Gates Middle School

Sometimes, caregivers find it difficult to decide whether to send children to school when they wake up with symptoms of illness or complaints of not feeling well. Here are general guidelines for keeping your child home or arranging an appointment with your healthcare provider.  

The following are situations that warrant watching, keeping your student home, and/or calling your healthcare provider: 

• Vomiting and or diarrhea 
• Fever greater than 100.0° orally, including a fever that requires control with medication such as Tylenol or Advil
• A cough that makes a child feel uncomfortable or disrupts their learning
• A severe sore throat, along with fever and feeling ill for more than 48 hours
• Honey-crusted sores around the nose or mouth; an unidentified rash OR a significant rash accompanied by other symptoms of illness such as fever 
• Red, runny eyes that distract the child from learning 
• A large amount of discolored nasal discharge, especially if accompanied by facial pain, fever, or headache 
• Severe ear pain or drainage from the ear 
• Headache, especially if accompanied by fever 
• Any condition that you think may be serious or contagious to others. 

Please keep your child home for 24 hours after experiencing a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or other contagious illnesses, such as strep throat, to avoid infecting others. 

Students must be fever-free for 24 hours, without using any fever-reducing medications such as Tylenol or Advil. 

Remember, whenever you keep your child home from school, please contact your child’s school before the start of the school day to notify them of their absence. If your child has a contagious illness, please reach out to your school nurse so we can monitor the health of our school community.