New Health Policy

Effective February 1, 2023

If your child has had a fever, diarrhea or throwing up within the last 24 hours, he/she must be excluded from school until they are symptom free for 48 hours without the aid of over-the-counter medication.

This means that if the day prior to coming to school, he/she is experiencing any fever, diarrhea or throwing up, they cannot come to school for the next couple of days.

During the day, if your child develops any of those symptoms, you will be called to come and pick them up from school. Again, they cannot return to school until they are symptom free for 48 hours.

These protocols will be followed by our staff as well. If they are home sick, they too must be symptom free for 48 hours before they return to work.

We appreciate your cooperation in keeping the children and staff healthy by following this new protocol.

Fever policy: Typically, a temperature of 38C indicates that the body is fighting off an infection. Without medication, the fever must stay down on its own for 48 hours to be readmitted to school. AHS fever protocols state that a reading of 37.6C or higher taken under the child’s arm is considered a fever. This is the method we use to take a temperature. If your child develops a fever during the school day, they will have to be taken home to recover.

Vomiting policy: If the child has vomited within 24 hours, they must be kept out of daycare until they are symptom free for 48 hours. If your child starts vomiting during the school day, they will have to be taken home.

Diarrhea policy: If the child has had diarrhea in the past 24 hours, they should be kept home and remain home until they are symptom free for 48 hours. Children will be sent home if they have 2 or more loose bowel movements in a short amount of time (within an hour).  Before returning to school your child must be free from diarrhea for 48 hours with at least 1 regular bowel movement. If your child has one or more loose bowel movements on their first day back they will again be sent home.

Runny nose policy: Runny noses are commonplace in childcare. There are allergies and all kinds of reasons a child will have a runny nose. Children will be sent home if they appear to have any thick white, green, or yellow discharge. This is often indicative of an infection and they must stay home. As well, children who are continually sneezing and spraying materials/peers/food need to be removed from the school until they are symptom free for 48 hours.

Cough policy: Coughs spread illness quickly because it’s in the air. Children will be sent home if they have a persistent hacking cough and must stay home the for 48 hours for observation.

Conjunctivitis (pink eye): Children will be sent home if there appears to be an unusual amount of discharge from or irritation to their eye(s) and must stay home the next day for observation.
If the diagnosis is BACTERIAL CONJUNCTIVITIS children must have received at least 48 hours of treatment.
If the diagnosis is VIRAL CONJUNCTIVITIS your child may return AS LONG AS THERE IS NO DISCHARGE.

Common Cold Policy: Children suffering from a common cold will be assessed on an individual basis.Factors of consideration include the developmental level of your child in congruence with our ability to limit the spread of germs.The younger your child, the more difficult it is to keep the spread of germs down. For example: hand to face contact, mouthing of toys, uncontrolled nasal discharge, uncovered sneezing and coughing etc.

Sibling/Family Policy: If your child gets sick during the day and needs to leave the program, their sibling needs to go as well and remain out for the duration of the siblings illness. We understand that it is difficult to watch a healthy and sick child, but this is the best way to stop the germs from spreading back into the school. Even if they are not sick themselves, they could be a carrier for the germs the sibling has. Likewise, if anyone is sick in your household (mom, dad, older sibling etc.) a good rule of thumb is to keep your child home because they are going to get it and are coming and spreading the germs into the school. We are trying to keep everyone healthy. Your family needs to be symptom free for 48 hours to be considered recovered from illness.

Returning to School after Illness: In some instances, you will be asked to keep you child at home until we have written permission from your doctor saying your child is well enough to return to school. Please understand this is for your child’s well-being along with the well-being of the healthy children and staff at the school and their families.

If your child is too sick to run around outside or be involved in day-to-day activities, then they are too sick to return to school. If your child is too upset or lethargic to participate in the daily activities or keeps falling asleep, they need to stay home until their energy level returns.

Medicine Hat Montessori Preschool reserves the right to refuse care if your child has not been symptom free for the past 48 hours. Please do not put us on the spot by bringing a sick child in only to be told to take them back home. This makes us feel uncomfortable and can also spread unwanted germs.

If you are not sure, please call. We understand that all parents need to work, but your child’s health is important to us. Likewise, keeping our staff and all the other children free from illness is equally as important to us.