Dear Panda Parents,

As you may know, flu can be easily spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu at Andrews Elementary School. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season, and we need your help to do this.

We are working closely with Georgetown County School District administration and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to monitor flu conditions in order to make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

If the flu becomes more severe , we may take additional steps to prevent the spread such as:

· conducting active fever and flu symptom screening of students and staff as they arrive at school,

· making changes to increase the space between people such as moving desks farther apart, postponing class trips,

· dismissing students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick.

For now we are doing everything we can to keep our school functioning as usual. Here are a few things you can do to help.

· Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. You can set a good example by doing this yourself.

· Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using their arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is not available.

· Know the signs and symptoms of the flu . Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.

· Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.

For the most current information about the flu, please visit www.flu.gov , www.cdc.govand www.scdhec.gov.For more information about flu in our community and what our school is doing, visit your doctor or the Andrews Medical Center, 701 South Morgan Avenue or call 264-5253. We will notify you of any additional changes to our school's strategy to prevent the spread of flu.

Sincerely,

Brian G. Clark, Principal

The mission of Andrews Elementary School, in partnership with parents and community, is to meet the social, emotional, physical and educational needs of all students, enabling them to become life-long learners and productive members of society.