A message from Mr. Handmaker
Dear Friends:
As Keystone’s 70th anniversary year winds to a close, I wanted to share news about upcoming exciting developments.
We are introducing several new electives next year:
- The Upper School will introduce two new Social Science Electives: Modern Global Issues and Practical Ethics.
- For the first time, the Upper School will offer electives in music: Rock Lab, and The Rock Band. In addition, we will offer Modern Acting I, and Modern Acting II.
- The Lower School will add more Movement Classes.
We are building new facilities:
- A Fitness Room with weights and fitness equipment in the basement level of North Hall
- A Movement and Yoga Studio in the basement of North Hall
- New Founders Hall classroom: Two small spaces upstairs are converting into a single room
- New Athletic Office on the second floor of the Carriage House
- Lower School Playground will be resurfaced and expanded
- A renovated and relocated Senior Lounge in Stephens Hall
- Fencing and landscape improvements on the northwest corner of the main campus
- Playground expansion at Little School
Other updates:
Campus Master Plan:
The Campus Master Plan Committee, which includes trustees, administrators, faculty, alumni, and outsiders, will select an architecture firm this spring to develop a Campus Master Plan. The firm will gather input from all constituencies and produce a plan that will guide Keystone’s facilities growth for the next 10 to 20 years.
Website:
A new KeystoneSchool.org site will debut later this spring.
ISAS Self Study:
Faculty and staff are finishing up the self-study process this month as part of renewing our accreditation with the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. We will revisit our self-study when we return to school this fall, and a team from other independent schools will visit Keystone in February 2020.
Keystone’s first 70 years have produced a school with a track record few others in the country can match. These changes will help us build on those accomplishments as we move forward in the years to come.
With great expectations,
Billy
William B. Handmaker
Head of School
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Bienvenidos, 欢迎, bienvenue to International Day
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Leave it to Keystone to transform the diversity that makes it unique among schools into a day of learning, insight and great food.
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Holocaust survivor brings powerful message to Keystone
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Dr. Inge Auerbacher
visited Keystone and brought her message of courage, perseverance and remembrance to International Day during a presentation that will undoubtedly endure in students' memories.
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Congratulations to the 26 Upper School students who joined the Keystone chapter of the National Honor Society this week during this year's 59th annual induction ceremony
NHS recognizes students for excellence in four areas: scholarship, leadership, character, and service, and the Keystone students all have amassed impressive track records in all of these areas.
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Keystone students perform well in international math competition
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The results are in from the international
Purple Comet
math competition, and Keystone students performed well.
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Laws of Life essay contest
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Congratulations to Jasmine (left) and Ella Celeste (right) for earning places of Merit in this year's
Laws of Life essay contest
from the Better Business Bureau. In the middle is Dean Taylor of the local BBB.
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Faculty team wins again
In our annual student-faculty basketball game, the faculty kept its streak going and won 63-55.
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Little School celebrates Fiesta
Celebrating Fiesta at the Little School always brings out a sense of fun, homemade parade floats and lots of cascarones.
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Softball team heading to playoffs
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Congratulations to the softball team, for winning three of their last four games and snagging the final playoff spot. Most recently, they defeated St Gerard's 18-3 in three innings to finish third in district.
Details for the next game were undecided as of our publication time. Go Cobras!
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Dear Parent,
These are the days your child will want to remember forever. Help make the year unforgettable by purchasing a yearbook!
Order now, so your child won’t miss out when the yearbook is distributed around May 10.
Sincerely,
Yearbook Team
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If you missed last week's suicide prevention presentation
If you missed the powerful presentation from Mrs. Raymer and Dr. Shapiro on teenage suicide that they delivered during last week's PTO meeting,
here's the PowerPoint.
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Billy's Blog: From the Head of School
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“
A Good Half of The Art of Living is Resilience.”
-Alain De Botton
For years now, writers, thinkers, educators, and pundits have bemoaned a lack of resilience in today’s children. According to many people, this generation of children, disparagingly called “snowflakes” for their purported fragility, crumble in the face of difficulties.
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Music Teacher Gabrieal Gonzales
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Position:
Music Teacher
Education:
Bachelor Degree in Music Performance, Masters in Music, and Texas Music Teachers certification from Texas Tech University
Why do you like working here:
Motivated and talented students and faculty
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Important Events and Notes
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Book Buddies Book Drive ends April 30
Look for grey bins around campus to collect kids' books for Book Buddies.
Fourth grade Leadership is helping Book Buddies. That's an initiative of San Antonio Youth Literacy to collect books suitable for kids in grades Pre-K through 5, that kids can take home to read over the summer. Please consider donating your gently used picture books, chapter books, fiction or non-fiction, but please no dirty, torn or religious books.
Click here for more information.
The drive ends April 30.
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There's still time to stock up on great summer reading at the Book Fair. If you want to shop online,
click here.
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Mural dedication - May 2
Please join the Keystone community on Thursday, May 2
nd
for the dedication ceremony of a student designed mural on campus. Over the last three years, Keystone Upper School students have worked with the
Butterfly Project
to commemorate the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust.
In conjunction with
Yom Hashoah,
“the Day of Remembrance,” our community would like to reinforce messages of hope, resilience and justice for all areas and for all people. Please join us in the Quad at 5:30 p.m. for a short dedication ceremony followed by light snacks shortly thereafter. The event should conclude by 6 p.m. and all grades are invited.
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Travel Society Pizza sale - May 3
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The Travel Society is holding a pizza sale on Friday to help defray travel costs for a trip this summer to Ecuador and the Galapagos. Students in Grades K-4 should send their money with a form from their teacher or
download the form here.
Students in grades 5-12 can pay in the lunchroom.
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Senior Parent Event: Transition to College - May 8
Ms. Raymer and Ms. Christiansen will be hosting a 12th grade parent event on Wednesday, May 8 from 6:30-7:30pm in the theater about the transition to college. We’ll be discussing the book
"Letting Go" by Coburn & Treeger
and talking about how senior parents can be supportive in their student’s transition to college.
Download a flyer here
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Important Middle School Dates
Fifth Grade Aquatics Day
--- May 10.
Fifth Graders travel to San Marcos for this day-long field trip. For details, contact Ms. Darr:
Kdarr@keystoneschool.org
End-of-Year Events
Final Exams
Fifth and Sixth Grade
Monday, May 20: English
Tuesday, May 21: History/Geography and Math
Wednesday, May 22: Science
Seventh and Eighth Graders
will also take their exams Monday, May 21 through Wednesday, May 22; a detailed schedule for exams days will be emailed in early May.
Last Day of School/Early Release:
Wednesday, May 22
School is dismissed at 1 pm; we don't hold Aftercare.
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Lower School Parents: Order your supplies now
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It's not too late for a Fiesta medal
Keep the Fiesta spirit going by snagging your own Keystone medal. They're available for purchase for $10 in the Development Office or Business Office, both upstairs at Founders Hall. All proceeds will go to the Alumni Scholarship.
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Cafeteria Services is now online!
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Did you know you can view and pay your balance online?
Find out how to create your online account by
clicking here
. Then go to
ezparentcenter.com
. Once Cafeteria Services activates your account, you're all set.
If you have any problems, contact Mrs. Mlcak at
kmlcak@keystoneschool.org
or 210-735-4022 x356 or Cafeteria Services at 210-348-7667.
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Support Keystone while you shop on Amazon
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Yearbook ordering deadline coming soon
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We want to hear from you!
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If you have news to share about the students, alumni, faculty or staff at Keystone School, please send it to:
etijerina@keystoneschool.org
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Follow Keystone on social media
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