June 12, 2020
Greetings from the Health Center.
I hope you and your families are staying healthy and safe. This school year will be different from any other, but I assure you that any changes made are for the safety and security of your sons, our employees, and the greater AOF community. The school's initial communication about COVID-19 went out to our school community on January 24th—four months ago; it was remarkable to watch the school community pivot together to complete the school year in the safest, most cohesive way possible. With school potentially opening in just three months, I can't imagine how much more we will know and how much things will change. What I can tell you for certain is that the school is committed to making our campus as safe as possible for your sons and our entire school community. With that objective in mind, the Health Center has been working proactively since the early spring and will continue to work throughout the summer as new information becomes available.
Health Center Document Requirements As you know, we utilize the Magnus Health Student Medical Record System. You should now be getting reminders to complete/update your son's medical information and to sign new policies/consents for this school year. Here are a few important things to note about Magnus, and some changes for this year:
July 15th Deadline: We understand that getting in-person appointments has been difficult due to many states' "stay home" orders and therefore submitting these requirements by July 15th may be difficult. Now that more states and countries are starting to open back up again, we hope that these visits can still be made and completed prior to your son's return to school. Most of the forms in Magnus, however, are electronic and therefore can be completed prior to the July 15th deadline.
Current Physical Exam: Our school's requirement for your son's physical exam is that the exam must be completed and dated within 12 months of the start of school. Please do your best to adhere to this requirement. However, if you are unable to get an in-person appointment for a physical exam prior to the start of the school year, please send us an email to let us know and upload the most recent in-person physical that you have.
Submitting Forms to Magnus: You may have also already noticed that Magnus is no longer accepting hard copies of any documents. You can still fax your documents to Magnus with the appropriate cover page. Avon Old Farms also does not accept hard copies or faxes of any documents. All Magnus forms and documents must be uploaded by you, through the parent portal. New this year is the Magnus PHR (Personal Health Record) Mobile App. This app allows parents to submit their student's forms right from any 'smart' device at no cost. This new app allows parent users to simply take a photo of health forms with any smartphone, and upload them directly into their son's Magnus account. Parents can complete all requirements and fill in student health data right from their phones.
Emergency Contact Designation Form: This form is new to Magnus this year and was recently uploaded to the Magnus site on Monday, June 1st. This form is very important and must be filled out by every student, both day and boarding. This form requires all parents/guardians to designate an emergency contact for their son who lives within 300 miles (5 hours) driving distance from the school. The emergency contact listed agrees to pick up and assume care of the student when the parents/guardians are unavailable to do so. The student must be picked up from school within 24 hours of notification. Some of the reasons the student may need to be picked up are, but not limited to, student isolation requirements due to a communicable disease such as influenza or COVID-19, mandated quarantine, school shut down/vacations, medical or mental health issues requiring close supervision or hospitalization, or a disciplinary issue. All emergency contacts will be called by someone from the school, and the responsibilities and expectations will be reviewed over the phone. Students will not be allowed to return to campus unless they have a designated emergency contact on file that has been approved by the school. This is a very important component of the school's mitigation strategies to keep students, faculty and staff safe and healthy.
PPD Skin Test (All International & High Risk Students): All International students (new and returning) and any other high risk students are required to submit a form with results from a current summer 2020 PPD skin test. If the tuberculin skin test (PPD) is positive, a quantiferon gold (or T-spot) blood test is required. A chest x-ray is not an acceptable form of documentation for this requirement.
Vaccine Requirements: Avon Old Farms School follows the minimum immunization requirements established by the State of Connecticut. In addition, Avon Old Farms School requires that all students get the Meningococcal Conjugate (Menactra or Menveo) vaccine after the age of 12. This vaccine is required for most colleges and universities as well. The school also highly recommends that all students get the Meningococcal B (MenB, Trumenba or Bexsero) and the HPV series of vaccines.
Flu Vaccine: Although the flu vaccine is not mandatory at Avon Old Farms School, it is strongly recommended because a second or third wave of COVID-19 could coincide with flu season making students susceptible to both viruses at the same time. According to the CDC, there is no evidence that getting a flu vaccine increases the risk of getting COVID-19. It is even more important in the COVID-19 era to get the flu vaccine so that we can do everything possible to reduce illnesses on campus and preserve health care resources. If you electronically sign the Parental Permission for Flu Vaccine form in Magnus, we will administer the flu vaccine to your son free of charge. We are scheduled to have flu vaccines available at registration.
Proof of Health Insurance: All students must provide proof of health insurance coverage under a United States-based health plan that provides adequate coverage in the state of Connecticut. If necessary treatment, medication, or testing is not covered by the health insurance plan on file in Magnus, the parents/guardians are responsible for those charges. International students are automatically enrolled in the school's health insurance plan.
Prescription Medication: School policy prohibits the use/storage of prescribed medication in a student's dorm room, with the exception of antibiotics, acne medication, inhalers for asthma, topical ointments, nasal sprays, antivirals and epipens. All other prescribed medication must be stored in the Health Center and distributed by Health Center staff consistent with a doctor's order. Any student who has a prescription medication that will be stored and dispensed in the Health Center must fill out the Prescription Medication Authorization form in Magnus. If a student is found with any medication in their possession that was not approved by the Health Center, the Dean of Students will be notified and disciplinary proceedings may ensue per Code of Conduct. Please refer to the Student Handbook for additional details.
Prescription medications must be kept in the Health Center if they are prescribed for the following diagnoses, which include but are not limited to:
If you have a question about the Magnus Health Portal, please call the Magnus Parent Help Line at 877-461-6831.
Prep4ward: Successful Life Preparation The Prep4ward program, which was first implemented last year, empowers students to successfully navigate throughout their lives with a developmentally-appropriate curriculum focused on personal growth, leadership, life skills, and health and wellness. The Prep4ward curriculum will be expanded for the 2020-2021 academic year, creating more developed content and more learning opportunities for Avon students on the topics of personal growth, leadership, life skills, and mental and physical health and wellness. Now more than ever, there is a need for this kind of content in the curriculum.
Avon Old Farms School partners with Dr. Dan Martin, Ph.D., a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist. He provides brief psychotherapy and other interventions directly to students utilizing motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral strategies. In addition to having expertise in general psychological practice, Dr. Martin specializes in substance use assessment and treatment. Dr. Martin's services are included in a student's tuition and fees. Learn more about our counseling services.
The School also has a relationship with a local psychiatrist, who provides medication consultation and management on campus as needed. The cost of these services is the responsibility of the student's family.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Martin this summer with any questions or for consultation and possible referral. He can be reached at: martind@avonoldfarms.com. Dr. Martin will not start seeing any new students/patients for counseling or psychotherapy until they arrive on campus.
Healthy Athletes: Concussion Protocol We have a remarkable athletic program at Avon Old Farms and strategically seek to keep our athletes healthy; therefore, we collaborate closely with a local group of concussion specialists at Elite Sports Medicine to help us diagnose and treat students with concussions.
You'll receive an email communication on June 26th from our Athletic Directors with more details about the school sports program.
As part of our concussion protocol to participate in athletics, ALL STUDENTS (new and returning) must take the impact test prior to the start of every school year: take the impact test.
Key Resources and FAQs Our Health Center page is located under the Parents tab or at avonoldfarms.com/healthcenter and is your resource for important announcements, Health Center hours, contact information, policies and procedures, and many other frequently asked questions. This page will be updated as new policies and information are available.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at healthcenter@avonoldfarms.com.
I look forward to seeing you on campus this fall! Sincerely,
Thank you,
Heather Callaghan Director of Nursing
AVON OLD FARMS |