Happy 10th Anniversary to the Little School!

A small crowd of current and former Little School parents gathered to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Keystone's preschool program Friday morning.


Guests heard from two students from the first class, 9th grader Magnus and 8th grader Ella Sofia. They shared their memories and their thanks for all the help that the teachers at the Little School gave them.


For photos of the celebration, click here.


And in honor of the anniversary, we have created a video. Please watch and enjoy. 


Here's to many more years of teaching our youngest Cobras!

8 seniors named National Merit Commended Students

Congratulations to the eight Keystone seniors named Commended Students in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are among approximately 34,000 receiving this recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, out of the 1.6 million eligible students who took the PSAT in 2021.


The students are: 


  • Aleena
  • Maya
  • Anneliese
  • Sarah
  • Alex
  • Jasmine
  • Andy
  • Jeffrey

6th Graders head east of San Antonio for Outdoor Education trip


The sixth graders headed to New Ulm, an unincorporated area about halfway between San Antonio and Houston, for Outdoor Education.


In their program, run by Nature’s Classroom Institute, students spent two nights in cabins. Their activities included hiking, teambuilding exercises and learning more about the land, ecology, and environment of South Texas.


Check out photos from the trip here.

Senior excels at Exeter summer program


Congratulations to senior Ana for a successful summer and excelling in a summer program at Phillips Exeter Academy.


She received Honors in two classes: "Human Physiology & Anatomy" and "Euphoria: The Human Pursuit". 


In one of her evaluations of the "Euphoria" class, an instructor wrote: "In the final report, she did a phenomenal job explaining the dangers of use, history of the war on drugs, and overall, the evolution of drugs. I thought Ana's perspective on the right to dangerous pharmaceuticals was impressive."


Great job!

Billy's Blog: From our Head of School

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” 

–Rachel Carson


“That is so cool!” “I wish we did that when I was in school!” “Wow, those kids are so lucky!” The other chaperones, students, and I heard comments like these repeatedly from other travelers as we ascended the Storm King Mountain Trail in Olympic National Park last week during the 9th grade Outdoor Education (OE) trip.


For six days and five nights, we canoed, hiked, practiced citizen science skills, journaled, painted watercolors, played fun games, and of course enjoyed S’mores by a campfire on the final night. Students and teachers were able to spend time together and get to know each other in a very different setting from the main campus.


For decades now, Keystone has sent students on a variety of educational trips across the country, and some alumni point to these excursions as constituting the most formative memories of their time at Keystone. Beyond the joy of travel, what purpose do these experiences have?


Read more here

Important Events and Notes

Violinist Nancy Zhou '11 performing at Keystone - Oct. 6 


Before violinist Nancy Zhou '11 takes the stage with the San Antonio Philharmonic, she's delivering a special appearance and performance here at Keystone.


Her Keystone appearance takes place October 6th from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Theatre.


She will be performing excerpts from her upcoming performance with the SA Philharmonic, and answering questions from Keystone community members.


We welcome both parents and students to attend this event. Please reserve a seat in advance. If you would like to submit a question, fill it out in the second section of the form.


Please reserve your seat here.

NHS walking in Light the Night - Oct. 8


Keystone's chapter of the National Honor Society is walking in this year's Light the Night event. The walk takes place Oct. 8 at Hemisfair.


To learn more and support the Keystone team, please click here.

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)


Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining"!

Visit Keystone - Oct. 13



Come learn more about Kindergarten through Fourth Grade and our school community at Visit Keystone!


The event is Thursday, Oct. 13 from 9am-10:30am. Please note there is a detailed agenda for the morning.


Visit Keystone is specifically designed for families who are new to our community and are interested in Kindergarten through 4th Grade for the 2023-2024 school year.


Those who attend the Little School will have a separate event and current families should contact Director of Enrollment Management Andrea Banks.


Please register here.

PTO General Meeting - Oct. 17


From Keystone's PTO:



Please join us for the first PTO General Meeting of the school year on Monday, October 17 at 7:00 pm via Zoom.

 

The meeting will include a welcome from Head of School, Billy Handmaker, PTO updates, and guest speaker Dr. Erica Shapiro, Keystone Counselor. 

 

President-elect Sumiti Green will detail where our community can find more information about the PTO via our webpage and discuss the pilot programs of our Virtual Bulletin Board: Help Wanted/Jobs Wanted, Volunteer Opportunities and Shadowing Opportunities.


Keystone's new Athletic Director, D'Andre Montgomery, will talk about the highlights for the Fall sports thus far, preparation for winter sports, the possibility of basketball for 2nd and 3rd graders, a new digital ticketing system for home games, and our new athletics social media pages. 

 

Dr. Shapiro will present "Building Empathy in Children: How and Why It Matters". The presentation will be followed by Q&A.


 Parents will receive an email with a link to the meeting.

Save the Date - Feb. 3 - Spurs Keystone Night


Save the date: This year's Keystone Night at a Spurs game is Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at the AT&T Center.


Come out and watch the Spurs take on the Philadelphia 76ers.


We'll share ticketing information when it becomes available.

College Visits

Monday, Sept. 26

6th Period: Scripps College (CA) - In-person 

7th Period: American University (DC) - Virtual


Tuesday, Sept. 27

1st Period: Barnard College (NY) - In-person

2nd Period: University of San Francisco - In-person

6th Period: Bradley University (IL) - Virtual


Wednesday, Sept. 28

6th Period: Oberlin College (OH) - In-person

8th Period: Whitman College (WA) - In-person


Thursday, Sept. 29

5th Period: Smith College (MA) - In-person

8th Period: University of Chicago - In-person


Friday, Sept. 30

1st Period: Boston University - In-person


College visits to Keystone are intended for students only. Links for the virtual visits are accessible through Naviance 15 minutes prior to the visit. Please see Ms. Christiansen for assistance.

Alumni News

Carmen Tafolla '69 discusses influences on her work in TV interview


Carmen Tafolla '69, San Antonio's first-ever poet laureate and a former Texas poet lauerate, discussed the West Side area in which she grew up and how it shaped her work.


She's appearing at the upcoming Texas Book Festival in Austin later this year.


Check out the interview here

Cobra Radio podcast features alum Gabi Mehta '14

The current episode of Cobra Radio features alum Gabi Mehta '14. She talks about her work in the aerospace industry, some of her favorite moments as a lifer at Keystone, and how a summer astronomy camp at the University of Arizona changed her life. 


Find this episode and subscribe on:


Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts


If you're searching for it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts, type in "Cobra Radio" and "Keystone".

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