Lice: School Policies and Family Routines

I just want to give everyone a heads up that LICE cases have been reported in school (grades 1, 2, 3, and specifically). If there is a case in your child’s class, you have already received a notice. But Lice is back. We had seven cases reported in the last week. With sports, playdates and our recent OKTOBERFEST, there have been and continue to be a lot of opportunities for students to transmit or get lice. Parents can help stop the spread.

We STRONGLY encourage parents to check their children’s heads for nits or live bugs. It happens. You can find ways to take care of LICE on the Internet. If you are new to lice, please watch this video on our school FACEBOOK page. We had a presenter from Nit Free Noggin’s explain how to look for lice and how to care for your family should you find it.

Please note that we treat lice like a communicable illness:

• we expect parents to notify the school if their child has it.

• We then notify families of the new case of lice in their classroom or grade level.

• We expect students to be NIT FREE in order to return to school. This means that parents/guardians should not only treat the lice infestation, but also comb through and remove nits. Sometimes the medicated shampoos or other treatments do not kill all the nits. Please do not be embarrassed to call the school if you find your child has lice. When you notify us, it helps us keep cases under control.

• Also, don’t ignore the letters when you see them. That’s a good time to check your children’s head for the next few days. Sometimes small nits are hard to spot until after a few days of developments.

• Students with long hair should consider wearing it up and back in a ponytail or pigtails.

• Here are additional ways to be proactive and stop the spread of lice.

Thanks for your help with this!