Head Lice
Head lice are a common problem for children in schools and child care. Anyone can get head lice. Head lice are not a sign of uncleanliness, and head lice do not spread disease. They can be a time consuming nuisance, and one that should be dealt with as quickly as possible. Your child will not be excluded from school because of head lice, but we do request you address the issue by having them treated, either at home, or through a service, as soon as they are discovered.
Head Lice Procedures
- If you discover your child has head lice, please call or e-mail the school nurse as soon as possible. The nurse can assist you with information and resources. 331-9696 ext. 3122
- An e-mail containing information and links on how to address and prevent further occurrences will be sent home to the involved classes. No student is ever identified during this process.
- If requested by the parent of the child with head lice, that child’s head will be checked 7 days after initial treatment, and again 1 week later, until clear.
- If you receive an email regarding lice in your child’s classroom, please check your child’s head that day, and again every 2 days for 2 weeks. If you aren’t sure how to do this, or what to look for, there are excellent websites with instructions to use for reference, (please see below) or you can call the school nurse for help.
- Fighting head lice can take some time. It requires special shampoos and careful combing of the hair with a very fine-toothed comb (such as "The Terminator Comb" as seen HERE available online or at Target) made for the removal of “nits”, the eggs attached to the hair shaft. Please feel free to contact the nurse, your pediatrician, or your pharmacist for help in choosing a product. Some of these products are quite powerful and target only the live lice, while others target all stages of the lice life cycle.
Once a Week, Take a Peek
The “Once a week, Take a peek” campaign is aimed at helping parents understand that head lice are best dealt with proactively, by doing head checks on children once a week, through the entire year. There is great information on this UK based website, HERE.
Head Lice Resources
How to Perform a Head Check for Head Lice
How to Check your Child for Head Lice
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Bernadette's Lice Removal Center
Honeycombers:
Honeycombers offers natural and organic (non-pesticide) salon-quality lice treatment products along with an informative blog.
Their innovative prevention products, including shampoo, conditioner, styling gel and stay-away spray, are available locally at Coiffurium hair salon in addition to online at the link below:
Updated, September 2022