About CAIS / COVID Response

Philosophy & Leadership

教育理念与领导团队

“Just as I wear a mask to protect you, and you wear a mask to protect me, remember that the decisions you make impact others’ children, and the decisions others make will impact your children.”

Last Updated August 10, 2022. 

This reflects our best thinking up to this point and we are constantly working on it. Updates will be shared here and via newsletter.


CAIS Pandemic Response

As our school community navigates the complexities associated with COVID-19, CAIS remains committed to an educational program that is anchored in

  • The essential elements of our school’s Mission, Core Values, and Strategic Vision
  • Best practices in managing health risks for our students, workforce, and families
  • Realistic and sustainable expectations of our faculty
  • Partnership with our CAIS families as they strive to balance school, work, and family life 

Our Guiding Principles

  • We start from a place of caution and proceed with a commitment to systematic reassessment and adjustments to our approaches—both to risk management and student learning—based on information we actively seek from authorities and our community stakeholders.
  • All children should attend in-person, full time school with health and safety as the top priority.
  • COVID response decisions and plans are based on guidance from public health and government authorities in consultation with our Pandemic Response Advisory Team.
  • Successful risk management for everyone in our extended community depends on a partnership between families and school, and we rely on families to understand and adhere to the school’s guidance and procedures.
  • COVID-19 is a global phenomenon: patience, flexibility, and perspective are required of all community members to address it.

COVID Response Advisory Team

The COVID Response Advisory Team brings a variety of perspectives and expertise to advise the COVID Response Operations (CRO) Team of administrators on how best to operationalize public health guidance.

Steve Bajc* 
Parent / Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer

Jeff Bissell* 
Head of School

Kimberly Kaz* 
Head of Lower School 

Stephanie Liang*
Health Coordinator

Stephanie Lim 
Parent / Trustee

Dr. Kathleen Liu 
Parent / Physician / Trustee

Dr. Ben Lui 
Parent / Physician / Trustee

Wei Qian* 
Parent / Head of Early Childhood

Tim Reitz* 
Director of Communications

Dr. Monique Schaulis 
Parent / Physician / Trustee

Chris Tom 
Parent / Board Chair

Chu-Hsi Tseng* 
Preschool Director

Joe Williamson* 
Head of Middle School

Dr. Lisa Wu 
Parent/Physician

* COVID Response Operations (CRO) Team Member


Authorities That Will Guide Our Planning and Decision Making

(From specific to general):

San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) San Francisco Department of Social Services (DSS) for Preschool City and County of San Francisco California Department of Public Health (CDPH) State of California, Office of the Governor Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Questions? Contact covidresponse@cais.org