Back to School Safety: COVID Edition

Families across the country are returning to school for the new academic year. But, for most students and teachers, the learning environment will look different due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

Depending on the school, your family may be returning to a traditional classroom setting, using distance learning from home, or juggling a hybrid of the two delivery methods.

Here are some tips to help keep your family safe this school year:

• Don’t send your child to school sick. Develop a daily routine to quickly check your child for a fever and monitor for signs of illness (e.g. cough, fatigue, headache, etc.).
• Pack hand sanitizer in your child’s backpack. Practice using hand sanitizer with your child before sending them to school. Give them scenarios for when they should use hand sanitizer because they don’t have access to soap and water.
• Stock up on masks. Make sure your child has spare masks available during the school day in case their mask gets dirty, breaks or is lost.
• Develop a home safety plan. Set up a routine to disinfect backpacks, clothing, shoes and other items when children return home from school. Have children wash their hands immediately.

Check out the HSI Emergency Care blog for more back to school safety tips for both in-person and at-home learning.