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• A nurse is available on campus Monday through Thursday from 7:30 am until 10pm, and Friday 7:30am - 4pm. During the non-office hours a nurse is available for triage, via phone calls or text from a MacDuffie employee

• Nursing delegation of any medication will be instructed to non-licensed staff that have completed medication delegation training only.

• All students who become ill during the school day MUST report to the nurse. In the absence of the nurse, the front office will contact the Dean of Boarding for boarding students, or parents/guardians of day students and may ask that the student be picked up. Parents/Guardian MUST speak with the nurse, or school personnel, BEFORE making plans to pick up their child due to illness. This ensures the safety (and attendance) of all students.

• It is the parent’s responsibility to update the school nurse of any health changes that could affect the care of the student while at school.

** Please note: Any student who has gone home due to illness, or missed more than three classes may not participate in any extracurricular activities that day or evening, except with the express permission of the Dean of Students, Assistant Head of School, or Head of School. Description text goes here

Masks will be optional in all indoor and outdoor spaces, except when a short term temporary mask mandate is in effect. A mask mandate will go into effect when spreading of an illness, via respiratory transmission, is shown to be high within the school.

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A leave of absence generally occurs when:

• a physical or mental illness is seriously affecting the student’s ability to attend class, perform in class or do academic work, even with support and accommodation

• the student behaves in ways that can be considered self-destructive or dangerous to others

• the demands of school are affecting the student’s ability to focus on recovery

• the student feels in crisis and requires an increased level of care

• the student is not engaged in treatment that the school has made a condition of attendance, after the student has been evaluated by medical and/or mental health professionals, who have deemed such treatment appropriate

Understanding the nature and range of conditions that arise with teenagers, the treatment for certain medical and psychological conditions and behaviors might need to occur outside the school setting. The goal of a leave of absence is for the student to regain health and the ability to function consistently, productively and safely when they return to school. The leave provides the student with the time to focus on recovery, medical/psychological care and self-care.

A student’s family may request such a leave at the recommendation of objective medical professionals. Additionally, if in the school’s judgment, a student is exhibiting symptoms that make the student unable to participate in required academic or extracurricular activities without imposing an undue burden on the school’s resources, the school may recommend and require that the student be evaluated and subsequently placed on medical leave.

Decisions about granting or requiring a medical leave, or a student’s return from leave, rest with the Dean of Students and Head of School. The Dean of Students and Head of Academic Support will coordinate the student’s academic responsibilities while on leave and makeup work upon return.

To return to school after a leave of absence, a thorough, written professional evaluation of the student’s current mental health or medical condition from the physician, psychiatrist, or other professional who treated the student during the leave of absence must be provided to the school. This evaluation must include the current treatment plan, services required upon return to MacDuffie, and expectations for the student. The school will also require an additional evaluation or consultation by our Dean of Students and/or our school counselor to determine the best re-entry plan for the student.

The guiding principle of return from a medical leave is the school’s confidence that the student can return safely, and that the student’s return will not compromise the student’s continued recovery, interfere with the school’s ability to serve other students’ needs, or place an undue burden on the school. Students with disabilities, including those related to mental health conditions, have the right to reasonable accommodations relative to the disability.

In the absence of a treatment plan that meets this goal or a student following the treatment plan, in the view of the school personnel, the school may require the student to withdraw.

Click HERE to see our Medication in school policy

Annual physical exams during the “growing years” of adolescence is the best way to gain health knowledge, detect early negative changes in health, and give the ability to start early intervention measures sooner for abnormalities, possibly resulting in a positive outcome.

All students are required to have a physical exam performed and signed by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant prior to initial school admittance to The MacDuffie School.

Updated physical exams will be required annually for all students while at The MacDuffie School.

Any boarding student that arrives at The MacDuffie school without proof of annual exam will be seen by Swift River Medical, the school physician, in the soonest availability of Swift River Medical scheduling.

No student without a current physical exam (within 12 months) will be allowed to participate in sports, including tryouts for any sport.