The front of the school building.

Our School

Allergen Aware School

Anaphylaxis is the most severe allergic reaction and is potentially life threatening.

At St. Jude Catholic School numerous students have serious and/or life-threatening allergies to certain foods. Foods that can trigger an anaphylactic reaction by consumption and contact are:

  • Traces of peanuts and other nuts

  • Fish and shellfish

  • Sesame seeds

  • Eggs

  • Kiwis

  • Seed

  • Nut oils

In an effort to maximize safety, please do not send food items to school with any nuts or seeds – at any time. Individual classrooms may also have specific medical alerts that parents will be made aware of. In these individual cases, parents in specific classes will be asked to avoid sending their child to school with that specific food item.

We ask that everyone practice extra care in checking all food items before they come to school, it is especially important to read the labels of the items purchased to avoid nuts and seeds.

Please do not send baggies with cookies/cupcakes, or home-made cookies/cupcakes, etc., as it will not be possible for school staff to verify the ingredient list of these items.

Food items purchased at fast food restaurants may also have nuts or seeds. Please inform yourself before purchasing these items to avoid sending them to school. Speaking to your children about food allergies will help to educate them as well. 

Please do not send in food items for birthdays or at other celebration times. We want these special days to be fun for all children, so we invite you to consider alternate choices for sharing. For those that wish to, some suggestions include: a book donation to the class on behalf of the child celebrating their birthday, craft supplies for the class to share, a donation to a charity that the school supports in your child’s name, a pencil, stickers, or crayons.

In addition to this, we would like for you to reinforce our message of not sharing food items at school. Although we promote sharing, for example, of books, toys, ideas, materials, etc., the sharing of any food item is not permitted. Frequent hand washing is also an important step in preventing cross contamination.

While we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment, together, we can do our best to promote an allergen-aware environment, to ensure the safety of all children at St. Jude CS. When staff, parents, and students, work together, we can establish a common understanding about the severity of anaphylaxis, and we are able to create a safer environment.  

Thank you for your cooperation and support.