Parent Newsletter September 2, 2022

Thanks for a great beginning to the 2022-2023 school year! Please know that we appreciate you all so much and feel blessed to be able to be a part of your family for the few years your child is in elementary school. Open communication lines make relationships between school and home very strong so please reach out to us when you have a question or a concern and we will be do our best to answer your questions and address your concerns. Looking at the agenda book each night and reading papers that come home with your child are two things that will be so helpful in your knowing what is going on as well as reading this newsletter each time it’s sent out. If something doesn’t make sense, please ask us to clarify it for you.

There have been a few questions about Covid and quarantines so here is that protocol again. Students and staff who have tested positive should stay out of school for 5 days after symptoms begin (or 5 days after the positive test if there are no symptoms). After the 5 days, the person can return as long as he/she is symptom free. There is NO close contact quarantine anymore.

Here is info regarding other illnesses and issues:

• Stay home when there is a fever of 100 degrees or higher. Come back when it is lower than that for 24 hours without medicine.
• Stay home when coughing and can’t stop. Come back when coughing is less frequent and/or less severe.
• Stay home when there is vomiting and/or diarrhea. Come back when there is none for 24 hours.
• Stay home when there is a rash with severe itching and/or fever. Come back when rash and fever are gone.
• Stay home when there are “pink eye” symptoms (red, swollen, hurting eye or eyes usually matted or with discharge). Come back when meds or eye drops have been administered for 24 hours.

As a parent, you know your child much better than we do. If they are too sick to come to school, keep them home. If they have a cold or allergies and can hang in there, send them to school. As was mentioned before, communication is vital when your child is absent. ALWAYS let the teacher know why your child is absent…teachers worry about kids when they’re absent and we don’t want your student to accumulate several unexcused absences because there are legal repercussions associated with that.Please make every effort to get your child to school by 7:50 am and limit check outs as much as possible.

We are always looking for subs and bus drivers. If you’d be interested in taking the bus driver course, please contact Mrs. Watson either at 646-3448 or awatson@haywood.k12.nc.us

If you’d be interested in being a substitute teacher, go to the HCS website, click on “About HCS”, then “Departments”, then “Human Resources”, then “Substitute Teacher”.