Dear VCS Community,
Valley Christian Schools (VCS) continues to closely monitor the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s
recommendations
for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak and we are following their recommendations intended to slow the spread of this virus in our community, reduce the number of people infected, and protect those who are most vulnerable to severe illness. VCS is fully aware of the disruptions these required actions will cause. These required actions were determined utilizing all currently available information and the fact that nothing exceeds the importance of the health and well-being of our students, families, and staff.
March 5, 2020, the health department released new guidelines including,
- “At this time, we recommend postponing or canceling mass gatherings and large community events where large numbers of people are within arm’s length of one another.”
New COVID-19 Protocols
- As recommended, school will remain open based on the following guideline from the county health department, “The reason we are not recommending school closures at this time is because children have not been shown to be a high-risk group for serious illness from this virus. As much as possible, children should be allowed to carry on with their education and normal activities.”
- All CIF-sanctioned sporting events remain as scheduled. Spectators are strongly discouraged from attending and are expected to stay arm’s length from one another while attending any sporting event.
- In an abundance of caution, we are postponing all VCS-sponsored after-school activities, other than sporting events, including tomorrow night’s Father-Daughter Dance, Winter Sports Banquet, Spring Band Concert, and Quest Ball until further notice. This decision was made in accordance with the guidelines indicating that students are at a low risk as compared to adults who pose a higher risk.
- Anyone with close or immediate contact with a student or employee traveling to any area designated by the CDC as Level 2 or higher, the student or employee is required to self-quarantine and notify the school immediately. Additionally, the exposed student or employee must refrain from coming on campus or attending school activities for at least 14 days. VCS will make necessary accommodations for any student to continue to learn from home to keep up on classwork.
- All school-related international travel will be canceled until the end of the school year.
- VCS employees are highly discouraged from traveling internationally or to communities with known community spread cases of COVID-19. Additionally, airports are an obvious place to spread the virus so please limit your air travel.
We will continue to communicate with our VCS community as updated guidelines are made available from the CDC and local health departments. For additional medical information and updates, please visit
www.sccgov.org
and
www.cdc.gov
. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at
communications@vcs.net
. Our highest priority is safeguarding the health and wellness of our students, faculty, and staff and we appreciate your cooperation. Also, please join us in prayer as we pray for all those affected by this pandemic.
In His Service,
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Dr. Clifford Daugherty
President
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