For some Monterey County students, school is back in session -- in person.

In one classroom, the teacher is talking to her fourth-graders about a project on Native American cultural heritage. In the library, a group of kids listens with rapture as a teacher reads dramatically from a book about a character who encounters dinosaurs. In another classroom, kids are handed a bin full of objects, apparently tasked with building something. Outside, some students are learning to work blocks of clay into the shape of a pot, while others are heading out for recess on the lawn.

In other words – after 216 days of shelter-in-place – school is looking something close to normal, at least for some families in Monterey County.

This particular school is All Saints Day School, a private institution among the first in the county to reopen in person under a waiver program available for kindergarten through sixth grade. A school can apply for a waiver through the county Health Department by submitting a plan for sanitation, distancing and other public health protocols.

In many other counties in California, Covid-19 is less widespread, and schools have been allowed to reopen in person at all grade levels, without waivers. The latest state rating, released Oct. 20, shows an improvement in Monterey County but not enough to escape the restrictive Purple Tier.

“Once we got the waiver approved, it was just a huge relief, and just families and students were thrilled about it,” says Scott Fujita, who took over as the head of All Saints a little more than a year ago.

A former linebacker with the New Orleans Saints team that won the Super Bowl in 2009, Fujita is six-foot-six. He sometimes adopts a very wide stance to come closer to the average person’s eye level.

“We have so much space to get really creative with, including great outdoor spaces where we can create these outdoor dining and learning experiences,” he says, and later points out that the school abuts the Carmel River. “With some of the other schools, they’re limited in that way. So we recognize we’re fortunate.”

Students are screened for symptoms upon arrival each morning. They file into their classrooms not through the hallway, which could lead to congregation, but through the exterior door of their classroom. They sit at least six feet apart at desks, everyone is wearing masks at all times. Wash stations and sanitizers are everywhere.

Enrollment at the school is up 20-25 percent this year, Fujita says, with some growth due to families relocating from the Bay Area or Los Angeles.