Supporting Students with Nut Allergies

We are aware of the tremendous risk children and adults who are allergic to nuts can face from even the smallest trace of peanut butter or other nut product. The consequences are life threatening in many cases and require immediate intervention with medication or even hospitalization. We want to eliminate the possibility of such an occurrence at our school as we do have some children with severe nut allergies attending Bertschi School. You can help us by observing the following guidelines, which apply whether or not an allergic child is known to be present:

• Please keep our nut policy in mind when packing your child’s lunch and snacks
• We ask that no foods containing nuts or nut products be brought into our school. This includes no peanut butter sandwiches, nuts in salads, candy with nuts, trail mixes or granola bars with nuts, cereal with nuts, etc.
• This policy applies to potlucks and any other school sponsored event on or off campus

Your understanding and support in helping us to provide a NUT FREE school is greatly appreciated as we strive to provide a safe environment for all students.

Why has Bertschi restricted these items?

A serious allergic reaction can occur from contact with even a microscopic amount of the offending food. For example, a knife used to cut walnut brownies, wiped off and then used to cut fruit, can cause a reaction in a child who eats that fruit from any residue left on the utensil. Simple contact with an allergen can also produce the same reaction. For example, if one child were to eat a peanut butter sandwich and then touch a child with an allergy, there could be an allergic reaction.

How is this restriction implemented?

We ask all families to ensure that no one brings any foods containing any type of nut onto the school property. This means any foods sent in for lunch, snack, or any class event should be carefully checked to make sure they are nut free. Our ban extends to field trips, school events, extended day, and summer camp. Families can help ensure that our school stays nut free by reading the label on every package. In addition, in order to protect our allergic children, amongst other reasons, we do not allow children to share their food or beverages with one another.

Where can I get more information?

Bertschi has a number of resources at your disposal. Our school has an allergy affinity group that would be happy to answer any questions, and each classroom has a teacher, and two classroom coordinators, willing to work together on this issue. We are also happy to match incoming families with a food allergic child with a host family‚ that also has a food allergic child.