**Pertussis Disease Alert

 Information Notice to Parents of Mountain Valley Prek-12 Students

Date:  10/16/2024

Today the Crestone Charter School received notice of a second confirmed case of pertussis, also known as “whooping cough”, in an elementary classroom. Under the advice of the Saguache County Public Health Office and out of an abundance of caution, Crestone Charter School will close their elementary school until Tuesday October 22, 2024.

While there are no students at the Mountain Valley PreK-12 building showing symptoms nor any confirmed cases of pertussis, the Mountain Valley School District wants to be proactive in providing you sound information. We are in close communication with Crestone Charter School and Saguache County Public Health as they monitor the situation and we will provide any updates as they develop.

This is a good time to consider updating your child’s vaccination status. Our school nurse, Tiffany Smith RN monitors immunization records and is happy to answer any questions about your child’s immunization status. You can call the school at (719) 655-2578 as we are happy to assist you.

INFORMATION AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Pertussis may be very severe in infants and young children and can result in trouble breathing, hospitalization, or death. Symptoms may appear 7 to 10 days after being in close contact with someone who has pertussis, but can take anywhere from 4 to 21 days. Pertussis begins with cold-like symptoms that may include:

Runny Nose

Mild coughing

Low-grade fever

After one to two weeks, coughing becomes more severe and develops into coughing fits (many, rapid coughs) that leave a person out of breath. These fits are often followed by a high-pitched “whooping” sound heard when a person inhales. Severe coughing fits can cause vomiting or changes in facial color. In between coughing fits, your child may look and feel fine. Infants may not have the same symptoms and instead may have moments where they temporarily stop breathing (apnea)

Cough-like illnesses are common this year. However, if your child develops coughing fits, they should stay home from school until they have been seen by a health care provider. If your child is coughing, tell your doctor who may want them to be tested and to receive a prescription antibiotic. Students diagnosed with pertussis must be kept home from school and should avoid crowded public places and contact with people at risk of severe disease (infants, pregnant women, people with severe medical conditions) until completing five days of an appropriate antibiotic.  

The Health Department recommends the following

● Review the DTaP/Tdap vaccination records of everyone in your household and arrange for vaccination, if not up to date

**  The mobile VaxVan is coming to Crestone on Oct. 25th, location details to follow**

● Contact your child’s health care provider if they have a severe cough and seek emergency care if they are having trouble breathing. 

●  If diagnosed with pertussis, your child should stay home from school until they have completed 5 days of antibiotics.

●  Children with other respiratory illnesses should follow ** CCS’s COVID-19 recommendations**.

If you have any questions, please contact Saguache County Public Health at 719-759-7650.Pertussis -759-7650.

Get your kids ready for a great photo! Photo Day is Tuesday October 8.

Mountain Valley vs Centauri

Mountain Valley Gym

10/1/2024 at 4:30

Mountain Valley School Parent Teacher Conferences

Monday September 30, 2024

Wednesday October 2, 2024

4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Parent-teacher conferences are meetings between parents and teachers to discuss a child's progress in school. They can help parents and teachers find solutions to academic or behavioral issues, and can take place in elementary, middle, and high schools

Please contact your Student’s Teacher to set up a time for your conference

719-655-2578

It's Scholastic Book Fair time! From September 30th - October 3rd, come experience the limitless possibilities with your kids. Every purchase benefits our school. The Book Fair will be open during Parent/Teacher Conferences - Monday, Sept.30th and Wednesday, October 2nd. 

BOOK FAIR HOMEPAGE

We strive to find ways to improve how we communicate with students, parents, guardians, and the community. We currently use SchoolMessenger to send Voice messages and emails. We are going to add the SMS (text messaging) option. So you will have a choice of how you prefer to receive messages. On Wednesday, September 4 at 10:00 am, you may receive a text giving you the option to OPT IN to text messaging. If you don't receive that text, you can OPT IN by following the instructions in the graphic. If you do not OPT IN, you will not receive text messages.

Picture Days are coming.