Welcome to the Phelps Luck Elementary School Health Room website. We hope that the following information is helpful for your family. If you have specific health concerns regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Call the school nurse to let us know if your child is absent with a contagious illness such as strep throat or the flu. Please provide any documentation from your physician about diagnosis and release to return to school. (Ear and sinus infections, while often a reason for keeping a child home, are usually not contagious.)
To protect other students from contagious illnesses, students infected with certain diseases are not allowed to come to school while contagious. If a parent suspects that his or her child has a contagious disease, the parent should contact the school nurse so that other students who might have been exposed to the disease can be alerted.
Keep your child home if he/she has a fever over 100.0. A fever indicates that your child has an infection that could be passed to other students. If you give your child Motrin or Tylenol, the fever will, of course, disappear but he/she will still be contagious to others. Children must be fever-free for 24 hours (without medication) before returning to school!
Students vomiting or with diarrhea should be symptom free, able to eat and drink a regular meal, and resume normal bowel habits before returning.
If the doctor prescribes medication for your child, please make sure he/she takes it as directed-which means the right amount at the right time and without missing doses.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has a website with all sorts of helpful information for parents about a number of different children's health issues.
REMEMBER: It is very important that we have current phone numbers for all our students in case of emergency. Please call the school or the health room if you have recently changed your home, work, or cell phone number so we can add that information to your child's Emergency Card.
Important Health News
TeleHealth is here! Howard County Public Schools and the Howard County Health Department are proud to announce the launch of 5 School-Based Wellness Centers. Phelps Luck Elementary is fortunate to be one of those schools. This program allows for students to be evaluated by a physician while at school for certain health conditions. See the FAQ page to get more information. You can download enrollment forms here.
How to Fight the Flu! Important information for preventing the spread of germs during the winter season!
Hand Washing. Hand washing is the simplest and most effective way to keep your child healthy at school and in the community. Remind your child to wash his/her hands before eating and after using the bathroom, blowing his/her nose and playing outside.
Hand Sanitizer. Give your child hand sanitizer to keep in his/her desk or backpack. Remind your child to use before eating and after using shared objects.
Do not share personal items. For example water bottles, food or other personal items. If you put the item in your mouth, keep it to yourself.
Cough Etiquette. Encourage your child to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or into the crook of his/her elbow.
Avoid those with contagious illness. Reschedule sleepovers and play dates when your child or a friend has symptoms of a communicable illness.
Eat well, rest well. Make sure your child eats a well-balanced diet and gets plenty of rest - have a regular bedtime.
Immunizations. Make sure your child's immunizations are up to date including an annual flu vaccine.