Health office policies, procedures and health information
Welcome to the Robinson School Nurse Page
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Laurie Ann Natal, RN, BSN, CSN-NJ School Nurse Robinson Elementary School Hamilton Township School District lnatal@htsdnj.org/ htsdnj.org/robinson 609-631-4163 x32905 | 609-631-4131 fax
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Building a Better Tomorrow... TogetherThe Nurse now has a school cell phone which can make and receive text messages. The number it (856) 493-3182. This number will be available during school hours of 8:25am to 345pm only. The nurse utlizes class dojo to inform parents of minor illnesses or injuries unless a parent specifys otherwise
Nota: toda la información en esta página se puede traducir al español usando la barra de traducción que se encuentra arriba al lado de la escuela seleccionada
**The Optional Yearly Student Health update form is now available in electronic form. Please click on the link below to complete your child's health update for the 2023-24 school year.
Optional Yearly Student Health Update
Many of the schools in the Hamilton Township School District are experiencing an increased incidence of communicable diseases. We are asking for your cooperation to help insure the health of the entire school community. The following guidelines are meant to control the spread of communicable disease in the classroom.
Fever Any student with the temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be excluded from school and must not return until they are fever free for 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medications such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Cough Students that are coughing continuously should remain at home if the cough interferes with the child’s or other students’ abilities to concentrate on their schoolwork
Vomiting Any student who vomits will be excluded from school and should not return until they are free from vomiting for 24 hours and can tolerate normal meals
Strep Throat (streptococcal infections) Please notify the school nurse if your child has been diagnosed with Strep throat. Students must be on antibiotics and be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Pink Eye (bacterial conjunctivitis) Students must be on an antibiotic for 24 hours and have no purulent (green or yellow) discharge from the eye to return to school.
Please consider the following symptoms as an indication of illness:
- A fever of 100 degrees or higher
- A prolonged colored nasal discharge accompanied by other symptoms
- Persistent cough
- Upset stomach
- Diarrhea
- Headache and/or irritability
Please consider the health of your child and that of the entire school as you make your decision to send your child to school. One sick child can expose an entire classroom of students to infection.
**PLEASE CALL EVERY TIME YOUR CHILD WILL BE ABSENT FROM SCHOOL**
Please update phone numbers (home, cell, work and emergency contacts in Power School if there have been any changes. It is extremely important that we be able to reach you in case of an emergency with your child. There is now an automated robocall system for absences. Even if you have called the school, the robocall will be generated automatically and is not within our control. Please continue to communicate with the school, particularly if your child is ill so that the nurse can provide guidance and track illness trends
**5th Grade Reminder for Parents and Students**
All students entering the 6th grade are required to receive one dose of Tdap (tetanus, Diphtheria, Acellular Pertussis) and one dose of meningococcal-containing vaccine. Your child will bring home reminder notices. Once they have received the required vaccines please provide the nurse with the documentation. Any student whose 11th birthday falls after the start of the 6th grade school year should have an appointment made as close to their birthday as possible and bring the updated shot record to their middle school nurse upon completion of the required immunizations.
**Important information for incoming Kindergarten/new students**
The following forms need to provided to the school nurse for all incoming new students.
Elementary Health History (English)
Elementary Health History (Spanish)
Universal Child Health Record to be completed by child's doctor
Immunization Requirements A copy of your child's most up to date immunization record, NJ requirements are listed in the link provided.
If you do not have a doctor you can call the Hamilton Township health Department at 609-890-3884. They are located at 2100 Greenwood Avenue, Hamilton, New Jersey 08650. They offer free immunizations to Hamilton students who do not have health insurance or their health insurance does not cover immunizations.
Tips for preventing illness
Please remember that students must be fever free for 24 hours without tylenol or motrin, and eating and drinking normally without nausea, vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours after a stomach virus in order for them to return to school Students with Strep throat or pink eye must be on antibiotics for a full 24 hours before their return. If your child has vomited in the night PLEASE do not send them to school in the morning, they will only be sent back home to you for their much needed rest.
Good respiratory hygiene (coughing/sneezing into a tissue or elbow) followed by good hand washing will continue to be reinforced with all of our students. CDC recommended posters are hanging in every classroom, near bathrooms, in the cafeteria and the main hallway (see below) The Students will be washing their hands with soap and water before lunch, after recess, whenever they toilet, sneeze into a tissue, or put their fingers into their mouths or noses. There is also board approved hand sanitizer on the wall at the entrance to the cafeteria for your child's use. If you prefer you may send in a small container of hand sanitzer or antibacterial hand wipes for your own child's use (not to be shared) per district policy. Although hand sanitzer is not capable of killing viruses, they make the hands an inhospitable environment for viruses and reduces the liklihood of infection. Hand washing MUST be done with proper technique in order to be effective. Please reinforce this with your child/children at home.
The preventative steps people can take to avoid becoming ill and the treatment are similar to those of most illnesses like the flu. Good hand hygiene is your best defense against getting infections.
To help protect yourself and others from infections:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water
- Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
- Avoid close contact (kissing, touching, sharing eating utensils and shaking hands) with people who are sick
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as door knobs and toys.
- Use good respiratory hygiene: coughing and sneezing into a tissue or elbow and properly disposing of tissues.
Food allergies: Robinson food policies remain the same as last school year
***We do not celebrate Birthdays with food treats here at Robinson Elementary School. We will be doing birthday shout-outs during morning announcements and have our birthday wall located outside the health office. You may send in stickers, pencils or small trinkets to celebrate your child's day. You may speak to your child's teacher to see other NON FOOD ways to mark this day. All holiday celebration treats MUST be chosen from the recommended food list ONLY. Home baked treats and store bought cupcakes ARE NOT ALLOWED. There are no exceptions to this rule. There will be no pizza or ice cream parties.
The following classrooms have been designated Nut-free:K Fletcher, K Colgan, 3 Miller, 3 McClung, 3 Delibero, 3 Stein, 5 Grunbaum, 5 Zelenak
In additon,Mrs Grunbaum and Mrs. Zelenak's classes are designated gluten free classrooms,
The Robinson recommended snack list 2023-24 is as follows:
Potato chips*- Lay’s classic, Herr's, Utz
Pretzels- Bachman, Rold Gold, Utz, Herr's or Shop Rite brands
Philly Pretzel trays from Rt 130 (near Harry's army navy) or Ewing 1400 Park Ave (previously Lawrence store)
Popcorn*- Utz plain (and cheese if no dairy allergy), Wise, Bachman or Smart food (if no diary allergy)
Tortilla chips*- Utz, Tostitos, Herr's
Goldfish crackers, Cheez-its, Doritos (IF no dairy/gluten allergies in class)
Graham Crackers- Nabisco, Keebler, teddy Grahams or Shop Rite
Cookies- Oreos or Chips Ahoy
Rice Krispie Treats- original (pre packaged, not homemade) not gluten free-has barley flour
Philly Swirl* Frozen Treats
Water Ice*- Marino's or Luigi's
***These foods are brand specific, no substitutions can be made.
*Denotes Gluten Free
Although our students now eat lunch in the cafeteria every day including one session days, if your child is in a designated nut free classroom and eats a snack, the snack MUST be free of nut products.
Illness: Hamilton twp district policy requires that a child must be free of fever (temperature >100 degrees), for 24 hours WITHOUT taking a dose of Tylenol, Motrin, Advil or other fever reducing medications. If your child returns to school before the 24 hour period, they must be sent home from school.Vomiting or diarrhea also requires a 24 hour recovery period at home. A child must be eating full regular meals without any symptoms (pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea). If they have not eaten and tolerated dinner well the night before, they are NOT ready to come back to school. It is very important to make a family emergency plan that includes back up child care should your child become ill and not be able to attend school. A doctor's note is required for return to school if they are absent for 3 or more days.
School district policies on illness exclusion (exclusion de enfermedad)
Absence/lateness/doctors visits: Please call the attendance line (or the school nurse directly if you prefer) if your student is going to be absent or coming in late to school. The nurse is required to track illnesses reportable to the Health department and State. It helps very much if you share this information with her. If this call is not made, the Nurse must call you and check on the status of your child. If you know in advance your child will be absent or away, inform the nurse as well as the teacher. When visiting your child's doctor, dentist, orthodontist, etc. please obtain a note from their office to document the reason for absence. It is very important that we have a note on file in the case of attendance issues. If your child has orthopedic equipment (crutches, braces, surgical boots), stitches, staples, a concussion or any other restrictive conditions including no gym or recess, we will need a doctor's note to specify the injury and length of time expected they are expected to have restricted activity. For your child's safety he/she will be excluded from gym and recess until we receive a clearance from their doctor that they may return to unrestricted activity.
Medications: In order to give your child ANY medication in school (inhalers, antibiotics, eye drops, cough medicine, Tylenol etc), there must be a written doctor's order. The medication order form can be obtained from the nurse. It must be filled out by the doctor, signed by a parent and returned to the nurse along with the medication in its original pharmacy box. Students are not allowed to carry or bring medication to school, it must be brought in by an adult and given to the nurse.
Links to our medication forms are listed below:
Medication Administration form
Pupil Self Medication form (English)
Pupil Self Medication form (Spanish)
Emergency Contact Numbers:
It is of critical importance that we have up to date phone numbers where we can reach you in the event of an illness or emergency with your child. If you have not already completed the online emergency contact information please do so as soon as possible and alert the school wehn complete. If your phone numbers change, or there are alternate phone numbers to be used, even for one day, please notify the school immediately. There is nothing more frightening to a child then to have to go to the hospital without a parent present.
Screenings: Your child's annual health screenings for height, weight, vision, hearing, and dental take place through out the school year. You will receive notification of the results of your child's screening if there are any concerns which need to be followed up by his or her doctor. If there are any recommendations for further evaluation (such as failed vision screen), please take the screening notification form with you to the doctors and return it to the nurse with results of the follow up. If you need assistance obtaining follow up or have financial difficulties, please contact the nurse for a list of resources available to you.
Food resources available in Mercer County for families in need:
Mercer County Pantries/food services- updated weekly
If you are having difficulties with housing or other resources, please contact the Mercer County Board of Social services
Mercer County Board of Social Services website
If your child is struggling with mental health or behavorial issues, Mobile Response via Perform Care is still providing services.
Children's Mobile Response English
Children's Mobile Response Spanish
Health Insurance Information
If you do not have health insurance you can also call the Hamilton Township Health Department for info on immunizations and school physicals at (609) 890- 3647. They are located at 2100 Greenwood Avenue in Hamilton.
Community/Mental Health Resources