The Ditson Buzz 🐝🐝🐝

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នេះជារបៀប!

នៅផ្នែកខាងស្តាំនៃព្រឹត្តិបត្រព័ត៌មាននេះមានប៊ូតុងបកប្រែ សូមចុច និងជ្រើសរើសភាសារបស់អ្នក ហើយព្រឹត្តិបត្រព័ត៌មាននឹងត្រូវបានផ្លាស់ប្តូរ!

The Ditson nurses hope the 2024-2025 school year is off to a great start for you and your families! Nurse Kopek and I have enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces and meeting our new students. We are very excited to be part of the team helping to make this a great school year for all.

Please review the information provided below so that we can ensure your children have a safe and healthy school year.

Emergency Contact and Medical Information Forms- New Emergency Contact and Medical Information Forms need to be completed yearly. Thank you to all who have already submitted them. For those who haven’t we’ll be sending home new copies next week- please complete as soon as possible.

Medication for School -

Daily Meds- If your child will be taking a daily medication in school, please note that the nurses office will need a signed medication order from your child’s prescriber on file before any medication can be administered. Medication must be dropped off by an adult in a labeled pharmacy container.

Over-the-counter medications- even if only taken as needed, if the supply comes from home we also require a doctor’s order for the nurse to administer it in school and the medication must be in the original packaging.

Life threatening allergy- we will need an updated allergy action plan for this school year that includes a signed medication order that is also signed by a parent/guardian.

Inhalers- we will need an updated asthma action plan for this school year that includes a signed medication order that is also signed by the parent/guardian.

Please note, medications cannot be given until the nurses receive the medication order. We also need a signed parental permission for any substance we will hold/administer in the office.

Kindergarten and 3rd Grade Students - A current physical exam is required for all Kindergarten and 3rd graders. Please send a copy of your child’s current physical exam (dated 9/4/2023 or later) to the nurses via hardcopy, email or fax if you have not already.

Kindergarten Parents or students new to the school - Please note that all immunizations and a lead level must be on file at the start of the year.

Required immunizations include: 5 doses DTaP/DTP, 4 doses Polio, 3 doses Hepatitis B, 2 doses MMR, 2 doses Varicella, and a lead test.

Letters will be going home soon to any families for which we need more information.

If you have any questions about this please contact the nurses’ office.

Illness, including Covid- If your child isn’t feeling well and is symptomatic, please keep them home for their comfort and to help reduce the spread of contagious illness.. Student’s must be fever, vomiting and diarrhea free without the use of symptom-reducing medication for 24 hours and feeling well enough to participate in school before they can return. If your child is still symptomatic with respiratory symptoms or if you know they’re Covid positive but meet the return criteria, masking for 5 days is recommended and encouraged to prevent spread while still potentially contagious. Reporting diagnoses to the nurses’ office is not required, but it can be helpful to us for identifying trends in classrooms.

Note: A provider’s note is required in order for absences to be marked as excused, unless the child was dismissed by the nurse’s office, in which case that day and potentially the following day will be pre-excused. Please ask your child’s medical provider for an absence excuse letter for school and continue to call the absence line to report absences.

Health Screenings- Lastly, in the coming months the nurses’ office will be conducting student screenings for vision, hearing, height and weight. If there are any findings to note on the vision and/or hearing screenings a referral letter will be sent home recommending a followup evaluation. Height and weight data is reported to the state in aggregate. No individual student’s data will be shared. If you would like to opt-out of any of these screenings, please notify the nurse’s office in writing via email or letter.

Vision: All grades

Hearing: Grades K-3

Height and Weight: Grades 1 & 4

Thank you so much for your prompt attention to these items. Again, please reach out with any questions, concerns, or just to say hello!

Best,

Courtney Finn MSN, RN, NCSN

School Nurse

cfinn@billericak12.com

978-528-8520 (o) 978-528-8529 (f)

Catherine Kopek, RN

School Nurse

ckopek@billericak12.com

978-528-8526 (o) 978-528-8529 (f)

We invite any family seeking support for their child around any significant life change to explore this 8 week group opportunity. The group will be an opportunity for students to learn coping strategies as well as have a dialogue with peers who are facing similar changes. We will focus on developing strategies that can be used in and out of the classroom for academic success and creating healthy friendships. The goal of the group is to allow students the opportunity to identify how the changes are making them feel and to hear and learn from other’s experiences as well.

If you are interested in learning more about the group or enrolling your child please contact Meghan Nolet-Downey at mnolet-downey@billericak12.com.

As the cold weather and holiday season approaches, we wanted to make you aware that there are various resources that provide assistance to families during the holiday season. Please see the link below to learn more:

Holiday Assistance

Improving student learning outcomes is the top priority for all of us here at the Ditson Elementary School. We know that parent and family engagement is one of the biggest factors in student success, and our new Ditson Elementary School App will allow parents to easily connect with what is going on at the school. From in-app translations to push notifications for urgent messages, we know this will be an impactful addition to our existing methods of communicating with families.

Please click on the links below to learn what is happening in your child's specials class during the month of October.

Art - Ms. O'Rourke

LiTe - Mrs. Mari

PE - Ms. O'Shei

Health - Mr. Pierce

Music - Ms. McGuillicuddy

Victoria Hatem, Principal - Email: vhatem@billericak12.com

Matt Lutinski, Assistant Principal - Email: mlutinski@billericak12.com

Website: https://www.billericak12.com/schools/ditson-elementary

Location: 39 Cook Street, Billerica, MA, USA
Phone: 978-528-8510
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DitsonDSA/

Twitter: @weareDitson