Your scholar's health and safety is of the utmost importance. Please see the information below related to health and safety at our schools.
Health Resources
- Health & Medication at Impact Public Schools
- Immunization Requirements for Elementary Schools
- Medication Administration Form - To be completed by family and healthcare provider for any students who need medication during the school day
- Asthma Packet - To be completed by family and healthcare provider for any students with asthma
- Allergy Packet - To be completed by family and healthcare provider for any students with allergies
- Diabetes Packet - To be completed by family and healthcare provider for any students with diabetes
- Seizure Packet - To be completed by family and healthcare provider for any students with seizures
Safety Resources
Health Conditions & Medication at School
- If your child has a health condition or requires medication during the school day, our school nurse will partner with your family to ensure all necessary paperwork is collected and your child’s health needs are supported at school. Please see the important steps below:
- Connect with the School Nurse: Please contact the school nurse directly at schoolnurse@impactps.org if your child has a health condition or requires medication at school. Our school nurse also proactively contacts all families who indicate their child has a health condition in their enrollment packet.
- Complete Required Paperwork: Based on your scholar’s health condition, download and complete the appropriate paperwork. (These documents are also available at the school building if needed.) All health paperwork must be completed by the scholar’s parents/guardians AND licensed healthcare provider.
- Bring Medications to School: Fill any prescriptions at the pharmacy if necessary and bring medications in original containers with labels that include the name and dosage. Please be aware that schools cannot accept prescription OR over the counter medication without all required health paperwork completed by a licensed healthcare provider.
- Review Individualized Care Plan: The school nurse will design an individualized care plan for your scholar based on your conversation and completed paperwork from your licensed healthcare provider. You will have an opportunity to review and sign off on the care plan. If at any time your scholar’s health or medication needs change, please contact schoolnurse@impactps.org to adjust the plan.
Immunizations
According to the Washington Administrative Code WAC 246-105-030, any child attending school, preschool, or childcare in Washington State is required by law to be fully vaccinated or have an exemption in place. Students who do not meet the vaccination requirements for school entry will be excluded from school, per Revised Code of Washington RCW 28A.210.120.
- What vaccines are required? For Kindergarten - 5th grade attendance, the following vaccinations are required:
- DTaP/Tdap (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) - 5 Doses
- Hepatitis B - 3 Doses
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) - 2 Doses
- Polio - 4 Doses
- Varicella (chicken pox) - 2 Doses
- How do I know if my child does not meet the vaccination requirements? You will be contacted directly by an Impact school nurse with an explanation of which vaccinations your child still requires for school compliance.
- When should I schedule my child’s vaccination visit? We strongly encourage you to schedule your child’s vaccination visit as early as possible with their health care provider to ensure your child is up to date well before the first day of school.
- What do vaccines cost? Clinics in the Vaccines For Children (VFC) program provide childhood vaccines at no cost in the state of Washington. Providers may charge an office visit fee and a fee to administer the vaccine, called an administration fee. If you cannot pay the administration fee, you can ask your health care provider to waive the cost. Find VFC clinics by using this vaccine map at https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/vaccinemap
- Where can I get more information? For more information about immunization requirements, visit https://www.doh.wa.gov/SCCI. You can also contact schoolnurse@impactps.org with specific questions.
When to Keep Your Child Home for Illness
Having your scholar attend school is very important – every minute of missed school matters for your scholar’s social emotional and academic success and our goal is to have your scholar part of the community as much as possible. We also understand that sometimes, scholars are sick! Generally, you should keep your child home if they:
- Are too sick to participate in normal activities.
- Need a higher level of monitoring and care than school can provide.
- Could spread harmful symptoms to others.
More specifically, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children stay home when they have:
- Fever greater than 100.4°F with other symptoms, like sore throat, rash, earache or behavior change.
- Strep throat. Keep your child home until they are fever-free and have taken antibiotics for at least 24 hours.
- Vomiting. Keep your child home until they haven’t vomited for at least 24 hours.
- Diarrhea. Keep your child home if they have diarrhea 2 times more than usual in a day.
And of course, keep your child home when they’re too sick for school. If you need support, please reach out to schoolnurse@impactps.org
Safety
The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority.
- How does Impact Public Schools manage emergencies? In the event of an emergency, we follow the procedures outlined in our School Safety Plan, which includes evacuation, shelter-in-place, soft lockdown and hard lockdown procedures based on the nature of the emergency. We are committed to communicating with our families and will do so via ParentSquare as soon as we are able once we have accounted for all student and faculty safety. To ensure we are prepared for emergencies, we practice these procedures in safety drills that are conducted every month. After each drill, we send a notification to our families via ParentSquare.
- How does the Impact Public Schools handle threats of violence? All lethal or potentially lethal statements whether verbal or written, including electronic, are to be taken seriously and investigated, including the partnership of local law enforcement when needed. Impact Public Schools has a no tolerance policy against firearms and dangerous weapons on its campuses and at network-sponsored activities.
- How can I support my child’s safety at school? Be sure your school has your most current contact information as well as the names and information of at least two emergency contacts. Contact your school at any time if you need to update your contact information.