Health and Safety
Health
When to Keep Your Child at Home
COMMON HEALTH CONDITIONS
School nurses monitor for symptoms of communicable, or infectious health conditions. When symptoms exist, your child may not attend school.
If symptoms occur in school, you will be contacted and you must pick your child up from school.
If your child is diagnosed with an infectious illness or has symptoms of an infectious condition at home, you must keep your child home from school.
There are some contagious conditions that carry special requirements about returning to school. If your student has a condition or illness about which you are unsure with regard to school attendance, please contact your school nurse to get information before sending your child back to school. We want to be a partner with parents in promoting the very highest level of wellness for each student in our school environment.
The following guidelines must be adhered to:
Persistent Fever: Oral or tympanic temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher: Cannot attend school until fever free for at least twenty-four hours without fever-reducing medication. Students who exhibit first symptoms at home will require a parent or healthcare provider excuse.
Acute Persistent Vomiting or Diarrhea: Students who exhibit first symptoms at home will require a parent or healthcare provider excuse.
Pink Eye: Cannot attend school until twenty-four hours after medical treatment or a note of clearance from a healthcare provider. Healthcare provider excuse required to cover absence.
Chicken Pox: Cannot attend school until all blisters have formed scabs. Healthcare provider excuse required.
Strep Throat: Cannot attend school until twenty-four hours after prescribed medical treatment has been started and has been fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. Healthcare provider excuse required.
Flu or COVID: Cannot attend until fever free 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. A parent should inform the school nurse if their child is diagnosed with the flu or Covid. Healthcare provider excuse required to cover absence.
Impetigo: Cannot attend school until 24 hours after prescribed medical treatment has been started. Healthcare provider excuse required to cover absence.
Ringworm: Cannot attend school until treatment has been started. Healthcare provider excuse required to cover absence.
MRSA “Staph infection”: Cannot attend school until prescribed medical treatment is started, fever is absent, and the area is covered and drainage is not seeping through bandages. Healthcare provider excuse required to cover absence.
If head lice are identified at school, the school nurse will notify the parent or guardian and provide education on appropriate treatment. For more information about head lice:
Select the + icons below to view detailed health information.
- Additional Health Forms
- Backpacks
- Flu Information
- Hand Washing
- Immunization Information
- Medication at School
- Meningococcal Disease
- Protect Your Back
- Sunscreen at School
Additional Health Forms
- Visit the Vagus Nerve Stimulator Authorization Form
- Visit the Catheterization Authorization Form
- Visit the G-Tube Care Authorization Form
- Visit the Trach Authorization Form
Backpacks
Flu Information
Hand Washing
Immunization Information
Medication at School
The Alabama Department of Education has recently made some updates regarding medication at school. Please review the updated Parent/Prescriber Authorization Form (PPA) and our TCS Medication Guidelines. Changes to note include:
- All medications, prescription and over the counter (OTC), require a Parent/Prescriber Authorization Form (PPA) with a parent's signature. Prescription medications or any medications that are not FDA approved also require a prescriber signature as well as a parent's signature.
- The Parent/Prescriber Authorization Form (PPA) has been updated. Please use the updated form for any medication to be given at school. There will be a grace period for use of the previous version of the PPA for those who have already obtained signatures on that version. If you have already obtained a prescriber signature on the outdated version of the form for this school year, you do not need to resubmit a new form until your signed form expires.
- TCS school nurses will no longer be able to keep Over The Counter (OTC) medications at school for longer than a period of ten school days without a prescriber signature. OTC medications to be kept at school for ten school days or less do not require a prescriber signature.
- Please review the Medication Guidelines document for other important information and contact your school nurse if you have questions or need assistance.
Meningococcal Disease
For more information, visit the Meningococcal Disease Information document
Protect Your Back
Sunscreen at School
- Sunscreen at School Law
- According to the CDC, application of sunscreen while outdoors is a simple step to protect yourself from the harm of overexposure to sunlight's UVA and UVB rays. A sunscreen with SPF of 30 or higher should be applied at least every two hours, especially after swimming or sweating. Follow the directions on the sunscreen bottle label.
Safety
Circool
Circool is our new visitor management solution. The security of our school, our students and our faculty is always a priority. And we need your help to ensure it stays that way. Circool is just one of the ways we can ensure entry into our school is safe and efficient. Below is a “Quick Start” reference guide to using Circool. Circool is best accessed from your mobile phone.
Need more help? Check out our online documentation www.circool.com/help-center
Add Circool to Your Phone
Apple iPhone
- Go to https://trussvillecs.circool.com
- Login using your email and password. If you can not remember your password, click “Forgot Password” at the bottom of the screen. If you have not activated your account, click “Resent Activation Email” at the bottom of the screen
- After logging in, make sure you have added a profile picture.
- Select the square with an arrow at the bottom of your screen.
- Scroll down and click “Add to Home Screen”.
- Click ADD in the top right corner
- A Circool “APP” will appear on the home screen of your phone.
Android Phone
- Go to mountainbrookcs.circool.com
- Login using your email and password. If you cannot remember your password, click “Forgot Password” at the bottom of the screen. If you have not activated your account, click “Resent Activation Email” at the bottom of the screen.
- After logging in, make sure you have added a profile picture.
- Tap the menu icon (three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
- Tap Add to home screen
- Choose a name for the “APP”
- A Circool “APP” will appear on the home screen of your phone.
Activate Account
- Open the email with the subject of “Trussville City Schools invites you to Circool” (check Spam!)
- Click “Activate Account” and complete your profile. We encourage you to enable text message notifications for new events!
- You can resend the email by going to (trussvillecs.circool.com) and clicking “Resend Activation Email”, enter the same email address from PowerSchool.
Using Your QR Code for School Entry
- For large events (ex: Parent Night), you will be invited via email/text.
- You can access your QR Code in several different ways: From the Circool icon on your Phone, go to www.circool.com/log-in, or login to Circool (trussvillecs.circool.com). Make sure to bookmark it!
- The first time in Circool, you will be prompted to add a Profile Pic.
- Show your QR Code to the school staff member standing at the entrance. They will scan your ticket and approve your entry.
Inviting Family & Friends:
- After you click the event, click Guests tab, click add family/friends.
- Either select from the list or add a new family/friend
School Counseling Program
School Counselors assume many roles and they assist in a variety of ways. Counselors are an integral part of the school community, working with students, teachers, other school personnel, and parents. Counselors also coordinate more in-depth services with community agencies when the need arises. Elementary school years set the tone for developing the knowledge, attitude, and life skills necessary for children to become healthy, productive adults. With a comprehensive and developmental guidance and counseling program, counselors help lay the foundation for personal, social, and academic success throughout school. By providing a nurturing and caring environment for students, their needs are met through prevention, early at-risk identification, and intervention services.
We are here to help children feel valued, accepted, and safe while at school. We also want to help them learn positive coping skills and character values. As a result, this will enable them to make good choices when they face challenges involving friends, peer pressure, bullies, self-esteem, feelings, academic difficulties, and/or family concerns. These issues can often be addressed through responsive counseling services.
School Counseling Program
- School Counseling Curriculum
- Individual counseling (1-on-1 with the child)
- Small peer groups for related issues
- Classroom lessons and career exploration activities
- School crisis intervention as needed
- School-wide character education programs and state initiatives throughout the year (EX: Attendance Awareness Month, Red Ribbon Drug Awareness Week, etc.)
- Work with School Personnel to:
- Identify and help struggling learners
- Decrease classroom disturbances
- Promote positive behavior
- Increase school morale
- Recognize early warning signs for students at-risk
- Implement safety and violence prevention programs
- Plan with learning communities and problem solving teams
- About Your Counselor
- Frequently Asked Questions
- School Counseling Curriculum
- School Counseling Referral Form
About Your Counselor
My name is Lauren Blake and I am excited to be your child’s counselor this year. I currently hold three college degrees that have well-prepared me for my current position as school counselor. I have a
bachelor's degree in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Collaborative Education from Birmingham-Southern College, a master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama at
Birmingham, and a master's degree in School Counseling from the University of West Alabama. I taught 4th grade for 10 years, served as 4th & 5th grade school counselor at Paine Intermediate for 5
years, and have been the school counselor at Magnolia since the school opened in 2016. I am excited about our work together and am looking forward to a great school year!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will information concerning my child be kept confidential?
Yes, with the exception of student disclosure of intent to harm self or others, or if someone is harming your child. Details of your child’s counseling relationship will be kept in strict confidence unless you or your child give us permission to share the contents of a session or we are ordered to do so by a court of law. We may consult with colleagues for supervision with the understanding that we will not disclose your child's name or other identifiable information. Counselors communicate with parents when needed and encourage children to talk openly with their parents as well.
Do only students with problems talk to the counselor?
No. The counselor is seen as an adult who students can trust and consider a friend. Many times students will come to the counselor to share exciting news, to share a success, or just to have an adult take time to listen to what they have to say. All students who see the counselor are not troubled or “in crisis.”
School Counseling Curriculum
All students participate in guidance lessons with Mrs. Blake approximately every other week. Lessons are developed following the Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance State Model for Alabama Public Schools and address the following 3 areas as outlined by the American School
Counselor Association National Model:
Academic Development
- Goal setting
- Organization
- Time Management
- Test-Taking Skills
Personal/Social Development
- Bullying
- Conflict Resolution
- Making & Keeping Friends
- Controlling Emotions
- Leadership
- Safety
- Health & Wellness
Career Development
- Career Exploration
- Self-Awareness
- Working Cooperatively
*The topics under each domain are a sampling of what is taught according to the national model and state plan.
School Counseling Referral Form
TCS will participate in the following drills throughout the year.
- Fire Drill: Students and staff practice exiting the building in case of a fire.
- Tornado Drill: Students and staff take safety position ... in case of a tornado.
- Intruder Drill: Students and staff will be training, practicing, and drilling the protocol.