A Note from Nurse Vella

Hello Lafayette Families! As we close out the year, I wanted to share a few reminders and updates from the Nurse’s Office!
 
Immunizations
 
DC Health requires that I send out immunization notices to all students due and overdue for immunizations. Many of our graduating 5th graders will receive these notices as they are due for their 11-year shots. Please don’t panic! If you receive a notice, it simply means that they will need to get these shots over the summer OR we simply don’t have a recently updated record on file—please submit updated records to your respective middle schools! 
 
Medication Pickup
 
Please, please, please pick up your child’s medication(s) during the last week of school. I will be here 8-4:30 every day (except 6/19, but I will be here Friday, 6/23). We cannot send medications home in students’ backpacks! 
 
If your student will be at Lafayette’s ESY program over the summer, please touch base with me—you do likely do not need to pick up your student’s medication in that circumstance, however I want to touch base and ensure medication forms are up to date! If your student is attending a different summer school program, you will need to pick up their medications and get them to their respective programs. 
 
Health Forms
 
Please submit your health forms to lafayettehealthforms@gmail.com throughout the summer! It is much easier to process them when it is quieter in the summer. Please remember that health certificates, dental forms, and medication forms must be renewed annually (they expire 365 days from the date of exam). If your child’s physical is usually in November and we have the physical from last November on file, it is totally fine to wait until November and submit the new form so that we have the most recent physical on file! We go by “date of last exam” for the expiration date, NOT the date the physician signed it! 
 
Farewell ❤️
 
It has been such a joy to get to know and care for the students of Lafayette over the last 2 years—this school has forever changed me, and this community holds a dear place in my heart. This role helped solidify my goal of becoming a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner! I will be attending NP school full time in person down in Charlottesville starting this fall—therefore I will be leaving my role here. I wish I could continue my job here, even in a part-time capacity, but this school truly requires and deserves someone who is 100% committed to it full time. 
 
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the love, patience and kindness this community has shown as we navigated coming back to school during the pandemic and transitioning to post-pandemic “normalcy.” My last day will be Friday 6/23—I am here for all of your health form, immunization, medication questions until then! Please ensure you send all health suite/health form related questions to lafayettehealthforms@gmail.com from that date forward as I will not have access to my Children’s National email account after 6/23! 
 

Please do keep in touch!

Melanie Vella, BSN, RN, NCSN
Community Health School Nurse
Children’s School Services