IMMUNIZATIONS
As per Oregon law, immunization shots are required by law for children in attendance at public and private schools, preschools, child care facilities, and Head Start programs in Oregon. Nearly every place that provides care for a child outside the home requires shots or a medical or nonmedical exemption to stay enrolled. The number of doses required varies by a child’s age and how long ago they were vaccinated.
​After careful consideration, Heritage School has also adopted its own vaccination requirements for enrolled students. Our policy is intended to protect the most vulnerable within our community who cannot be vaccinated including students with medical contraindications, siblings under one year old, and parents or other family members who are taking immunosuppressive drugs. Requirements (or Board approval of exceptions) must be met prior to enrollment at Heritage School.
At a minimum, children enrolled at Heritage are required to have completed vaccinations for both measles and pertussis, as outlined in both the CDC and State of Oregon immunization guidelines. The vaccine for measles is currently part of the MMR vaccine (for measles, mumps, and rubella) and the vaccine for pertussis is part of the DTaP vaccine (for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis). For most children in the US, that will mean 2 doses of measles and 5 doses of pertussis vaccines. For children who have spent time outside of the US or with certain medical situations, additional doses may be necessary. We require the vaccines to be products officially licensed in the US.
Exemptions from this requirement must be requested and approved by the Heritage School Board of Directors prior to enrollment. We will allow students to enroll with submission of evidence of the presence of an accepted contraindication to the administration of both measles and pertussis vaccines. We will also consider students who have been previously unvaccinated, but who are willing to commit to a schedule to become fully vaccinated.
Please note: Students attending Heritage before this policy was published (April 2019) are exempt from the requirement for measles and pertussis. However, this exemption does not apply to siblings who later apply to the school and does not apply to future policies that may be enacted in response to current or future public health threats. In addition, for children who have spent time outside of the US or with certain medical situations, additional doses may be necessary.
Contact us for specific information or questions related to these policies.
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Additional Information:
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