A letter to parents about upcoming events, gradual return of visitors to campus |
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Dear Friends,
We send this letter with a feeling of hope. For the past several weeks, COVID numbers have been moving in the right direction: The positivity rate is declining, the case rate per thousand is heading downward, fewer people are being hospitalized with COVID, and fewer hospital patients are in intensive care and on ventilators. At the same time, the vaccination rate is rising and the coming availability of vaccines for young children will mark another important milestone in the fight against this virus.
As we have done since the pandemic began in March 2020, we continue to base our decision-making on the most recent findings in science and medical research. With these recent milestones in mind, we believe it’s time to revise some of our protocols and begin planning for the gradual return of visitors and parents to our campus in a way that’s safe for our students, families, faculty and staff. We think we can balance the process of opening campus and keeping our community safe.
We will begin this process with several upcoming events over the next few months. So you will know what to expect, we would like to share more information about these events, and explain our rationale for holding them in person, or virtually.
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15 Upper Schoolers named College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars |
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Congratulations to 15 juniors and seniors who have been named College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars.
They are seniors Ana, Alessandra, Matias, Nicolas, Miguel, Matthew, Tessa, and Gabriel; juniors Isabella, Maya, Anneliese, Jasmine, Lorenzo, Talia, and (not pictured) Sathina.
This year, the program was open to last year's sophomores and juniors, so we had more students receive honors.
Students earn this distinction by excelling on a standardized test such as the PSAT, earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher and being at least one-quarter Hispanic.
Great job!
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Upper schoolers toss dolls for AP stats class |
How often do students get a chance to toss a doll off a balcony -- for class credit?
It's all part of the Barbie Bungee project in Mrs. Preston's AP statistics class, where students tie several rubber bands together, gather data and make predictions to see how far the Barbie and Ken dolls will fall without hitting the ground.
As Mrs. Preston explained, estimating is a tricky thing in statistics.
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Keystone debaters win first place at tournament |
Congratulations to Keystone debaters on their success in the recent Saint Mary's Hall Debate Tournament.
Out of twenty schools, the team of seniors Jack and Liv went undefeated and took first place in the entire tournament, held virtually. Moreover, both students received a perfect score in speaker points in several rounds. Jack came in as 2nd speaker overall, and Liv came in as 3rd speaker overall. "In addition to their brilliant and articulate performance, they were both unyieldingly kind and polite to their opponents and judges," notes sponsor Dr. Armentrout.
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Billy's Blog - From our Head of School |
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Working with younger students gives us a sense of perspective and makes our problems seem like less of a big deal.
--Evalyn, Keystone 10th grade student
A rainy morning drop-off last week provided a sight that was both beautiful and meaningful. Due to that day’s deluge, we held Morning Care for kindergarten, first grade, and middle school students in various parts of the gymnasium. When a kindergartner and a sixth grader arrived simultaneously, I asked the older student if he minded escorting his younger schoolmate to the gym. As one would expect of our Cobras, he readily agreed.
As they headed toward the gym, the kindergartner gazed awestruck at the middle schooler while he carefully escorted her toward their shared destination. In the midst of a rather frenzied morning, an image of a careful guide and admiring follower brought a warm smile to the kindergartner’s father and to me.
This moment had me pondering the benefits of a school where children range in age from preschool to senior year.
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Here are the visits from college representatives this week:
Tuesday, Oct. 12
4th Period: Elon University (NC) - In-person
7th Period: Bard College (NY) - Virtual
8th Period: Washington State University - Virtual
Wednesday, Oct. 13
PSAT/PreACT Testing
Thursday, Oct. 14
2nd Period: Marymount Manhattan College - In-person
3rd Period: Trinity College (CT) - Virtual
4th Period: Emory University (GA) - Virtual
6th Period: Georgetown University (DC) - In-person
7th Period: Queen Mary Univ. of London (UK) - In-person
Friday, Oct. 15
1st Period: Brandeis University (MA) - In-person
3rd Period: Hamilton College (NY) - Virtual
5th Period: Lynn University (FL) - Virtual
6th Period: US Naval Academy (MD) - 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.
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Important events and notes |
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Annual Fund Parent Drive officially begins |
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From Mrs. Villafranca:
Keystone’s Annual Fund Parent Drive has officially kicked off!
From now through October 29th, for those who have yet to participate, you will receive encouraging messages from Keystone’s Annual Fund Captains during the active phase of the campaign. Our goal is 100% parent participation.
Your commitment to Keystone will help support items such as ongoing maintenance and facilities, new and upgraded technology, professional development and training opportunities for faculty and staff, tuition assistance to support our families throughout the year, and much more!
A special thank you to our Annual Fund Chairs Araminta Romero and Abe Martinez and to all of our Annual Fund Captains for leading the effort. Thank YOU in advance for contributing to the Annual Fund.
Adriana Villafranca
Director of Development and Alumni Relations
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Alumni -- please fill out your survey |
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Calling all Keystone Alumni!
On September 20th our alumni office sent a survey via email to all Keystone alumni.
Filling out the survey will help our community stay in touch! We sincerely hope you will take the time to do so. Other than necessary information, like your name and class year, all questions are optional. Any information you wish to share with us will be used to help connect our alumni with recent graduates and current students.
You can find the survey at this link.
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Visit Keystone 2021 - Oct. 17 |
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The annual event formerly known as Admissions Open House has a new name: Visit Keystone, and it's scheduled from 2:30-4:30 p.m. on Oct. 17.
On this afternoon, prospective families will get a chance to learn more about Keystone from students, teachers and administrators. They'll see how our high expectations and nurturing environment produce amazing young people.
To minimize health risks, we will implement COVID protocols and make sure this event will take place primarily outdoors.
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College Financial Aid Night - Oct. 20 |
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Upper School families: Please mark your calendar for Oct. 20 for College Financial Aid Night. It will take place from 7-8pm via Zoom, and details will be shared by email to Upper School families.
Christina Pikla, Director of Financial Aid at Trinity University, will be our guest speaker. This annual program will include an overview of financial aid, the application process, advice for our families, and time for Q &A.
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Keystone online store now open |
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We are working with Follett, which provides fanwear and other merchandise to colleges, universities and K-12 schools. Place your orders with Follett, and your merchandise will ship directly to your house.
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Support Keystone while you shop |
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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.
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We want to hear from you! |
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Follow Keystone on social media |
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