Meet Our Health & Wellness Team
Julianne Balster, BSN, RN, RSN
School Nurse
513-398-3821 x3115
Mrs. Balster is committed to meeting the daily health care needs of our students. She also manages chronic illnesses and conditions during school hours to ensure an uninterrupted educational setting. Her goal is to be a resource to parents and a partner to health care providers in our community.
She serves as an advocate for students and focuses her attention on not only student’s physical health, but their mental, social and emotional well-being as well. She welcomes information regarding your child’s health and/or health needs to provide them the best care possible.
Victoria Gunn, Ed.S, NCSP
School Psychologist
513-398-3821 x3161
Mrs. Gunn is available for all students with the goal of helping students succeed academically, socially, behaviorally and emotionally. She collaborates with educators, parents and other professionals to create safe, healthy and supportive learning environments that strengthen connections between home, school and the community for all students. Some of the services she provides include teacher and parent collaboration, consultation with administrative staff, individual evaluation of students, short-term counseling and program development and implementation.
Linda Piller, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
513-398-3821 x3162
Mrs. Piller works to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat speech, language, social communication and cognitive-communication with students in need. In addition, she provides training and education to families, caregivers and other professionals. Additionally, she is available to provide counseling, consultative services and works collaboratively with professionals in the educational arena to determine support and services for the whole child.
Dory Gunn
Therapy Dog
Dory supports all of our students classrooms throughout the day and greets them in the hallways. She is always open to a warm hug! Therapy dogs are increasingly used to support children in addressing their social and emotional learning needs in schools. Besides positively impacting children’s emotional well-being, therapy dogs also contribute to cognitive development. Dory is certified through Canines for Christ. She loves stuffed animals, cuddling, tennis balls and dog treats!
Social Emotional Health
St. Susanna Parish School is fully committed to the safety of every student entrusted to our care. We focus on developing the whole child and guide them to grow in mind, body and spirit. We have implemented programs devoted to addressing the physical well-being, social emotional and faith development of our school community. To achieve this, we provide students with a safe and nurturing environment to learn.
Terrace Metrics
All students in grades 5 through 8 will have the opportunity to take a behavioral health survey called Terrace Metrics. This is a universal screening tool that focuses on resiliency. Resiliency has been highly researched in the field of psychology over the last decade and is a strong indicator of overall well-being and correlates with successful outcomes in school and life. The Terrace Metrics system assesses student’s protective factors, as well as response to adversity. It is not a diagnostic measure and results are interpreted as part of a group and individually. Parents will receive a report of their child’s scores and students with scores that place them in an at-risk range will be contacted individually.
Second Step®
Second Step is a social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum utilized by all grade levels. Each grade level has lessons that are developmentally appropriate to the skills and challenges of that age group. Social and emotional learning is a foundation for many of our most pressing priorities. SEL helps our students learn and practice skills that set them up for academic success, fulfilling careers, healthy relationships and responsible civic engagement. Social and emotional learning in schools leads to positive outcomes, including better academic performance and decreases in stress and anxiety.
SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships and make responsible and caring decisions.
Health and Wellness Fair
Each year, our students enjoy a hands-on educational fair focused on student well-being and development, including an emphasis on physical, social, mental and emotional health. This collaborative effort of the School Commission, PTO, school staff and parent volunteers educate students on various health topics, such as managing stress, summer safety and more.
We also offer a variety of services through our auxiliary staff to support all studentss who need additional assistance.
Important Wellness Information
Keeping our students healthy and safe is a top priority. We ask that the following guidelines are followed regarding illnesses that result in absences or removal from school.
- Fever
- Temperature greater than 99.5 F with 2 or more symptoms.
- Temperature greater than 100.0 F with or without presentation of symptoms.
- Cough, congestion, runny nose, sore throat (unrelated to allergies or asthma), fatigue, body aches, chills/rigors or shortness of breath.
- Diarrhea, vomiting or severe nausea.
- Confirmed diagnosis of infectious disease, including:
- Influenza
- Pneumonia
- Coronavirus
- Norovirus/Enterovirus
- Rhinovirus
- Strep throat
- Pink eye
- New, undiagnosed or untreated skin rash or condition.
- Doctor’s note requiring an individualized plan of care to stay home due to medical concerns.
- Fever free for 24 hours without medication.
- Vomit and/or diarrhea free for 24 hours without medication.
- After the first 24 hours or 2 doses of various antibiotic treatments for contagious infections (e.g. strep throat, pink eye, etc.).
- Doctor’s note stating medical conditions or concerns have resolved.
Health Forms and Guidelines
Students that require medical needs/attention at school can have the following forms submitted for additional care during the school day.
All of our classrooms are nut free. To protect our students with allergies, we have created an approved snack list for all classroom and school-wide gatherings.