Admissions Open House - Nov. 8
Keystone’s Virtual Open House takes place on Sunday, November 8, 2020, from 1pm-3pm. Here’s a schedule:

1:00 – 1:05 Welcome from Billy Handmaker, Head of School
1:05 – 1:10 Admissions process from Andrea Banks, Director of Enrollment Management
1:10 – 1:25 Virtual Campus Tour
1:30 – 2:15 Division Level sessions (Little School, Kindergarten, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School)
2:20 – 3:00 Program “Fair” / Q&A for Little School
This is an opportunity for parents and students to meet with current students, specialists (music, art, athletics, STEAM, etc) and/or teachers to ask more grade level specific questions. (Zoom links will be provided in the chat box during the Virtual Campus Tour portion of Open House.)
3:00 End of Program

Tight election at the Little School
At the Little School, preschoolers held their own important election on Nov. 4.

On the ballot was a crucial choice: a snack of chocolate or vanilla ice cream?

By one vote, vanilla triumphed.

Even at this age, every vote counts.
Rotation 4 questionnaires coming

Yes, we're just getting into the swing of Rotation 3, but we're already starting to prepare for Rotation 4 that runs Nov. 30-Dec. 18.

So please expect an email early in the week asking for your selection of in-person or off-campus learning for your children. The questionnaires are due Nov. 13.
Let's please keep morning drop-off safe
Over the past couple of weeks, we have had a few close calls with traffic during morning drop-off and we'd like to go over a few points:

  • If you're dropping off your child on the north side of Craig Place, please make sure your child sits in the seat that's closest to the north side of the street, just in front of the school.
  • Also if you're dropping off your child on the north side of Craig, please make sure your child stays in the car until clearing a temperature and symptom check before getting out. 
  • If you're dropping your child off on the south side of Craig, please wait for your child to clear temperature and symptom check before driving away. If you leave and your child is not cleared to enter campus, we will call you to return immediately.
  • Please do not stop in the middle of Craig to let your child out.

Thank you for your continued attention to the safety of our children and staff.
New issue of The Keynote is out
The latest edition of The Keynote, the student-run campus publication, is out today.

Stories cover topics such as celebrating Halloween on campus during COVID, fantasy football, and a first-person piece on taking the PSAT.

Co-editors-in-chief are senior Derek and junior Shreya.

Make sure to check it out here: https://keystonekeynote.com
Annual Fund Update
A note from Mr. Handmaker and Director of Development and Alumni Relations Mrs. Villafranca:

Dear Keystone Community,
 
We want to express our sincere appreciation to the overwhelming support and sky-high parent participation percentage in this year’s Annual Fund parent drive, surpassing the last five years, at 96.27%.

Parent support came in early during the month long campaign and continued its course until the very end. Overall, 10 grades achieved 100% participation! Also, we'd like to extend a special thanks to this year's Senior families, who registered the highest participation ever for a senior class at 93.10%.

Keystone parents rallied together during these challenging times and showed that our community is strong. This year's Annual Fund Team showed inspiring commitment, hard work, and unconditional support to help Keystone during these challenging times.
 
2020-2021 Annual Fund Team

Chairs                              Araminta Romero & Abelardo Martinez
Little School-Frogs & Turtles     Krystina & David Padilla
Little School-Monkeys & Busy Bugs     Marissa & Pablo Pallan
Kinder Heidi & John Muñoz
1st Sumiti & Richard Green
2nd Liz & Marcin Donda
3rd      Abbie & Jesse Francis
4th      Mary Ann Notestine & Jerry Arismendez
5th      Lakshmi Pinnenti & Rajitha Peddulla
6th      Paola Duhem & Alberto Sandoval
7th      Subrata & Baishakhi Debnath
8th      Diana Lopez
9th      Jeffrey & Anna Weissman
10th    Jennifer & John Walker
11th    Allison & Eric Stocker; Lisa McClain-Zem & Carlos Zem
12th    Kristofer Normand

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to Keystone’s PTO for their active involvement and for working together with the Annual Fund Team. Go Cobras!!!

With immense gratitude,
Billy and Adriana
Billy's Blog - From our Head of School
“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” 
Malala Youfasazi

Teaching in the best of times is hard work. And these are certainly not the best of times. In conversations with heads of school around the country, we discuss the heroic efforts of teachers as they instruct, nurture, and guide their students through this pandemic. Some schools now have all students on campus, some have students in person and in distance learning, and some have yet to allow students to return physically to school. In all of these situations, teachers are working harder than ever to support their students academically and in social-emotional learning as they navigate these unprecedented times.
Important events and notes
Keystone gear available at Vivroux Sports
Stock up on Keystone gear in time for the holidays with a quick visit to Vivroux Sports.

On their retail floor, they have:

  • White and Black Adidas hats
  • White Comfort Color t-shirts in all sizes adult and youth
  • Adidas grey and white t-shirts some youth and adult sizes
  • Cardinal and black full and 1/4 zip Adidas jackets in select adult sizes
  • And a few Adidas black polos

Vivroux Sports is open 10am-5pm Monday-Friday, at 2222 Breezewood, just off New Braunfels Ave. north of the McNay Museum.
Pre-K Positive Parenting Class - Nov. 9

The next Positive Parenting class from the Little School takes place from noon-1p.m. on Nov. 9.

Keystone's counselor Dr. Erica Shapiro, will present on “Parenting as a Team during Distance Learning.” She's a clinical psychologist with experience with children and families in a variety of capacities including private practice, hospitals, and psychological research. She has special training in the areas of child development, parenting, suicide prevention, and assessment of developmental disorders.

It's a lunch and learn class and will take place virtually. Download a flyer for more details and login information here.
Texas Book Festival continues until Nov. 14

Keystone families will want to attend the Texas Book Festival, which ends its run on Nov. 14. Usually it's in Austin, but this year it's virtual - and it's free.

Hot lunches now available
Cafeteria procedures may have changed, but hot lunch is still available.

Now it's packaged in to-go containers and students eat either in their classrooms or outside.



For more information, including how to load your account go to:
Support Keystone while you shop
If you're getting school supplies or adding to your home office from either Office Max or Office Depot, please mention Keystone. As part of the Give Back to Schools program, the stores give 5% of the purchase price of qualifying school supplies in credits to Keystone for office supplies. Be sure to include the school's ID number when you make your purchase. Keystone's school number is: 70100727.
If you're purchasing items from Amazon, please consider supporting Keystone with your purchases and use AmazonSmile. Just designate Keystone as the beneficiary and a portion of your purchases will go to the school.

Make sure to install the Smilematic browser extension. It works with Firefox, Chrome and Safari and automatically redirects users to AmazonSmile when they visit Amazon. Here's the tool: https://couponfollow.com/smilematic.
We want to hear from you!
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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