Keeping Students Healthy

With the recent school closings due to Swine Flu (H1N1 flu) First Place wanted to share with you what we are doing here in our building to make sure everyone is safe and healthy.

We sent a letter home with every student on April 30, 2009 along with two attachments -- the Homeless Health News from the Heath Care for the Homeless Network and also the Preparing for Pandemic Influenza Family Guide from the Washington State Department of Health. Because of the unique nature of our school, the teachers, case managers, nurse and school psychologist are in constant dialogue about the health of our students.

Students experiencing symptoms are being referred to the nurse and sent home from school. We are keeping up on our regular practices of washing hands regularly, using hand sanitizer and keeping school surfaces clean.

For 20 years First Place has been working with Health Care for the Homeless, Odessa Brown Children's Clinic and Seattle Children's to take care of the health needs of the children who attend school at First Place. Through this partnership First Place has access to a nurse Monday through Friday and provides us with a nurse on-site three days a week year-round.

The staff is keeping updated through multiple sources and this is a top concern at the agency.

If anyone has any concerns about what First Place is doing to prevent our school from closing, please call Chris Cooper at (206) 323-6715 ext. 1301.