Dear Families of Franklin Students,

The winter season usually brings its share of illnesses including the usual coughs, colds and the occasional virus or illness. Recently, there have been some cases of the flu and a potential fever virus impacting children in our school.

With that in mind, we would like to remind you of our efforts to keep the Franklin healthy with the following simple 4C’s…

•        Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing

•        Clean your hands often and well

•        Care for the ill at home

•        Communicate with the school nurse

Let me take this opportunity to review some guidelines of when to keep your child home from school…

• Unless they are fever for the past 24 hours without the use of Tylenol or equivalent medication
• Vomiting or diarrhea that has not resolved
• Strep throat until antibiotics have been given for 24 hours
• Conjunctivitis (pink eye) until treatment has been given for 24 hours and there is no further drainage from the eyes
• A severe cold accompanied by constant runny nose or frequent coughing Remember a student must be able to cover his cough and properly use tissues to avoid spreading his illness to others.

To distinguish flu from other illnesses, remember the cardinal signs…

• Sudden onset of fever often with chills
• Cough
• Muscle aches and fatigue

It is essential that we all work together to prevent the spread of illness in our school. We have taken the necessary steps within school by reminding the children to wash their hands throughout the day and our custodial staff is doing a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all the rooms.

Please feel free to call me to discuss your concerns. Additionally, remember to call in your child’s absence from school. The Health Office has a 24 hour answering service to leave your messages at 908-277-2613 x6251. If you prefer to send emails to report an absence, please include the nurse along with the classroom teacher.

You can reach Nurse Zanelli at azanelli@fc.summit.k12.nj.us

and School Secretary Marta Napoles at mruiz@fc.summit.k12.nj.us

Thank you,

Felix Gil – Principal