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Dear Parents and Students,
As you may know, flu can easily be spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu in Manhattan Christian. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season. But, we need your help to do this!
We are working closely with the Gallatin County Health Department to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning our school. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.
If the flu becomes severe, we may take additional steps to prevent its spread such as:
- Conducting active fever and flu symptom screening of students and staff as they arrive at school,
- Making changes to increase the space between students, such as moving desks farther apart where that is possible, and
- Canceling field trips and other events if necessary.
For now, we are doing everything we can to keep our school functioning as usual. Here are a few things you can do to help:
- Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water of an alcohol-based hand rub. You can set a good example by doing this yourself.
- Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.
- Know the signs and symptoms of flu. Symptoms of the flu include: fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
- Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.
- Do not send children to school if they are sick. Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.
It is extremely important to your children and Manhattan Christian that each family has a plan for dealing with the flu if it strikes your family. When a child becomes ill at school it is vital to the safety of all that the child go home as soon as possible. Please make contingency plans for picking up and caring for your child in the case of illness and be sure to let the office know if the person coming to pick up your child is someone other than a parent. Communicate this emergency plan to your children so that if it occurs they are aware of what will happen.
Enclosed with this letter is a compilation of action steps produced by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Please read both as they contain helpful practical information for dealing with the flu as well as warning signs that help one to recognize signs that a child is having severe complications. Visit www.flu.gov for further information and recommendations.
We trust that our faithful God who is the Great Physician will guide us and guard us throughout the flu season.
Manhattan Christian School
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