Infectious Disease Policy

Medical Emergencies During Preschool

A signed emergency release form is required before a student can attend GSLP. This release allows the Preschool to initiate whatever medical procedures are necessary before the parent/guardian can be reached. In general: 

  • If a child suffers a severe injury or medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention, 9-1-1 will be called. The child’s parent/guardian will be called next. 

If the injury is not severe, the child’s parent/guardian will be notified. A GSLP staff member will attend the child until the parent/guardian or other authorized adult arrives. 

Acute Illnesses

Children should come to school physically ready to participate in all areas of the curriculum, including outdoor play. Students unable to go outside should not attend school. Children may not remain indoors when their class is engaged in outdoor activities. 

A child must be fever-free for 24 hours and must not have vomited or had diarrhea for 24 hours in order to attend school. If a child has been prescribed an antibiotic, the child must have the antibiotic in his/her system for a full 24 hours before attending. This includes ophthalmic antibiotics for conjunctivitis (pink eye). 

The Preschool follows the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines regarding school attendance. The following is quoted from their fact sheet:

  • A temperature of more than 100 degrees

  • Nausea or vomiting

  • Stomachache

  • Diarrhea

  • Pale or flushed face

  • Headache

  • Cough

  • Earache

  • Thick discharge from nose

  • Sore throat

  • Rash or infection of the skin

  • Red or pink eyes

  • Loss of appetite

  • Loss of energy or decrease in activity

If your child will be out for the day, please email or phone the Preschool and leave a message describing your child’s illness.

Contagious Illnesses

Please inform the Preschool if your child develops a contagious illness. In particular, head lice should be reported immediately so that preventative measures can begin. Families will be alerted to medical situations within a classroom. Anonymity will be protected. 

Tips for Staying Healthy and Avoiding the Spread of Germs

Avoiding germs is on everyone's mind these days as we hear story after story in the news about coronavirus. Please know that many of the same practices we use to help prevent the spread of cold and flu viruses can also help with coronavirus. The CDC recommends:

  1. Wash your hands frequently. Handwashing is cheap and effective. Take the time at home to work on proper handwashing technique with young children to ensure they are scrubbing all parts of their hands and washing for long enough. We also recommend teaching kids to turn off the faucet with a paper towel here at school to avoid reinfecting their hands by touching a dirty faucet.

  2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Teach children to wash their hands after using tissues (or picking their nose, as is often the case with young children!). Face masks are not generally necessary unless you are already infected and trying to avoid passing your germs to others via respiratory droplets.

  3. Keep children home when they are sick (and stay home when you are sick). GSLP requires that children be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication before returning to school. Follow your physician's advice if you thing 24 hours may not be long enough to prevent spreading germs to others.

  4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces. This could include phones, remote controls, tables, doorknobs, faucets, countertops, light switches, and more. You can use regular disinfecting wipes or disinfecting cleaning sprays for this (be careful to read the directions on the container to make sure you are leaving the surface wet long enough for disinfecting to work). If you find the store shelves are cleaned out, you can also clean with dish soap and water and disinfect with a solution of 2 tablespoons of 8.25% bleach and 4 cups of cool water. Bleach disinfecting solution should stay on the surface for five minutes. After that, rinse the surface and allow it to air dry. Bleach solution should be made fresh every day to maintain its effectiveness. (Info on bleach solution is from the Montgomery County Child Care Nurse Consultation.)

Also, remember to get your annual flu vaccine, as the flu is a significant danger to children every year and can have more serious complications in the young. The flu vaccine is available from pharmacies and at county flu clinics.