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Health Procedures
Immunizations
Every student enrolled in a Catholic School in the State of Texas must be immunized against vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents, in accordance with the immunization schedule adopted by the Texas Department of State Health Services. A student who fails to present the required evidence will not be accepted for enrollment. The only exception to the foregoing requirement is a medical exemption signed by a licensed physician authorized to practice in the state of Texas. Records of immunizations required by the Health Department must be on file at the school by the first day of classes each year. A student whose records are not on file will not be allowed to attend school until the records are received.
Medication
The school must be informed in writing if a student is on medication. This medication is kept in the nurse's office and may be dispensed only by the nurse.
Clinic Procedures
If a student does not feel well, she is to go to the school nurse, who will decide whether the student should rest, return to class, or go home. If the nurse is not in her office the student should go to the Upper School Assistant. If the student is to be sent home, her parents will be called to come and pick her up. Students may not phone their parents requesting to be picked up without the permission of a school administrator.
In an emergency 911 will be called and the school will try to reach a student's parents. If they cannot be reached, the school will contact the student's physician. If neither parent nor physician can be contacted, the student will be taken to Memorial City Hospital or, if the student is away from campus at a school event, to the nearest hospital.
Infectious Diseases
Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart has a responsibility to care for and safeguard the health and well being of all students, faculty, employees, parents of students, and members of the community at-large. With regard to communicable diseases, Duchesne will endeavor to follow the recommendations in the Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Some diseases are classified as highly infectious. Such diseases may be transmitted from one person to another without physcial contact. Examples are chicken pox, tuberculosis, and measles. A student, faculty member, or staff member who has been diagnosed as having a highly infectious disease must be excluded from all school activities until the appropriate medical authority asserts that the person is no longer contagious.
Some less infectious, but, nonethless, very serious diseases are transmitted only through intimate physical contact or through bodily fluids. Among such "low infectious" diseases are HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), AIDS, and hepatitis B and C viruses. In the case of a low infectious disease in one of its members, the School shall seek and follow medical advice about how to serve responsibly both the individual and the community.
The School shall not discriminate against any student or employee on the grounds that the person has a communicable disease. No student or employee of the School shall be denied access to school facilities or activities on the grounds that they have a communicable disease. The School reserves the right, however, to exclude a student or employee with a communicable disease from school facilities or programs, if the School makes a medically-based determination that the person constitutes a threat to the health or safety of others.
Human Sexuality
Freshmen attend a Wellness class one day a week throughout the year, and sophomores attend one day a week second semester. In this forum-type course, students develop an understanding of human sexuality in the context of Christian love and marriage. An emphasis on personal responsibility and decision making are integral parts of this course. The freshman and sophomore sessions cover self-esteem, decision making, peer pressure, and adolescent changes. Students review pregnancy, childbirth, caretaking issues, adoption and abortion. Drug awareness, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual abuse are all covered using Catholic teachings as the ideal moral code. Human Sexuality fulfills partial curriculum units for the Health course.
Pregnancy
In the case of pregnancy, the student's welfare will be of utmost concern. Each situation will be considered individually and confidentially. The student and her family will confer with the Head of the Upper School to discuss how that student might best continue her studies. Duchesne's enrollment contract does not require that a student who becomes pregnant withdraw from the school.
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