Skip To Main Content

Health & Wellness

Welcome to Pope John Middle School!

Student Health & Safety Guidelines

To ensure a safe, healthy, and productive learning environment for all our students, we ask that families please observe the following health protocols. We appreciate your partnership in keeping the Catholic Academy community well.

Nut-Free Campus

Pope John Middle School is a strict nut-free environment. For the safety of students with severe allergies, please check all food labels carefully and do not send any products containing nuts to school.

Reporting Absences

If your child will be absent, please notify the school nurse through one of the following methods before 8am:

  • Absentee Line: Call 973-729-6125. Select Option 2 for PJMS, then press 1.

  • Message Details: Please leave your child’s name, grade, and a brief reason for the absence (either illess or personal).

  • Email: You may also email the nurse directly-  nursems@popejohn.org

Physician’s Notes

To help us maintain accurate medical records, a doctor’s note including a specific diagnosis is required for:

  • Absences lasting 3 or more consecutive days due to illness.

  • Any injury that required medical equipment such as crutches, splints, braces, boots, casts, etc. 

  •  Emergency room visits

  • Head injuries or suspected concussions.

  • Any type of skin rash or suspected pink eye.

When to Stay Home

We kindly ask that you keep your child home if they are unwell. This allows them to rest and prevents the spread of illness to classmates. Please follow these "Return to School" criteria:

  • Fever: Students must be fever-free (under 100°F) for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

  • Vomiting or Diarrhea: Students must stay home for 24 hours after the last episode.

  • Communicable Disease such as Pink Eye or Strep Throat: Students may return 24 hours after the first dose of prescribed medication.

  • MIsc. Symptoms: Please keep children home for skin rashes or severe coughs.

A Special Note on Wellness: We understand that it can be difficult to manage schedules when a child is ill, but please do not administer Tylenol or Motrin to mask a fever before sending a student to school. If a child is not well enough to participate in the full school day, keeping them home is the best way to ensure they recover quickly and our classrooms stay healthy.

Medical Forms and Information

REQUIRED FORMS to be handed in to the nurse/main office by August 1st:

If Applicable:

Sports Forms to be handed in prior to the first day of practice:

Misc.