Healthy Habits Overview
How You Can “Do Your Part” to Help Gloucester Stay Safe
It is extremely important that we ALL “do our part” in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Please help protect yourself, your family, and our school community by doing your part!
General ways to stay healthy:
Practice preventative health measures:
Keep your child at home if they feel sick
Wash hands frequently
Eat well balanced meals
Get enough sleep
Exercise
Stay hydrated
Manage your stress- take a break from the media
Students and Families: What can you do?
Do a Symptom Check every day before going to school.
It is essential to stay home if you feel sick. Please make sure you use this Symptom Checklist every day before your child goes goe school. If they have any COVID-19 symptoms, they must stay home.
Wear a face masks or cloth face covering:
All students (Preschool - 12th grade) must wear masks or face coverings. Face coverings decrease the potential for spreading virus, but only when worn correctly. It is important to handle the face mask from the straps/elastics on the side and not on the front of the mask. WASH your hands after taking off your mask. Please see this page for instructions on selecting, wearing, and cleaning face masks.
Observe Physical “Social” Distancing Guidelines
We will have a minimum of 3 feet of distance between staff and students at all times and will make every effort to maintain six feet of social distance. Encourage your child to follow all social distancing guidelines as instructed by their teachers
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water frequently for at least 20 seconds. If you are unable to wash your hands, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Our schools will allow regular “Hand Hygiene” breaks and we have installed hundreds of hand sanitizing stations in our schools. Handwashing should be done often, but always:
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After being in a public place
Before eating and/or preparing food
After using the toilet
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
After touching garbage
Practice good sneeze/cough hygiene. Cover your mouth/nose with a tissue and throw the tissue away immediately in a trash can, and then wash your hands. If no tissue is available, cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm on your sleeve.
Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose and mouth,where it is easy to spread the virus to yourself.
Do not eat from “family/community snack bags/bowls. Pour the food into a single container, as opposed to reaching into the bag/box, to prevent contamination by many hands reaching into the same bag/box.
Avoid contact with sick people. If someone in your household is sick, isolate them from the rest of the family.
IF YOU or YOUR CHILD GETS SICK:
Stay home except to get medical care.
Contact your School Nurse and your doctor or healthcare provider.
Follow these instructions so the school knows that your child may be sick of have symptoms.
If you are seeking medical care, please notify the doctor’s office or the facility what your symptoms are before entering. If you have a medical emergency, and have symptoms of COVID-19, you need to tell the dispatcher so the first responders can take appropriate precautions. Separate yourself from the other members of your family and pets. Use a separate bathroom if possible.
Get medical attention immediately and/or call 911 if you have:
Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath
Persistent pain/pressure in chest
Mental status changes- confusion, lethargy, unable to arouse
Bluish color to lips or face
Inform dispatcher of your symptoms so first responders can take appropriate precautions
Additional Resources
Massachusetts Residents can call 2-1-1: This line is staffed 24 hours and is a state supported hotline for COVID -19 questions
Managing Stress and Anxiety and How to Talk to Your Child About COVID-19
How You Can “Do Your Part” to Help Gloucester Stay Safe
It is extremely important that we ALL “do our part” in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Please help protect yourself, your family, and our school community by doing your part!
General ways to stay healthy:
Practice preventative health measures:
Keep your child at home if they feel sick
Wash hands frequently
Eat well balanced meals
Get enough sleep
Exercise
Stay hydrated
Manage your stress- take a break from the media
Students and Families: What can you do?
Do a Symptom Check every day before going to school.
It is essential to stay home if you feel sick. Please make sure you use this Symptom Checklist every day before your child goes goe school. If they have any COVID-19 symptoms, they must stay home.
Wear a face masks or cloth face covering:
All students (Preschool - 12th grade) must wear masks or face coverings. Face coverings decrease the potential for spreading virus, but only when worn correctly. It is important to handle the face mask from the straps/elastics on the side and not on the front of the mask. WASH your hands after taking off your mask. Please see this page for instructions on selecting, wearing, and cleaning face masks.
Observe Physical “Social” Distancing Guidelines
We will have a minimum of 3 feet of distance between staff and students at all times and will make every effort to maintain six feet of social distance. Encourage your child to follow all social distancing guidelines as instructed by their teachers
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water frequently for at least 20 seconds. If you are unable to wash your hands, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Our schools will allow regular “Hand Hygiene” breaks and we have installed hundreds of hand sanitizing stations in our schools. Handwashing should be done often, but always:
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After being in a public place
Before eating and/or preparing food
After using the toilet
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
After touching garbage
Practice good sneeze/cough hygiene. Cover your mouth/nose with a tissue and throw the tissue away immediately in a trash can, and then wash your hands. If no tissue is available, cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm on your sleeve.
Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose and mouth,where it is easy to spread the virus to yourself.
Do not eat from “family/community snack bags/bowls. Pour the food into a single container, as opposed to reaching into the bag/box, to prevent contamination by many hands reaching into the same bag/box.
Avoid contact with sick people. If someone in your household is sick, isolate them from the rest of the family.
IF YOU or YOUR CHILD GETS SICK:
Stay home except to get medical care.
Contact your School Nurse and your doctor or healthcare provider.
Follow these instructions so the school knows that your child may be sick of have symptoms.
If you are seeking medical care, please notify the doctor’s office or the facility what your symptoms are before entering. If you have a medical emergency, and have symptoms of COVID-19, you need to tell the dispatcher so the first responders can take appropriate precautions. Separate yourself from the other members of your family and pets. Use a separate bathroom if possible.
Get medical attention immediately and/or call 911 if you have:
Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath
Persistent pain/pressure in chest
Mental status changes- confusion, lethargy, unable to arouse
Bluish color to lips or face
Inform dispatcher of your symptoms so first responders can take appropriate precautions
Additional Resources
Massachusetts Residents can call 2-1-1: This line is staffed 24 hours and is a state supported hotline for COVID -19 questions
Managing Stress and Anxiety and How to Talk to Your Child About COVID-19