We developed our health care policy with guidelines from the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to ensure each child in our care is kept as healthy and safe as possible. A complete copy of our Health Care Policy is available in the office.
Health and safety are our top priority at First Circle. We focus on preventing illness and accidents before they occur.
We have written policies for reducing the risk of infectious disease and provide annual training to all staff in CPR, Five Rights of Medication Administration, and emergency management.
We keep First Circle nut-free and latex-free (gloves and band-aids).
We are required by EEC to have a Healthcare Consultant who is available to the program for consultation as needed. Our pediatric Healthcare Consultant approved this policy and approves our annual First Aid training and training in medication administration for staff.
We encourage habits that promote good health and prevention of disease and practice them ourselves.
Our classrooms are designed to have separate food preparation, toileting, and diaper changing activities, as well as prevent accidents.
From time to time, First Circle has kept small pets in our classrooms, including gerbils and fish. We have the following policy about pets, per EEC regulations:
First Circle promotes a safe learning and working environment for all children, staff, faculty, and visitors. We do not allow smoking on or around the premises. We strictly prohibit any weapons in our building at any time, including firearms, ammunition, and any other object that could reasonably be perceived as a weapon.
Massachusetts state law prohibits idling of automobiles, so we tell parents to not leave their car idling. Also, we insist they not leave any children unattended in their vehicle, no matter how briefly!
We teach children to sneeze and cough into their elbows to prevent the spread of germs.
We support sun safety measures at First Circle to minimize a child’s chance of getting skin cancer from excessive sun exposure. [see DAILY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT for detailed information].
We assist children in brushing their teeth when they are in care for more than 4 hours or consume a meal at school. [This EEC regulation is suspended until further notice.]
We follow strict hand-washing guidelines in all classrooms to reduce the spread of germs. [see DAILY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT].
First Circle follows the Safe Sleep procedures implemented by EEC [see DAILY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT].
First Circle Administration ensures that each child enrolled in our program has up-to-date immunizations and an annual physical exam on file.
For parents who have religious or medical objections to their child being immunized, we must have a signed statement (from the doctor for a medical reason or from the parent for religious reasons prior to the child’s first day of enrollment).
At enrollment, and yearly thereafter at re-registration, we ask parents whether their child has a condition that may impact his or her life in school. Such conditions include:
If a child has any of these special requirements, we (together with the parents and/or health care provider) will complete a Special Care Plan (a.k.a. Individual Health Care Plan), a confidential school health record maintained in both the classroom and the child’s file. It contains information, guidelines, and standards that promote a student’s health and educational goals. The Plan describes the nature of the condition, symptoms, any medical treatment that may be necessary while the child is at First Circle, the potential side effects of that treatment, and the potential consequences to the child’s health if the treatment is not administered.
For any child with a condition requiring emergency management, an Emergency Response Plan will be completed and on file, in conjunction with a Special Care Plan. The Emergency Response Plan details the health condition, any prescribed medications, triggering events, symptoms/signs to watch for, and action. All educators in a classroom with a child with an Emergency Response Plan will receive training to handle an emergency effectively.
Childcare providers may be exposed to bloodborne pathogens when diapering, toileting, feeding, or cleaning up the vomit of children in their care, breaking up fights between children, or if bitten by a child. To protect yourself from bloodborne illnesses, you must follow the steps outlined in DAILY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.