Parents
Health Procedures & Forms
Health Procedures
Medicine
Students may not possess, dispense, or distribute medication on their own. Prescription medicine must be accompanied with a physician order and dropped off by the parent or guardian to the school nurse. The medicine should be brought to school in the original container and include the name of the medicine, directions for use, time, strength, dose, name of ordering medical provider, and student’s name and grade. At the end of the school year, all medications must be picked up by the parent/guardian by the last day of school. Medicine not picked up will be disposed of.
Students are allowed to carry emergency medication such as an EpiPen or a rescue inhaler but need an order from the doctor allowing them to do so. The form Physician Instructions for Prescribing Medication is used and the box that says student may carry and self-administer medication is checked off.
All over-the-counter medicine provided in the health room is listed on the form Consent for Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medication. This form must be signed by both the parent and health care provider to be valid. The form needs to be renewed every school year.
Food Allergies
Mount Saint Joseph High School is not a nut-free environment and all 9 major allergens, and other potential allergens, are present in our cafeteria. All members of the CulinArt team have completed the Food Allergies and Celiac Disease training created by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). CulinArt Group strives to ensure a safe dining experience with Ingredient Experts (Bryan Crystal and Michael Burgess), detailed menu item identifiers, and lunch menus provided in advance. Please consult with Cafeteria Manager and Ingredient Expert, Mr. Bryan Crystal (BCrystal@culinartinc.com), on any allergies or special dietary needs your student may have. Learn more about CulinArt's approach to food allergens.
Rescue Medication: Please let the retreat leader know your son’s allergies. If your son has an order for school allowing him to carry and self-administer an Epi-pen or rescue inhaler, then the same applies for retreat. If you prefer the retreat leader to carry your son’s rescue medicine, please make arrangements with the retreat leader.
All over-the-counter medicine provided in the health room is listed on the form Consent for Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medication. This form must be signed by both the parent and health care provider to be valid. The form needs to be renewed every school year.
Food Allergies
Mount Saint Joseph High School is not a nut-free environment and all 9 major allergens, and other potential allergens, are present in our cafeteria. All members of the CulinArt team have completed the Food Allergies and Celiac Disease training created by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). CulinArt Group strives to ensure a safe dining experience with Ingredient Experts (Bryan Crystal and Michael Burgess), detailed menu item identifiers, and lunch menus provided in advance. Please consult with Cafeteria Manager and Ingredient Expert, Mr. Bryan Crystal (BCrystal@culinartinc.com), on any allergies or special dietary needs your student may have. Learn more about CulinArt's approach to food allergens.
Procedure for Students on Retreat
Prescription Medication: Please only send the amount needed for 2 days and 2 nights and drop medicine off to the retreat leader the morning of retreat. Medicine needs to be in the labeled pharmacy bottle with the name of the student, name of medication, dosage and strength of the medication, date of medication order, time and frequency of the medication, and authorized health care provider name. Medicine will be dispensed by the retreat leader or an authorized retreat chaperone.
Prescription Medication: Please only send the amount needed for 2 days and 2 nights and drop medicine off to the retreat leader the morning of retreat. Medicine needs to be in the labeled pharmacy bottle with the name of the student, name of medication, dosage and strength of the medication, date of medication order, time and frequency of the medication, and authorized health care provider name. Medicine will be dispensed by the retreat leader or an authorized retreat chaperone.
Over the Counter Medication: Please only send the amount of medicine needed for 2 days and 2 nights in a labeled baggie. If parent determines student can self-administer, then student is allowed to keep medicine with his belongings and take as needed.
Rescue Medication: Please let the retreat leader know your son’s allergies. If your son has an order for school allowing him to carry and self-administer an Epi-pen or rescue inhaler, then the same applies for retreat. If you prefer the retreat leader to carry your son’s rescue medicine, please make arrangements with the retreat leader.
Procedure for students who become ill during the school day: Students who become ill during the school day should report to their teacher prior to reporting to the health room. Students whose illness cannot be treated expeditiously by the nurse will have their parents notified by the nurse so that they may be picked up and taken home or to their healthcare provider. Students may not contact their parents and/or leave campus without release notification by the nurse. If your son drives to school and needs to leave due to illness, both verbal and written permission from the parent to the nurse is required to release your son. The nurse’s emails are nurse@msjnet.edu or pbezirdjian@msjnet.edu.
Please keep your student home for the following:
Respiratory Virus (COVID, flu, or RSV):
Starting on April 8, 2024, individuals who test positive for COVID are no longer required to stay home for 5 days. We follow the CDC updated respiratory guidance which includes:
Drainage from the eyes: If your student has purulent drainage from the eyes, associated with conjunctivitis (pink eye) your son must be kept home until under the treatment from a doctor. Please provide a note from your son’s healthcare provider that he is cleared to return.
Fever: If your student has a temperature of >100 degrees orally and no other symptoms, and no known exposure to COVID, the student should be kept at home until he is fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Sore throat: If your son has been diagnosed with a streptococcal infection, he must stay home for 24 hours after start of antibiotic treatment and be fever free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medicine. Please provide a note from your son’s healthcare provider that he is cleared to return to school.
Vomiting: Two or more episodes of vomiting in a 24-hour period, and no other symptoms, the student should be kept home for 24 hours since he last vomited.
Notify the School Nurse:
Concussion: Please report to the nurse if your son has been diagnosed with a concussion. For academic accommodations, we require either an Acute Concussion Evaluation (ACE) Care Plan or the Post Concussion Return to School Recommendations completed by your son’s healthcare provider. The student-athlete may not return to sports or PE class until the student provides written clearance from a physician, nurse practitioner, or licensed athletic trainer, in collaboration with the athletic trainer’s supervising physician.
Respiratory Virus (COVID, flu, or RSV):
Starting on April 8, 2024, individuals who test positive for COVID are no longer required to stay home for 5 days. We follow the CDC updated respiratory guidance which includes:
- Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause.
- You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:
- Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
- You have not had a fever of 100.0° or greater (and are not using fever-reducing medication).
- When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors. *These additional precautions are especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.
Drainage from the eyes: If your student has purulent drainage from the eyes, associated with conjunctivitis (pink eye) your son must be kept home until under the treatment from a doctor. Please provide a note from your son’s healthcare provider that he is cleared to return.
Fever: If your student has a temperature of >100 degrees orally and no other symptoms, and no known exposure to COVID, the student should be kept at home until he is fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
Sore throat: If your son has been diagnosed with a streptococcal infection, he must stay home for 24 hours after start of antibiotic treatment and be fever free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medicine. Please provide a note from your son’s healthcare provider that he is cleared to return to school.
Vomiting: Two or more episodes of vomiting in a 24-hour period, and no other symptoms, the student should be kept home for 24 hours since he last vomited.
Notify the School Nurse:
Concussion: Please report to the nurse if your son has been diagnosed with a concussion. For academic accommodations, we require either an Acute Concussion Evaluation (ACE) Care Plan or the Post Concussion Return to School Recommendations completed by your son’s healthcare provider. The student-athlete may not return to sports or PE class until the student provides written clearance from a physician, nurse practitioner, or licensed athletic trainer, in collaboration with the athletic trainer’s supervising physician.
Health Forms
Parents, please carefully read the following directions regarding physicals, immunizations, over-the-counter and prescribed medicine in school. Prior to your son’s physical, scroll down and download the Student Physical, Immunization (New Students Only), and Consent for Over-the-Counter Medicine forms and take these with you to your son’s appointment. If your son needs to take a daily prescribed medicine in school, please use the Physician Form for Prescription Medication. If your son uses an Epi-pen or rescue inhaler, he will need the FARE or Physician Form for Prescription Medication filled out.
Please note, if your son is playing a sport, you will need to upload his physical twice. He will need a physical with the school nurse (using SNAP) and with the school athletic trainer (using Healthy Roster).
STUDENT PHYSICALS:
For the 2025-2026 school year, we require a summer physical for all NEW students. Physicals must be done after May 18, 2025, for new students and uploaded to SNAP by August 20, 2025. All returning students must have a valid physical throughout the entire school year. If a returning student's physical expired over the summer, please upload it to SNAP by August 25, 2025. Please use the MSJ Student Physical form found below for your son's physical. If you are unable to get a physical with your son’s primary healthcare provider, we accept physicals done at Patient First, Minute Clinic, and other walk-in health clinics.
HEALTH FORM SUBMISSION:
All health forms for the school nurse are to be submitted electronically using SNAP, which stands for School Nurse Assistant Program. The SNAP Health Portal allows parents to upload their son’s health forms securely and have access to their health information. For new parents, you will receive a welcome email from the SNAP Health Portal the first week in June giving instructions on how to log in and set up an account. Emails will be sent to the parent email accounts on file with the school office. The email will be from Noreply@studentehr.com- do not delete it. Watch this Health Portal Welcome Video for Parents. The first time you sign into SNAP you need to use a computer, not your phone. SNAP will provide you with a temporary username and password. If at some point you forget your SNAP password, go to SNAP’s website www.studentehr.com, using the email on file with the school, and click "forgot password." A link will be sent to reset your password.
Please contact Mrs. Pam Bezirdjian, School Nurse, for any questions or concerns during the school year. The nurse is away from the office beginning Monday, June 9, 2025, and will return on Monday, August 11, 2025. If you have questions during the summer months, please contact Mrs. Erin Baker.
SPORTS: Students playing a sport are required to have their physical uploaded to Healthy Roster prior to tryouts. Please visit the sports medicine page under the athletics tab for information about Healthy Roster, uploading your son’s physical, and sports-related questions. Physicals are valid for one calendar year and cannot expire during the sport season.
IMMUNIZATIONS: FRESHMEN AND TRANSFER STUDENTS are required to submit a CURRENT IMMUNIZATION CERTIFICATE (MDH FORM 896) to the school nurse by the first day of school. Parents are responsible for providing an updated immunization record and should not rely on their son’s former school for sending over immunization forms.
Returning students do not need to submit another immunization record. Students must abide by the vaccination requirements of the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Students who do not have the required vaccinations on the first day of school must demonstrate proof of vaccination, positive titer results, or proof of vaccination appointment to occur within 20 calendar days.
Medical Exemptions: The school only permits medical exemptions from vaccine requirements as documented by a licensed health care provider.
Religious Exemptions:
- Approval is by the School Principal.
- Parent must complete and submit an Immunization Certificate (MDH Form 896) along with AOB Religious Objection for Vaccine Statement.
- Religious exemption must be approved upon enrollment. Yearly reapproval is not required but is subject to change.
- If a student gets a vaccination after religious exemption has been approved, then the student is not eligible for a religious exemption.
- Exempted students are to be excluded from school if there is an outbreak of the disease(s) for which they are not immunized.
If your son uses an Epi-pen, your physician can complete either the FARE form or the Physician Form for Prescription Medication.
Download Forms
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Student Physical
Please use this form for your son's physical.
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Immunization Certificate - MDH Form 896
This certificate is REQUIRED of all new students.
- AOB - Religious Objection for Vaccination Supporting Statement
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Consent for OTC Medications 2025-2026
This form is required if you want your son to receive any over-the-counter medicine while in school. The form needs to be renewed every year and must be signed by a healthcare provider as well as the parent to be valid. The school nurse can’t dispense medicine without this form.
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Post-Concussion Return to School Form
This form is to be completed by a healthcare provider following a concussion diagnosis. The form must be returned to the nurse on the student’s first day back to school.
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Physician Form for Prescription Medication
This form is mandatory for any student who will need prescription medicine during the school day.
- Food and Allergy Care Plan (FARE)
Mount Saint Joseph High School
Mount Saint Joseph is a Catholic, college preparatory school for young men sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers.
