Nursing

Please see the following guidelines from CDPHE on when children and staff should stay home from school and child care . For the full document please click here.

This document outlines guidance for routine decisions about when children and staff should stay home from school or child care. There may be situations where public health determines more stringent return-to-school requirements.

There are four main reasons for children and adults to stay home:

1. The child or staff member could infect others with a contagious illness, either because of symptoms, a diagnosis, or recent exposure to a contagious illness.
2. The child or staff member does not feel well enough to take part in usual activities. For example, a child is overly tired, fussy, or will not stop crying.
3. A child needs more care than teachers and staff can give while still caring for the other children.
4. The child or staff member has symptoms or an illness on this list, and staying home is required.

Denver Language School Students are eligible to recive medical care through School-Based Health Centers, which are clinics located on a school campus. They are operated by Denver Health employees and provide free, comprehensive onsite health care to all DPS students.

• Trouble breathing

• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
• Confusion
• Inability to wake or stay awake
• Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone

These are not all possible indications of a medical emergency. Call 9-1-1 or your health care provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you.

The front desk or school nurse is not allowed to give medicine to students without without proper paperwork. The easiest way to obtain that paperwork is from DPS or by reaching out to whiteman@denverlanguageschool.org for Whiteman (K-4) families, or gilpin@denverlanguageschool.org for Gilpin (5-8) families.

Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school. DPS requires students to be treated before returning to school. 

• The family/guardian should be notified, students can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after appropriate treatment has begun. Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice.

• All students should be checked at home on a regular basis (think of doing this at least once a week, with hair washing/nail clipping/bathing, etc).

• Head lice can be a nuisance but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice. Statement from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). 

• Families can contact the School Based Health Centers (303)602-8958 for an appointment or treatment options. 

What to do if my child gets lice: 

• Follow treatment instructions. Using extra amounts or multiple applications of the same medication is not recommended, unless directed by a healthcare professional.

• A 2016 study showed that 48 states now have lice that are genetically predisposed to resistance to commonly used treatments.

• There is no scientific evidence that home remedies are effective treatments.

• Head lice do not infest the house. However, family bed linens and recently used clothes, hats, and towels should be washed in very hot water and dried on the high setting.

• Personal articles, such as combs, brushes, and hair clips, should be soaked in very hot water for 5 to 10 minutes if they were exposed to someone with an active head lice infestation.

• All household members and other close contacts should be checked, and those with evidence of an active infestation should also be treated at the same time.

• For more detailed information on how to treat head lice, please see here, or for a Spanish version, please click here.