Pacific Point Opening Plans for 2020-2021 School Year
Dear Pacific Point Families: 

After Governor Newsom announced his mandate on Friday, July 17, many of us were seeking to find ways to bring students back into the classroom safely. On Saturday, thanks to a team effort of research, I submitted an initiation for a health waiver to our local health officers. Today I heard back about our request and PacPoint’s initiation for a waiver has been acknowledged and is in the beginning stages of review by Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department. I will continue to work with them and other local health officials to continue to prepare our campuses to welcome students back on August 13. 

Our executive teams met with our teachers and staff on Monday and Tuesday, and the consensus was to be in the classroom with our students. The hearts and desires of our teachers are to bring students back onto campus and to provide them a safe haven where learning can continue and a feeling of normalcy can be brought back into our lives. 

The board and I want every one of you to know how important it is to have the students back together, and we will continue to explore all of our options to open legally and safely. 

Below is a list of requirements given to us by the SCCPHD (Santa Clara County Public Health Department, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and also SCCOE (Santa Clara County Office of Education).


Minimum Requirements
from local health officers: 

  • Continue social distancing
  • Wear masks
  • Train constituents 
  • Post signage
  • Limit visitors
  • Minimize close contact with the broader community
  • Create pods/cohorts for stable classroom interactions
  • Create a broader space between desks for students and teachers
  • Assigned seating
  • Minimize the sharing of items
  • Students and adults will need to use hand sanitizer and/or wash hands frequently

For a more detailed account of what all schools in California are following, please refer to COVID-19 Prepared: Reopening of Santa Clara County K-12 Schools . This is the basis for all of our requirements to open. 
Pac Point’s Additional
 District-Wide Measures

  • Air Purifiers with HEPA filters in every classroom and main office area
  • Temperature checks in the beginning few weeks of school to ensure students, faculty, staff, and public are without temperatures of 100.0 and above
  • Classes held outside as much as possible and/or with doors and windows open
  • UV light treatments in every classroom after students vacate the premise
  • Each campus is implementing additional site-specific safety measures.
Our first plan is Plan A: return to the classroom. Should we have to make alternative plans, our plan B is to go back to distance learning until such time that we are allowed to return to the classroom.

We understand that some families may not feel comfortable sending their students to campus yet and we have liaisons set in place to offer support to parents and teachers to make the distance learning option a healthy, positive learning experience for the students.

Again, the entire school board and I believe that the best option for our children and families is to return to the classroom, but we want to do this safely, and with the approval of health officials. Each one of us is in a different place and comfort level with our understanding of the coronavirus and Pacific Point Christian School wants to continue to collectively respect families and individuals’ comfort level as well as be a place where families can bring their children for academic, social, mental, and spiritual rejuvenation in a time that is both historical and unprecedented. 

Please join me in earnest prayer for families in Gilroy and elsewhere who have been affected by the virus in more ways than medical, and pray for wisdom for our local health officer liaison as I meet to discuss the potential waiver options for our school regardless of where Santa Clara County is on the watch list. 

In prayer and supplication, 

Superintendent Shanda Adams
and Members of the Board
Jack Daley, Isaac Serrano, Justin Richter, Scott Jackson, and Bill Chaddock