Awareness

Be aware of health issues in your community. Know local school district poli-

cies and

happenings regarding illnesses.

Cleanliness

If needed, provide extra personnel and/or supplies to clean and sanitize chil-

dren's rooms

even more stringently during critical seasons.

Policies

Make sure health policies are in place. Include specific ways to measure signs of illness (fever,

diahrrea, vomiting, rash, etc). Include room cleaning and sanitizing requirements. Provide copies of

these for parents and leaders.

Publicity

Provide brochures or flyers for visitors. Post policies on bulletin boards and in classrooms. Send

home reminder notices to parents at critical times.

Training

All leaders must know and comply with health policies. Include procedures in annual or seasonal

training sessions

and regular avenues of communication, such as weekly leader emails.

Education

Keep your leaders and parents informed about current health issues. Develop health information

forms for quick

response to issues such as exposure to lice. Provide email links to helpful websites such as the Cen-

ters for

Disease Control cdc.gov or the American Academy of Pediatrics www.aap.org/parents

or Kid-

sHealth

kidshealth.org/parent or links from these sites regarding specific seasonal diseases, or ones that

seem to be

"going around."

Practice Good PR

If a parent is concerned about a child being exposed to a disease at church, or if you must remove a

sympto-

matic child from a classroom, handle the conversation with care, compassion, confidentiality, and

professionalism.

Practice What You Preach

Model the good health practices you want others to follow, such as washing hands

frequently and covering coughs. Stay home if you are sick, and encourage your

leaders (as difficult as that is) to do the same.

Provide Sanitizer

If possible, encourage your church to provide hand sanitizer at multiple stations