Our Lady of Good Counsel School’s admission policy related to immunizations and state health assessments is as follows: We will not accept any students, with religious or personal exemptions from Virginia State required school vaccinations for admission to our school. Medical exemptions for vaccination will be accepted with physician documentation of medical reason for delayed schedule or inability to vaccinate.  The list of all required school admission immunizations can be found on the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) website and by clicking here. During the application process, we will request a copy of currently completed immunizations which will need to be submitted with other documents like birth certificate and baptismal certificate.  We cannot complete your application review without the immunization record. Even if your student still needs 5-year-old vaccines or the 7^th grade boosters, please send the most current records. The final physical due once the student is accepted will include any outstanding immunizations. If you would like additional information about this policy, please call the school at (703) 938-3600 and ask for the school nurse.

Please ensure all physicals are submitted using the Commonwealth of Virginia School Entrance Health Form. The physical is due no later than August 1^st for the start of the school year. It must be, per Virginia Code, dated within 12 months of the start of the school year. A physical from more than 12 months ago is not acceptable, and a new one will need to be completed for students to start school on time. Please ensure the primary care provider for your child completes the TB Risk Assessment, Hearing Screen, Vision Screen, and Dental Screen portions of the assessment on page 4 of the Commonwealth form, as well as signs the forms. It sometimes happens things get overlooked during those busy well visits. In addition, page 1 should be completed fully by the parent/guardian per state requirements including signature at the bottom.

For Transfer Grade 1 thru 8 students only: If you can have the current/previous school send the Commonwealth of Virginia and vaccine reports on file there, they can be faxed or email scanned to OLGC. However, if the previously attended school does not send the medical documents with the academic records, we will need a new one completed by a physician prior to the August 1^st deadline. 

No exception or extension is provided for state required physicals or vaccines. OLGC does not provide or accept conditional enrollment. If your student has a late year birthday (after August 20^th), the prior year’s physical may be needed to ensure on-time start of school. Please contact the clinic directly regarding any questions for physical dates.

MEDICATIONS

The following guidelines are outlined in the Office of Catholic Schools Policies and Guidelines and Virginia Health Guidelines Manual.

• OLGC does NOT provide medications for student use
• Medication forms are required for each Prescription and Over The Counter (OTC) medications administered in school. Prescription medications, herbal and OTC medications taken 4 or more consecutive days also require a licensed healthcare provider's (LHCP) written order. No medication will be accepted by school personnel without the accompanying completed medication authorization form.
• ALL medication must be transported to and from school by a parent/guardian.
• All medication must be in their original container and properly labeled. (NO baggies will be accepted).
• Students are NOT permitted to self medicate unless the student has prior written approval to self-carry a medication (inhaler, Epi-pen).
• Within one week after expiration of the effective date on the order, or on the last day of school, the parent or guardian must personally collect any unused portion of the medication. Medications not claimed within that period will be destroyed.

Please keep sick students home from school and notify the Attendance Office at attendance@olgcschool.org that your student will be absent.  It is helpful if you email the Clinic details of your student’s illness (symptoms, diagnosis if seen by medical provider, etc.) so we can track any trends in a class or group. 

Students with a temperature greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit or who are actively vomiting may not return to school until 24 hours after their symptoms cease without taking any fever reducing/anti-nausea medication.  Students who cannot contain their cough or sneeze should not be at school until they are better able to control the spread of illness from the cough/sneeze.  If your student has tested positive for Covid and is returning to school with continued symptoms of an upper respiratory infection (cough, sneezing), but feels well enough to attend school, it is the parent’s decision if the student attends in a mask or not for the 5 days after symptom onset.  However, the Clinic reserves the right to send home any student who is not covering their cough or sneeze and is spreading bodily fluids due to their inability to contain the cough/sneeze.

Please contact the Clinic if your student tests positive for COVID, RSV, Influenza, Lice, Strep, Pertussis, Pneumonia, or any other communicable diseases.  As a reminder, we follow the VDH & CDC guidelines for returning to school after illness. Please contact jbliven@olgcva.org if you have any questions about returning to school after illness.

It is IMPERITIVE that you add Nurse Bliven jbliven@olgcva.org to your email contact list.  Often, she must send things BCC for privacy, and if her email address is not entered into your contact list, with many of the email providers her email will go to spam.  Sometimes our School Messenger emails will go to spam, so please check your spam folder for OLGC messages just in case.  Things like Hearing & Vision Screenings, 5th Grade Health Lessons, and Allergy Permission all come from the Clinic, and we do not want you to miss this vital information.

If your student is unwell and does not attend school for the day, they are not permitted to attend after-school activities.  Exception: 8^th grade students shadowing a high school may attend after school activities (clubs and sports) except ECAP. 

For preschool only, we are required by licensing to notify grades/classes of individual cases of infectious diseases (Influenza, Strep, Covid, Pink Eye, etc.).  For the K-8 School, we only notify grades/classes if we reach outbreak status or if we are seeing a significant increase or trend in symptoms of concern.  If you have specific concerns about symptoms, please contact the Clinic.  This also serves as a gentle reminder that cough drops are medicine and must be administered through the Clinic.  Self-carry of medications, including cough drops, is not permitted per the OLGC Parent/Student Handbook.