Hello, Roos!

I am so excited to be a part of the Uhland Roo family! I have been a nurse for 25 years with the last 4 years as a school nurse. My experience ranges from Oncology, Labor & Delivery, Hospice, Pediatric Psychiatry, and now School Nursing. I am truly honored to be providing your children with healthcare while they are at school.

My family and I live in Buda, where we enjoy playing with our goofy dog and working on our house and in our yard. I have 2 children: one is in college and the other one is a teacher. Even though we are all over 18 years old, we really love going to Walt Disney World whenever we can. My daughter and I both love reading any book we can get our hands on, too!

As your School Nurse I will be identifying, assessing, trying to prevent, and intervening to remedy or modify students' health needs. The school nurse's goal is to promote the optimum health of students and the students' abilities to achieve their individual educational goals.

Nurses monitor required immunizations, perform mandated health screenings, track communicable diseases, plan for emergencies, and provide direct care to students.

We would like to assure you that medical information about your child is treated as confidential by the nurses and all school staff.  We do not share information about your child with outside parties, nor can we discuss health concerns of any other student with you.

Tips for a Healthy School Year

• Every child from Prekindergarten to 5th grade should have a change of clothes in their backpack. All sorts of accidents happen at school. I am not guaranteed to have your child’s size in the spare clothes closet. I don’t want to have to call you to bring extra clothes to school.

• Every child needs to have a water bottle at school. Many minor ailments can be cured by keeping hydrated throughout the day.

• Practice handwashing and covering your cough at home. Handwashing should happen after bathroom use, before and after eating, after coughing or sneezing, after playing outside, and any other time hands are dirty. Please include cleaning under the nails. Make sure you are covering coughs in the crook of your elbow, like a vampire.

• Keep your child home if he or she is sick. When children come to school sick, they spread germs to everyone they meet, even when they have gotten medicine before coming to school. Over-the-counter medicine will not make them well. It will mask the symptoms for a few hours. The sickness germs are still present.

• Take a look at the district Student Health Services website. There are multiple links to helpful information, including what to do if your child needs medications at school or if your child has a health condition that requires extra care. https://www.hayscisd.net/page/student-health-services

Health Screenings for the 2025-2026 School Year

Texas law requires schools to conduct hearing, vision, spinal, and Acanthosis Nigricans (AN) screenings to help identify potential health concerns early.  New legislation now requires parent to opt in for these screenings. Required grades for Vision and Hearing screening are: PK, K, 1, 3, 5, and 7. Required grades for Spinal screenings are: 5th and 7th grade girls and 8th grade boys. In addition to these required grades, all new to district students are required to be screened for vision and hearing regardless of grade. Some students may need to be screened during the year for special programs like special education as well as a concern for vision or hearing in the classroom. We are requesting that all parents complete the consent for screening regardless of grade. Your child will only be screened if they fall in one of the above categories.  Parents will be notified of any screenings that are not passed for follow up care referrals. No news is good news.

Uhland Elementary screening is currently scheduled for November. Keep a look out for more information! In the meantime, visit the link to consent for the screenings.

https://www.hayscisd.net/page/health-screenings

Stephanie Keith Kalk, BSN, RN
Uhland Elementary School
(512) 268-8503 ext. 42905
Email Stephanie Keith Kalk