Should I Keep my Child Home from School?               
The learning process for a child is accelerated when they are well rested, nourished and in good health. When an ill child is at school this process is interrupted and puts others at risk for a preventable illness. Please notify the school immediately if your child contracts any communicable disease such as: head lice, mono, strep throat, chicken pox, meningitis, measles, mumps, whooping cough, impetigo, MRSA, etc.
Archangel Gabriel Catholic School Follows the Allegheny Health Department's “A Guide to Infectious Diseases for Schools” manual to determine when a child should return to school after an infectious illness. The manual is available for your use.

Please adhere to the following guidelines for general illness when deciding to keep your child home:
• Cold symptoms are often the beginning of a more serious illness. Do keep your child home who is congested or if coughing excessively to the detriment of those around him. A child who has a cold with an elevated temperature should not be in school. A normal body temperature is 98.6° F.
•Children vomiting the night before, the morning of or during the school day need to stay home for 24 hours and be symptom free before returning to school.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the PA Dept. of Health Guidelines recommend that people with an influenza-like illness remain at home until they are free of fever (100° F    [37.8° C])  for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications (Tylenol, Motrin, etc.).

More information is provided from the CDC by clicking on the following illnesses:

Chicken Pox (Varicella) – Excluded until all lesions are scabbed over.
Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) – Excluded until 24 hours after starting the ordered medication or until physician clears child for return to school. 
Fifth’s Disease – Excluded for fever but not excluded for rash. Generally, not contagious once rash appears.
Head Lice (Pediculosis) – Excluded until treated and re-examined by school nurse or physician upon returning and again in one week.
Impetigo – Excluded until lesions are treated and no longer draining.
Strep Throat – Excluded until 24 hours after antimicrobial treatment is started.
Whooping Cough – Excluded until 5 days from start of appropriate antimicrobial therapy, or 3 weeks from onset of symptoms.

Type 1 Diabetes

The Division of School Health would like to make you aware of several recent changes made to the School Code pertaining to student health initiatives. Act 117 of 2024 requires all school entities, including school districts, area career and technical schools, charter schools, regional charter schools, cyber charter schools, and intermediate units, and nonpublic schools to share Type 1 Diabetes educational materials with parents and guardians of students either in writing, electronically, or on the school entity or nonpublic school’s publicly accessible internet website. The attached Type 1 Diabetes educational materials must be made available beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The materials are also available on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s website at this link: Act 117 - Parental Education of Type 1 Diabetes | Department of Health | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Additionally, Act 120 of 2024 established a new protocol for tick removal from students. This protocol must be implemented in all public school entities including school districts, intermediate units, charter schools, cyber charter schools, regional charter schools and area career and technical schools as soon as possible. Please see the attached guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which is also available online at this link:   Act 120 Tick Legislation Guidance for School Nurses