As we enter cold and flu season, and see an increase in illnesses throughout our school communities, we want to take a moment to remind our families of the importance of staying home when sick. Please see the guidelines below to help determine when students should remain at home due to illness. Reach out to your school nurse if you have any questions, or need any additional guidance. We appreciate your partnership in helping to minimize the spread of illnesses in school!
Your student should remain at home if they have:
- Uncontrollable and/or productive cough
- Fever over 100.4 degrees fahrenheit within past 24 hours
- Vomiting or diarrhea within past 24 hours
- Sore throat and swollen glands
- Undiagnosed rash or skin eruptions
- Earache, severe headache or drainage from eyes
Students should remain home for 24 hours after an acute illness or after starting antibiotics for a diagnosed infection.
They should also be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, etc).
These absences can be excused with a note from a student's health care provider.
Please remember to report any communicable disease (strep throat, flu, pneumonia, COVID-19, etc.) to your school nurse. The APS nurses vigilantly track illness data, and depend on these reports from families, so that we are best able to identify and address any illness outbreaks that may occur at school.
See the APS Illness Guidelines here.
With the colder weather upon us, our nurses are seeing more students come in from playing outside with cough, wheezing, and chest tightness. Here are some tips to mitigate risk of asthma exacerbation at this time of year:
1. Wearing a scarf or neck muff over the mouth and nose while playing outside in cold, dry weather helps prevent asthma symptoms in children by warming and humidifying the air before it reaches the lower airways, thus reducing bronchoconstriction (narrowing of the airways in the lungs).
2. Indoors, maintaining 40–50% relative humidity helps keep the airways moist and reduces airway irritation caused by dry winter air.
3. Giving albuterol or other as-needed asthma medication prior to playing outdoors in cold weather can also reduce risk of exacerbations. Ask your provider if this would be appropriate for your child.
If your child requires an as-needed medication for asthma, please communicate with your school's nurse to arrange that.
Thank you for your collaboration in keeping our students healthy and active at this time of year!
All state-mandated hearing and vision screenings have been completed at the elementary schools. Parents/guardians were sent referral letters for any students who had abnormal results that required further examination. If your students' screening results were within normal limits, no further communication was sent home.
Please remember to have these referral letters completed by your students’ health care provider, and return to your school nurse as soon as possible.
Per district policy, all classroom celebrations must be food-free. In lieu of food, classroom celebrations should be focused on fun activities that all can participate in, like games, crafts (please, no hot glue guns for the kindergarteners, we know you understand), or make a gift for a person in need.
Thank you for your partnership in supporting the health and safety of all of the students in APS.
For more information, please refer to the APS Nutrition and Wellness Policy.
Winter is here and so are the cold, raw, and windy days. Please remember as the days start to get colder, children should be dressed to be comfortable to be outside for 20 minutes. Jackets, hats, and gloves/mittens are recommended. If your family is in need of winter clothing, please reach out to your student's school nurse or the APS Welcome Center. There are lots of resources available!
Bonus tip: As students often get wet from playing outside in the snow, it is a great idea to have them keep a spare set of clothes in their backpack or locker. The school nurses have a limited supply of spare clothing, which is typically reserved for students whose clothing gets soiled with bodily fluids.
We are excited to share that ALL elementary schools in Arlington are now using the Health Portal! SNAP is the electronic health record software that the APS nursing team uses to document all of our interactions with students. Similar to PowerSchool being students’ educational portal, SNAP serves as their electronic school health record.
If you have not logged in to the Health Portal, please reach out to your school nurse for assistance.
Why use the Health Portal?
- It is a secure way to ensure confidentiality of health information
- Easy to communicate directly with your student's school nurse
- Easy to update permissions for over-the-counter medications to be given at school, in accordance with the district's standing medication orders
- Easy to upload physicals, doctor's notes, and medication orders
- Easy to update your student's health conditions
- Receive automatic communications when medications need to be refilled *
* If your child takes medication at home, please let us know by selecting conditions, "medication taken at home" and enter the names of the medications.
Log into the SNAP Health Portal here.
The Welcome & Resource Center at Arlington High School is here to support students and families across our community! It’s a friendly, inclusive space where families can get help with school enrollment, student services, and local community resources.
Whether you’re new to Arlington Public Schools or just looking for a little extra guidance, the team at the Welcome & Resource Center is ready to help you find what you need and feel connected to our school community.
Their goal is simple — to make sure every family feels welcome, informed, and supported.
Be sure to check out Spy Ponder Threads where you can find gently used clothing, winter gear, backpacks, shoes, and more!
Arlington EATS is a community-based program to help end food insecurity and hunger right here in Arlington. The program offers free, welcoming services to all Arlington residents, ensuring everyone has access to healthy food and community support.