We’re counting down the days as “Back to Bellefontaine” becomes a reality

It’s happening; we’re going Back to Bellefontaine in 20 days! We’ve prepared students for what school and the school day will look like and teachers are practicing hybrid teaching.

The CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics and health departments agree schools can safely open with appropriate strategies and infection controls in place. We are layering several mitigation strategies in our infection control plan. These include:

Keeping everyone safe and healthy will take all of us. It is not just about what happens at school, but what happens outside school. Going back to school means families are essentially expanding their “pods” or “bubbles” to include all of the people within Mayfield and entering into a social compact to protect one another. Let’s help keep everyone safe by doing everything we can and follow the public health guidelines.

This year, it’s more important than ever that your daughter’s health information is up to date. Please take a minute and review Magnus Health and update any information or health forms that have expired. As more people become eligible to receive vaccines, we strongly encourage you to do so. We also ask that you let me know if your daughter has already—or becomes—vaccinated. Once fully vaccinated, your daughter will not have to quarantine if she’s exposed to a known case of COVID. 

Allergy season has started for many people. Just a reminder that OTC allergy medicines work best when taken daily and before symptoms get too bad. Allergy symptoms can be similar to COVID symptoms. How can you tell the difference? Allergy symptoms can include sneezing and itchy/watery eyes and nose; COVID does not. COVID symptoms include fever, loss of taste or smell, extreme fatigue and body and muscle aches; allergies do not. If you or your daughter have a history of seasonal allergies and have had little to no contact with people outside your household, your symptoms are most likely allergy-related. A good site to monitor pollen levels is pollen.com. It gives pollen accounts by ZIP code and can help you decide when to start giving your daughter her allergy medication.

As National Nutrition Month continues, I want to share another great resource: the website of the American Dietetic Association, eatright.com, has a wealth of information and can help you create healthy eating and physical activity habits.

In honor of National Women’s History Month, I want to continue celebrating and recognizing the contributions of women to medicine. The first female surgeon in the United States did not care for the long skirts that were the standard dress for women in her time, finding them cumbersome and unhygienic. Instead, she preferred pants, saying, “I don’t wear men’s clothes, I wear my own clothes.” Dr. Mary Walker was ahead of her time, keeping her own last name when she married and not including the word “obey” in her vows. She was the only female in her class at Syracuse medical school. After serving in the Army during the Civil War, and being held as a POW, she is the only woman to be awarded a Medal of Honor for her service. Besides working at a prison and an orphanage, Dr. Walker also advocated for women’s dress reform.

The countdown has begun—only 20 days until we’re Back on Bellefontaine!