider near you, visit https://www.mass.gov/info-details/find-a-covid-19-test

What if my student is symptomatic at school?

Students who report or display any symptoms while at school will be seen by the school nurse and if the symptoms are potentially related to COVID-19, you will be contacted for consent for raid testing and/or dismissal. 

  • If the results are positive, the student must self-isolate at home for a minimum of 5 days.  

  • If the results are negative and the student is feeling well enough, they can return to class and continue to carefully monitor their symptoms. 

What if my student tests positive for COVID-19? When can they return to school?

Keep your child home and notify the school right away.  Anyone who tests positive must self-isolate a minimum of 5 days. (Positive test date/symptom onset date is considered Day 0)

Students can then return to school on Day 6 as long as they have: 

  • Been without fever for 24 hours (and without taking fever-reducing medications);

AND 

  • Experienced improvement in other symptoms; 

AND

  • Have received clearance from the School Nurse 

Welcome Back Message:

Welcome Back Keefe Tech! We are so happy to be able to start the year in-person with you and excited to meet a new group of students. Students benefit so much from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction is a top priority. As we get into the swing of things, we wanted to reach out with some important health and safety reminders from the School Nurses’ office to best help us all have a healthy and successful school year together. Carefully continuing to follow the recommended mitigation strategies is our best course of action to protect the health and safety of our school community. Multiple and layered safety strategies best help us to protect our students and staff and keep us together in school. Our most valuable safety strategies continue to be:

●       Consistent daily health checks to identify any potential covid-related symptoms/concerns and determine an individual’s eligibility to safely come into the building. Doing these health checks every day with your child is mandatory and your child cannot come into school if there are any concerns related to the daily health check questions. Please refer to the Daily Health Checks handout for further details.

  •  Staying home when sick and following up with a healthcare provider remains essential.

○       Communication with the Keefe Tech nurses for any illness-related absences or covid-related situations also remains extremely important.

●       Masking is a great safety strategy to protect yourself as well as to protect others especially if you are having any symptoms or if you've been in close contact to someone who has recently tested positive. 

●       Social Distancing: Aim for at least 3 feet of social distancing whenever possible.

●       Hand Hygiene: We will continue to provide quick access to hand sanitizer throughout the building and in classrooms and opportunities for handwashing whenever necessary.

●       Access to COVID testing for school-related covid situations to reduce exposure risks and prevent potential spread.

○ Rapid testing will be available to symptomatic individuals. Consents will be available soon. 

●       We will continue to have enhanced cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitation protocols from our Facilities Team.

●       Consistently follow return to school guidelines for any covid-related situations (i.e. symptoms, close contact scenarios, positive tests, etc.). Please follow our protocol handout and contact the nurses with any questions or concerns.

○       As a reminder, in addition to covid-related health issues, students cannot come into school with the following symptoms/conditions:

■       Nausea, Vomiting, and/or diarrhea  (must be symptom-free for a full 24 hours before return)

■       A persistent, uncontrolled cough and/or severe nasal drainage/congestion

■       A blistery, weeping skin sores or rash, especially if accompanied by a fever.  Students will need to be cleared of any contagious illness by their physician before returning to school.

■       If your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, pink eye, ringworm, or impetigo, etc., he/she must be on antibiotics 24 hours before returning to school and be fever free.

■       Chicken pox, Pertussis, Rubella, Mumps, Measles, Hepatitis A - Your medical provider and the school nurses can review the different criteria for return to school following these illnesses. 

■       Your child feels unwell and cannot keep up with the school day.

●       Vaccination remains the best public health strategy to help end the pandemic and protect yourself and others. For more information about covid vaccines, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html

Our updated safety protocols have been developed in accordance with the Board of Health as well as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards. If at any time your student has any covid-related symptoms/concerns or healthcare needs, please reach out to our nursing office so we can better help you. It remains so important that we all continue to work together and remain vigilant about following all the safety protocols.

Also as a reminder, we really appreciate having a copy of any updated health physicals and immunization reports so we can better care for your student during the school day. All Keefe Tech athletes also require a current physical exam on file in the nursing office in order to participate in sports; physical expire after 13 months. If your student requires any prescription medication during the school day please contact the KT nurses so we can set up a plan and ensure all the proper documentation is in place. We hope you and your family have had an enjoyable summer break and we look forward to seeing you all soon!

Bridget Veale, RN, BSN, CPN bveale@jpkeefehs.org     Mindy Wade, RN mwade@jpkeefehs.org

Telephone 508-416-2263      Fax 508-416-2120

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