Our clinic staff includes a Registered Nurse and Clinic Assistant who work together to promote optimum health for the school community. Functions of our school health team include:
Students with health concerns such as asthma, diabetes, seizures & life-threatening allergies will need to have a health plan form completed by a physician. You may find these forms online at the Student Health and Safety link below. These forms are also available in the clinic.
Parents of students with health concerns are encouraged to contact the school nurse.
Parent will complete a medication administration request form and provide the medication in the original, unopened, packaging with the student’s name on it. Per CCPS Policy, school personnel may not administer non-prescription medication more than twice a day, more than three consecutive days, or more than three times per month without the written authorization of the student’s licensed health care provider. All medication will be brought to the clinic by the parent.
School personnel will administer prescription medication to a student only with a written order from the student’s licensed health care provider that specifies the name of the medication, required dosage, and time the medication is to be given. A medication request form will be completed by the parent and provider. The medication, in its original container will be brought to the clinic by the parent. Students are not allowed to transport medication to and from school.
If your student requires prescription medication at school, please provide the required order when presenting the medication to clinic personnel. There are two medication request forms. One is for prescription medications and one is for over-the-counter medication
Keeping your child home is advised if illness symptoms would prevent participating in school.
Children should not be in school if they have a temperature of 100.4°F or greater. The child should remain home until fever is gone for 24 hours without medication. During influenza season, children with a fever and other flu-like symptoms may be asked to stay home longer. Fever may be a sign of a more serious problem. Seek medical advice for fever lasting more than three days.
Children should not attend school if they have vomiting and/or diarrhea. The child should remain home until 24 hours after the last instance of vomiting and/or diarrhea. Seek medical advice if vomiting and/or diarrhea continues and a child is unable to keep down liquids.
Skin rashes or irritation develop for many different reasons. Some are highly contagious and can cause serious problems. It is important to seek medical advice to determine the cause. In some cases, children may need to stay home until the rash is gone. A doctor’s note may be required to return to school.
Children with productive coughing, sneezing, headaches, body aches, earache and/or sore throat may not be well enough to participate in school. Seek medical advice immediately if a child experiences difficulty breathing, wheezing or sudden high fever, chills and body aches.
Eye drainage, crusting, pain or redness may be a sign of infection and should be evaluated. If a child is diagnosed with an infection requiring treatment, they should stay home for 24 hours after treatment begins.
While at home, encourage plenty of rest and limit TV time. Encourage your child to increase fluids like water, soup, juice and ice. Returning to school too soon may delay recovery from illness and could potentially expose others. Consult with the school nurse or your health care provider for more information on how to help your child.
Hand washing prevents the spread of disease and illness. Wash hands frequently using soap and water, especially before eating, after using the bathroom and handling pets.
Be sure your child’s immunizations are up to date as well as routine well-child exams. Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone from children ages 6 months through adulthood.
Teach your child to do the following when ill:
For up-to-date information, including what to do if you encounter a positive test, become a close contact or have a household exposure to COVID-19, please see the documents linked below.
Chesterfield County Public Schools recognizes the connection of students’ health and wellbeing on the ability to achieve personal, academic, and developmental success. Here in Chesterfield, we believe in supporting the whole child, where students’ intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and mental wellbeing is nourished. We, as a school division and a community, have an important responsibility to create learning environments that promote healthy, active choices and behaviors.
Good nutrition, particularly eating a healthy breakfast, is linked to positive student outcomes. Additionally, emerging research has supported the connection between being physically active to improved indicators of academic achievement including increased engagement and improved behavior. But equally as important, we are equipping students with lifelong healthy habits for their current and future success. Kids are made to move! So let’s get them moving!
Our CCPS Wellness Policy is focused around nutrition and physical activity in our schools to provide guidance to our schools and families on the important practices and environment we expect for our students in our division. In addition to CCPS’ vision for the health and wellbeing of our students, the policy is also guided by the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 is the federal regulations that support the requirements and implementation of school meal and other federal food and nutrition programs in the United States. In addition, it outlines the requirements for a division wellness policy. All school divisions should be in compliance with the regulations beginning on June 30, 2017.
All schools in Chesterfield County are creating school-based leadership groups around wellness called School Wellness Councils (SWC). Councils will be charged with assessing their own environment and supporting wellness-based activities and initiatives that will enhance and engage their students, staff, and community. If you are interested in getting involved, the principal can connect you with the wellness champion at the school of interest.
At the division level, the School Health Advisory Board (SHAB) along with the Student Wellness Specialist and other leaders provide coordination and oversight of the wellness policy and other wellness priorities across the division.
Birthdays, holidays, appreciation, good behavior and more! It is important to celebrate our students and staff and let them know we care. However, sweet rewards do not have to contain sugar! There are tons of other ways to celebrate important milestones in school. Moderation is key! It’s not about taking away all the sweet stuff, but finding balance and encouraging others to choose healthy foods and non-food treats most of the time.
Fundraisers are an important tool to secure funding for the great programs, initiatives, and equipment our schools need to grow and thrive. However, fundraisers can also be a source of promoting and supporting unhealthy options and choices. Focusing on activity-based, non-food and healthier food fundraisers is important for the overall message and culture we are creating in Chesterfield.
Did you know that there are federal regulations that prohibit the selling, marketing, and promotion of foods DURING the school day that do not meet Smart Snacks in Schools standards? This is an important part of our fundraising efforts that happen during as well as outside of our school day. Refer to the wellness policy for more details on sale of food during and after school hours.
Many schools provide snack time during the school day for classes that eat lunch early or late during the day. Snacks are an important way to provide energy for the brain and body to keep kids thinking and learning all day long. CCPS encourages students to bring healthy snack options to school to ensure kids have the important nutrients they need to think, play, and grow.
The ideal snack includes lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fat. Also, snacks in class may be sitting without refrigeration for several hours and teachers often encourage snacks that don’t make too much of a mess! We also prohibit snacks containing nuts in the classroom to protect our friends with life threatening allergies. Please follow your school’s requirements for snacks as they may have additional practices.
Chesterfield County Public Schools offers innovative, nutritious and cost efficient breakfast and lunch programs, which strives to encourage a lifetime of good nutrition. For more information related to Food Services, go to Food & Nutrition Services.
However, for those families that choose to pack lunches for their students, we encourage nutritious choices to fuel students for a day of learning and fun. Packing a healthy lunch is about balance, variety, and choice. We encourage you to use the USDA’s MyPlate as a guide for creating a balanced lunchbox and Parents magazine’s 25 Best Packaged Snacks for School.
Kids should strive to be physical active at least 60 minutes each day. This includes movement during and outside of school. Many of our Chesterfield schools offer before and after school activity-based programming to encourage our kids to be physically active. The classroom is also a great place to incorporate movement into our students day. Not only does it allow them to get up and move, but exercise also fuels the brain. Emerging research on physical activity in the classroom is showing benefits in engagement, behavior, and student success.
Physical activity can be incorporated into the classroom in many ways. Here are a few ways we encourage our CCPS teachers to integrate into their classroom on a regular basis.
Brain Boosters, also commonly known as brain breaks or brain energizers, are effective breaks in learning that last only a few minutes to help refocus the learner. These breaks help active, energize, and stimulate the student’s brains. Active brain boosters get students up and moving during a lesson or transitions within the classroom environment.
Check out Edutopia’s article on using brain breaks to restore students’ focus.
Kids are made to move! Additionally, the kid (and adult) brain is not made to maintain attention all day long and continue to be active and engaged. The classroom holds an enormous opportunity to engage students in learning through movement and kinesthetic learning. Kinesthetic learning incorporates movement and action into the learning process and replaces more sedentary and passive learning experiences like lecture or demonstration. Chesterfield County Public Schools encourages our schools to incorporate movement throughout the day, including during the learning process.
Want to learn more about physical activity and its impact on the brain and student? Here are some resources to get you started:
Recess is one of the few times of the school day that provides less structure and more opportunities to play. Research shows that play is an important part of child development and even contributes to the learning process in the classroom. Along with the physical benefits of recess, there are social, emotional, and cognitive development and impact as well.
Providing students recess in our elementary schools is part of our CCPS Wellness Policy (hyperlink to policy). All schools should be providing at least 30 minutes of recess, which includes transition time, most days of the week. While recess provides students will personal choice, we encourage students to be active during recess time. We also encourage teachers to incorporate movement and activity, as practicable, during recess time on the days where they enjoy indoor recess due to inclement weather.
Wellness Integration is an instructional model focused in elementary schools that empowers teachers to incorporate kinesthetic learning, movement and health messaging into lessons and other areas of the classroom. The model also enhances the school environment to support health and wellbeing through a variety of research-based strategies. The comprehensive approach creates culture change to improve and support overall wellbeing, student engagement, and academic performance.
Chesterfield County Public Schools seeks to expand this model across the division to ensure we are supporting the whole child and create a culture of wellness across all schools. Schools that have currently or already been trained in wellness integration include:
As part of our efforts to provide a safe and secure environment for students and staff, CCPS is working in partnership with Chesterfield County Government to test drinking water throughout the school division.
In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly enacted new legislation regarding testing for drinking water in schools. The legislation requires school boards to develop and implement a program to test for lead in drinking water:
§ 22.1-135.1. Potable water; lead testing
Each local school board shall develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, remediate potable water from sources identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as high priority for testing, including bubbler-style and cooler-style drinking fountains, cafeteria or kitchen taps, classroom combination sinks and drinking fountains, and sinks known to be or visibly used for consumption. Such plan shall be consistent with guidance published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Health. The local school board shall give priority in the testing plan to schools whose school building was constructed, in whole or in part, before 1986. Each local school board shall submit such testing plan and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health. Each local school board shall take all steps necessary to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds 10 parts per billion.
The Chesterfield County Risk Management’s Environmental Health Safety Office, in partnership with the Chesterfield County Public Schools Facilities Department, has developed a plan that provides guidance to meet these requirements. The plan is based on recommendations provided through the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 3T’s for reducing lead in drinking water.
A triennial testing program has been developed for all school buildings, with prioritization of facilities built before 1986. Each school will be tested every 3 years.
Testing schedule
The planned testing schedule is below. If test results require that action is taken to remediate the water source, the school will communicate this information to families and staff.
E-cigarettes/vapes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. and Chesterfield County youth. Vapes may contain nicotine, although they may be used to deliver marijuana (THC) and other drugs. Other tobacco products youth may use include cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, nicotine pouches and synthetic nicotine products. Nicotine in any form is highly addictive.
Most youth who vape or use tobacco products want to quit. Free resources for quitting tobacco and vaping include:
Did you know that it is illegal for anyone under 21 in Virginia to purchase, use or possess any tobacco or nicotine product? It is also illegal for anyone to purchase tobacco products for (or sell to) underage youth. If you talk to youth early and often about substance use, including tobacco and nicotine, they are more likely to respect your rules and advice. For more information and conversation tips, visit:
School Day: 7:35 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.
Office Hours: 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Arianne Hayes
Address: 13501 Midlothian Turnpike Midlothian, VA 23113
Office: (804) 378-2460
Clinic: (804) 378-2468
Fax: (804) 378-7556
Email: mdms_mail@ccpsnet.net
School Mascot: Mustang
School Colors: Silver & Blue
