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Welcome!

From scraped knees to administering medicine and everything in between, the Health Office at Mountain Sage is a busy place. Our Health Tech works closely with a Registered Nurse to help keep everything running smoothly.

When Your Child Should Stay Home

If your child is contagious to other children, is too uncomfortable to learn or participate in learning, or presents any of the following, please keep them home. This also pertains to COVID-19, as there are no longer specific restrictions related to that illness. Children who arrive at school presenting any of these symptoms will be sent home:

Fever: Temperature of 100 degrees or higher. Must be fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medicines, such as Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen (i.e., Tylenol, Advil, Motrin)

Diarrhea: Frequent watery stools

Appearance/Behavior: Unusually tired, pale, or irritable, fever

Ear: Ear pain and/or drainage from ear, fever

Eyes: Eye drainage, redness and/or itching

Rash: Body or local rash especially with itching, red bumps, discharge

Sore Throat: Especially with fever, swollen neck glands and/or white areas on throat

Vomiting: Especially if your child vomits before leaving for school in the morning

Upper Respiratory Infections/Colds: If your child has a fever, large amounts of nasal drainage, a productive or dry cough that would be disruptive to your child and/or class, and/ or significantly uncomfortable and unable to participate in class.

Burns:

    • Burn is on your child’s eye or eyelid
    • The center of the burn is white or charred
    • Burn starts to look infected with pus, red streaks, and/or increased tenderness
    • Blisters that are greater than ½ inch in size
    • If burn was caused by acid, alkali or electrical burn

Cuts and Scrapes and Puncture Wounds:

    • If you think your child has a serious injury or a cut that is split open or gaping, consult with your health care provider.
    • Cuts longer than ½ inch may need stitches
    • On the face, cuts, longer than ¼ inch may need stitches
    • Open wound that may need stitches should be checked and closed within 6 hours
    • Wound looks infected with redness, red streaks, swelling, fever and/or tenderness
    • Your child may need a tetanus booster

Head Injury - Call your healthcare provider if:

    • Your child is knocked unconscious
    • Headache
    • Nausea/vomiting
    • Unequal pupils/blurred vision, double vision
    • Slurred speech/confusion/excessive drowsiness
    • Loss of muscle coordination, such as falling down, dizzy, walking strangely or staggering
    • Convulsions/seizures
    • Bleeding or discharge from ear/nose

This information is for educational purposes. The Mountain Sage Community School Health Technicians do not diagnose medical conditions. Please consult with your primary health care provider for questions about diagnosis, treatment or concerns. Our goal is to promote healthy environments for all students and staff. Thank you for your cooperation.

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Immunizations

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment requires public schools to report vaccination records for every enrolled student. Colorado law requires students who attend a public, private or parochial kindergarten - 12th grade school to be vaccinated against many of the diseases vaccines can prevent. Please click here to see the most current list of required vaccinations for children attending school. The CDPHE changed its approach to non-medical exemptions as of of the 21/22 school year. Read the letter to parents about vaccinations from the CDPHE.

Students registering for the first time at Mountain Sage are required to present one of the following:

  1. Proof of immunization.
  2. Signed State of Colorado Exemption Certificate or Immunization Medical Exemption form
  3. Certificate of Non-Medical Exemption, either as a result of having completed this educational module from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or as completed by your child’s healthcare provider (M.D., D.O., Physician’s Assistant, or Advanced Practice Nurse). Read more about these updated vaccine exemption requirements from the CDPHE. 

Families with returning students must keep their child's immunizations current. If you have filed a vaccine exemption in previous years and plan to do so again, see step 3 above. Full details on immunization requirements are available from the state of Colorado.

Immunization requirements are strictly enforced for all students.  Students who don't meet requirements will be denied attendance according to Colorado Revised Statues 25-4-902.  To obtain immunizations free or at a low cost, call 211 or visit 211 Colorado.  You may also contact your healthcare provider, the Larimer County Health Department at 970-498-6700, or visit their website for more information.

Immunization Requirements to enter school (K-12):

  • Hepatitis B.
  • Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTap).*
  • Inactivated poliovirus (IPV).*
  • Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR).*
  • Varicella (chicken pox). *
  • Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap).**

*Students 4 through 6 years of age are required to have their final doses of DTaP, IPV, MMR and Varicella prior to kindergarten entry.

**Students are required to have Tdap prior to entry into 6th grade. One dose of Tdap is required for 6th through 12th grades.

Additional Details

Please inform your school's health care staff if your child has special health concerns, allergies, medications or dietary needs. A complete physical exam by a family physician is required for students entering the preschool program and recommended for students entering kindergarten and 4th grade.

​Visit the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment to learn how to get a copy of your record, opt out your immunization records from CIIS, or rescind your opt-out request as well as to access medical and non-medical (religious and personal belief) exemption forms.

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Medications at School

In the your event that your child may need medication at school, it is important that you understand our medication administration policy:

  • Whenever possible, students should take medicine outside of school and school-sponsored activities.
  • If medicine must be administered at school it should be administered by a student’s parent unless they are unavailable.
  • If a parent is unavailable then ALL medicine, over the counter or prescription, must be delivered by the parent or guardian to our Health Technician in the original, labeled container. Please note that cough drops are considered an over the counter medication.
  • Prescription medications must have the student’s name, name of medicine, dosage, name of prescribing health care provider, date prescription was filled and the expiration date printed on the label.
  • In-order to be able to administer these medications we must also have an Authorization and Release form filled out and signed by both the parent or guardian and your licensed health care provider. These forms are available here or at the front desk. These forms must be filled out each year as they do not roll over from year to year.

If you would like your middle school student to self-carry and administer an inhaler or epi-pen please contact the Health Office at 970.568.5456 or [email protected] to review appropriate documentation and set up a time to meet with our contracted school nurse.

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Head Lice

Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school. Students may return to school after appropriate treatment has begun- there is no mandatory waiting period. Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice.

Head lice can be a nuisance but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.

What are head lice?

Lice are tiny parasitic insects that can live and breed on a human’s head. They do not spread disease or pose any hazard to you or your child’s health. Head lice only live and breed on the human head, not on your pets.

What are the signs of head lice?

  • Tickling feeling of something moving in the hair
  • Itching
  • Irritability and difficulty sleeping; headlice are most active in the dark
  • Sores on the head caused by scratching
  • Sometimes there are no symptoms at all

How are head lice spread?

  • Lice move quickly, making them hard to see. They do not jump or fly but crawl and quickly move from one head to another when heads touch.
  • Lice can also be spread by sharing items such as combs, brushes, bike or other helmets, hats, or coats that have been in contact with someone who has head lice.
    • They can also be spread by lying on a bed, couch, pillow, or carpet that has recently been in contact with an infested person.
  • House pets do not transmit head lice.

How do I find head lice?

  • Parents should check their children often for signs of lice.
  • Finding and treating head lice early will shorten treatment time and help prevent spread to others.
  • One adult louse can make up to ten eggs in 24 hours. These eggs, often called nits, are very tiny –about half the size of the head of a pin. Use of a magnifying lens and a fine-toothed comb may be helpful in finding live lice.
    • If crawling lice are not seen, finding nits firmly attached within a ¼ inch of base of the hair shafts strongly suggests, but does not confirm, that a person is infested and should be treated.
    • If you are unsure, the diagnosis should be made by a health care provider, local health department, or your school nurse or other person trained to identify live head lice.

How are head lice treated?

There are many ways to treat head lice. Getting rid of lice can take a lot of time. There are no shortcuts to treatment. All live insects must be killed and nits (eggs) continually removed until the cycle is broken and all nits are gone.

Treatment

Please see the CDC Treatment of Head Lice page and the PSD Checklist for Lice Treatment for thorough guidelines on treating head lice.

Commercial Products

  • Head lice shampoo and cream rinse can be bought from the drugstore. Example products: NIX, RID, A-200, Lice Arrest, Not Nice to Lice
  • Some head lice products are covered by a prescription from your doctor.
  • Only family members with living lice or nits should be treated.
  • Before using a head lice product, the hair must be very clean. Wash hair thoroughly with a shampoo that does not contain a conditioner, crème rinse or softener. Rinse well with water only. Follow the instructions on the product label for when to begin using regular shampoo again.
  • These products can be harmful if used too often or incorrectly. Follow the instructions on the product label. Discuss the use of lice shampoo with your doctor if there is a chance of pregnancy and in usage with young children. Most products recommend waiting at least one week before re-treatment.
  • Always apply the lice treatment product over the sink or tub to avoid getting the chemicals on other parts of the body.
  • If a few live lice are still found 8-12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re- treat. The medicine may take longer to kill all the lice. Comb dead and any remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed nit comb.
    • If, after 8-12 hours of treatment, no dead lice are found and lice seem as active as before, the medicine may not be
      working. Do not re-treat until speaking with your health care provider. A different lice medication may be needed.

Home or Natural Remedies

  • There are various home recipes and natural products such as petroleum jelly, mayonnaise, tea-tree oil, and olive oil that can be used but they only kill active lice. They have no effect on nits.
  • Bleach, kerosene, gasoline or garden insecticides are very dangerous and should never be used to treat lice.
    • Non-toxic treatments are being marketed. Some examples are: Lice Ice, UlesfiaTM. Always consult with your health care provider with any specific questions as these products may not be as effective.

Removing Nits (eggs)

  • Removing the nits (eggs) is the most important step in treating head lice. Most head lice products only kill about 75% of nits. The rest need to be removed by hand. It may take several hours to remove all nits.
  • Use a metal or plastic fine-toothed comb to remove tangles in the hair.
  • Look closely for very tiny eggs next to the scalp.
  • Take hold of a small section of hair. With your fingernail, remove the egg by sliding it down to the end and off the hair shaft or cut the hair shaft between the nit on the shaft and scalp.
  • Place nits in a garbage bag, tie shut, and throw away.
  • Check for nits daily for at least ten days following treatment.

Cleaning up Around the House

  • Wash all bedding, towels, mattress pad, and clothing worn in the past three days (including jackets and hats). Use hot, soapy water and dry in a dryer on high heat.
  • Place items that can’t be washed or dry cleaned (stuffed animals, comforters) in plastic bags or trash bags and seal for three weeks.
  • Vacuum furniture, rugs, floors, mattresses, and inside vehicles. Empty vacuum bags and throw away.
  • DO NOT share combs, brushes, hats, bike helmets, etc. Soak combs, brushes, and other hair accessories in hot water at a temperature greater than 130 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes

All of this information can also be found on Poudre School District's comprehensive Head Lice page. Additional information can be found at HeadLice.org.

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