September 20, 2007

Notes from Ms. Heffron

September 20, 2007

I know that we are fully into the fall when our students show evidence of having head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis). And, this is the case today here at Cumberland. So that everyone knows our protocol, I am including it in this Thursday letter.

We usually find head lice initially when a student is scratching her/his head more than is typical. When this happens, the student goes to the clinic. In the clinic, Ms. Ackerman, Ms. Moret or myself will do a head check. This consists of going through the child's hair section by section looking for either the egg (nit) which appears as a small black or white speck attached to the hair itself or a louse itself. If we find either of these, the Health Department protocol requires us to contact you and have the child picked up. The child is then treated with a special shampoo that kills the lice, and the hair is repeatedly combed with a fine toothed comb to remove all nits.

When lice are discovered here we also take several other proactive steps. Siblings are checked and if they have lice, they go home, too. The students in classrooms of all students who are sent home are also checked, and these classrooms take a letter of notification home saying that your child may have been exposed and asking you to check your child's head.

Once students are nit free, they may return to school where they are checked in the clinic for verification prior to going to class. Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person's head so parents/guardians need to continue to do head checks daily during this time. There are also other steps that need to be taken in the home to prevent reinfestation.

Having head lice is very common and it is a rare year here at school when we do not have outbreaks in the fall. A great source of current information is the Center for Disease Control website. If you have questions or need specific information about diagnosis or treatment I encourage you to use this resource. It is at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/lice.

Other than this development, things are going relatively smoothly here at school. One way you can help us is to closely monitor the Thursday folder. In our efforts to reduce the amount of paper in the folder, each family unit has the youngest child identified and school wide notices or forms should be going only in the youngest child's folder. If you find that you are getting multiple copies of things that you need only one of, please let your older child(ren)'s teacher know so they can correct this. Thanks!

Notes:

• The art department is in need of cardboard for a special project. They are collecting cereal box weight cardboard. If you use anything of this type, please have your child bring the cardboard to Ms. Purney. It can also be dropped off in the office. The project cannot be done with anything heavier than this type of cardboard.
• Bay Ball mailing stuffing: If you can help with this next Monday or Tuesday, please contact Lynn Short at LCS53217@AOL.COM.
• Cub Scout Registration: Today, September 20^th at 6:30 at Cumberland School.
• Fall Fundamentals Basketball Camp: Sponsored through the WFB Recreation Department. 2^nd and 3^rd grade boys and girls are eligible, Sept. 24-28^th 3:30-4:30. Questions to Dave Shaw at 228-7025.