 [ Symptoms ] i work in a preschool classroom and have been diagnosed with shingles when can i return to school [ Disease ] if the shingles are not in a place where there would be direct skin contact covered by clothing you can go back to work when you can tolerate or control the pain as a pre school employee you most likely were exposed to the varicella chicken pox virus by one of the children unless you have had shingles in the past and this is just a reactivation of the virus