District Nurse Kimberly Nowland, BSN, RN

Health Offices:
Manitou Spring Elementary School 719 685 2154
Ute Pass Elementary School 719 685 2227
Manitou Springs Middle School 719 685 2127
Manitou Springs High School 719 685 2074

Health services are provided by our school nurse and other trained personnel during normal school hours (which do not include athletics, after school activities, trips, etc).  After normal school hours, the emergency response will be to call 911.

How Sick is Too Sick?  When Children and Staff Should Stay Home from School or Child Care

If your child is diagnosed with a communicable disease, please call the office or your school nurse.  Students who have symptoms of illness should not attend school.  Such symptoms could include fever, frequent or productive cough, throat or ear pain, vomiting or diarrhea, or an undiagnosed rash.  If antibiotics are prescribed for an illness, please wait 24 hours before sending your child to school.

Only basic first aid is done at school.  School secretaries and health aides provide this care in our schools with school nurse training and consultation.  Parents are notified if a child sustains any significant injury at school so that the student can be observed closely at home.  Staff will call 911 if a student presents with a potentially serious, life-threatening illness or injury.

Medications can be given at school if needed following state guidelines and district policy.  We encourage parents to give medication at home as much as possible.  We must have written parental permission to give any medication at school.  Additionally we require physician written authorization to give any medication at school including all other over the counter medications.  All medication must be in original containers.  Please refer to the District 14 Medication Administration Form for complete information on medications at school.

If your child needs to self carry emergency medications , please contact your school nurse.  The student needs to demonstrate appropriate maturity, knowledge and responsibility to self administer emergency medication.  A contract provided by the school nurse and signed by the student, parent, health care provider and school nurse is required.

Any time your child receives immunizations, please send a written copy of this information to the school office.  State law requires schools to maintain student immunization records and to exclude students with incomplete records unless they are in “process.”  Parents may sign for a personal or medical exemption.  Parents may use the the CDPHE non-medical exemption form or submit a signed statement annually. A medical exemption must be signed by a licensed healthcare provider and only needs to be submitted once. Please see links further down on this page and more information is available at https://www.colorado.gov/cdphe/vaccine-exemptions

MSSD14 participates in the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS), a confidential web-based system, maintained by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and used to collect and consolidate immunization information for disease control purposes. The school health office may use CIIS as a tool to ensure that your child has the proper immunizations required for school entry. MSSD does not add any student immunization data to CIIS. 

Vision and hearing screenings are done yearly for all students in preschool at MSES grades K-5 and at UPES K-6, 7, and 9, as well as all new students to the district. Parents are notified if students display difficulty with screening tests. Parents may request vision and hearing screening for any student by contacting the school nurse or health aide. Parents may choose to opt their child out of vision and hearing screening by notifying the school nurse in writing at the beginning of the school year.

Students with Allergies / Anaphylaxis
The Board recognizes that many students are diagnosed with potentially life-threatening allergies and anaphylaxis.  To address this issue and meet state law requirements concerning the management of allergies and anaphylaxis among students, the Board sets forth the following requirements health care plans, reasonable accommodations, access to emergency medications and staff training. 

Students with Food Allergies

TBI / Concussion Information

So your child has been diagnosed with a concussion…now what? 

MSSD 14 is following CDE's recommended BrainSTEPS Colorado Return to Learn Concussion Management Team (CMT) model. The CMT monitors the student's academics and concussion symptoms while gathering appropriate data to justify educational decisions and promote faster recovery during the initial 4-6 weeks post concussion. Any high school student athlete must also follow the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Return to Play protocol. The CMT members have learned how a concussion affects learning and employ strategies to help students remain in school throughout the recovery process. If the student doesn't recovery within 4-6 weeks a referred is made to the local BrainSTEPS team.

In 2016 the Colorado BrainSTEPS program was developed and based off of the original BrainSTEPS model in Pennsylvania. The BrainSTEPS program was created to build a bridge connecting the medical, rehabilitation, education sectors and families following a student (K-12) acquired brain injury (ABI). ABIs can cause cognitive, physical, socio-emotional and behavioral impairments that impact classroom performance and learning. The BrainSTEPS consulting teams support school teams in the development of educational plans following a student acquired brain injury.

Video Resources:

Brain 101

What it's like to get a concussion (Children's Hospital Colorado)

Concussions 101 by Dr. Mike Evans

Section 504 as related to Healthcare Plan
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) is a Federal civil rights law that is designed to eliminate disability discrimination in programs and activities that receive Federal funds. Since all public school districts receive Federal funds, all public school districts must comply with Section 504.

When a student requires specific health services at school to stay safe and healthy, a Healthcare Plan or Action Plan may be written. Because of changes that broadened the coverage of Section 504, children with Healthcare Plans may qualify for disability protections under Section 504. 

Students on Healthcare Plans will be annually reviewed in order to identify whether additional supports or services are necessary.

Health Documents and Forms
Listed below are miscellaneous Health Documents and Forms in Portable Document Format (PDF) that are available for download:

Medication Administration

Allergy Packet

Asthma Packet 

Seizure Packet

Diabetes Packet

Meal Modification Request on Food Services Site

New immunization information for 2020-21 school year

Child Care/Preschool/Head Start-required Immunizations for the 2020-21 School Year
 K – 12 th Grade School-required Immunizations for the 2019-20 School Year
Parent letter for the Tdap vaccine reared at 6th grade entry

Immunization  Documents and Forms

Link to Immunization Exemption Forms and Information from  CDPHE

If you choose not to use the  CDPHE exemption forms, please follow the instructions on the linked letter and submit your signed document to your school's health office.  A medical exemption must be signed by a licensed healthcare provider and only needs to be submitted once.
Immunization Exemption Letter