4 named National Hispanic Scholars
1 named National African American Recognition Scholar
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Congratulations to the five seniors who received special honors from the College Board. Four students are National Hispanic Scholars while one received honors from a new award, National African American Recognition.
They are among 34,000 receiving this recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, out of the 1.6 million eligible students who took the PSAT in 2019. To receive their awards, they reached a target PSAT score (which varies by state), earned a minimum 3.5 GPA by the middle of their junior year, and, according to the College Board, "Identify as African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Indigenous, and/or attend school in a rural area or small town."
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Information for families returning to campus on Oct. 5
Our next rotation of classes begins Oct. 5, and some students are returning to campus for the first time this school year. If you are one of those families, please consult a couple of resources to learn the new procedures.
One key change happens at morning drop-off: students need to stay in their cars and have their temperatures checked and answer questions about symptoms before they can exit. Then they need to get a wristband showing they're cleared to come onto campus.
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Keystone parent publishes novel |
Congratulations to Keystone parent and alumni parent Rudy Ruiz. His first novel, "The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez" was recently published.
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No Picture Day this year
A note from Dr. Arnold: Our yearbook company is helping us include everyone in the yearbook safely this year.
Selfie Portraits is an online-based method for allowing students and their parents/guardians to submit portrait images using their mobile device or computer webcam.
We will soon share a link so everyone will be able to click to follow the easy instructions. There is no cost to use the app or upload photos. We just want to provide the best, safest experience to most efficiently include everyone in this year’s book.
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Billy's Blog - From our Head of School |
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“It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.”
― J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“This week flew by!’ “Finally, Friday! This week has dragged on forever!” Students will make contradictory remarks like these on Friday mornings as they cross the street or wait to have their temperatures taken before entering campus for their final day of the school week. So, what explains why one student sees the week as a blur while the other bemoans the five days as a slog?
The last six months have made me think a lot about time and how we experience it. Before we went out for Spring Break, we were all in school together, students participated in plays, concerts, and athletic competitions without masks, and life felt relatively normal. On the one hand, those days feel like eons ago; on the other hand, it seems like it was just yesterday.
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Due to the pandemic, college representatives are visiting Keystone virtually. Here are the visits for this week:
Mon., Oct. 5:
Emerson College (MA), 7th Period
University of Houston, 8th Period
Tues., Oct 6:
Bates College (ME), 8 a.m. *before school visit
Pacific Northwest College of Art (OR), 3rd Period
University of San Francisco, 4th Period
Occidental College (CA), 5th Period
Rhodes College (TN), 6th Period
Wed., Oct 7:
Vassar College (NY), 4th Period
Trinity University (TX), 6th Period
University of San Diego, 8th Period
Thurs., Oct 8:
Ursinus College (PA), 2nd Period
Fri., Oct 9:
Hofstra University (NY), 2nd Period
Reed College (OR), 6th Period
Saint Peter’s University (NJ), 8th Period
College visits to Keystone are intended for students only. Links for the 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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Paying for College/Financial Aid Night - October 7
From Ms. Christiansen: Christina Pikla, Director of Financial Aid at Trinity University, will be our guest speaker during this event on Zoom that begins at 7pm. Upper School families will receive details by email.
The program will include an overview of financial aid, both merit and need-based aid, the application process for aid, advice for our families, and time for Q&A.
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Back to School events - Oct. 5, 6, 8 |
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Back to School Nights are coming virtually in early October. Here's the schedule:
Lower School - Oct. 5: The Lower School event begins at 5:30 p.m. with welcoming remarks from Mr. Handmaker. Parents will then attend grade level presentations and then specials presentation. Lower School parents should watch their emails for Zoom links specific to their children's grade level.
Middle School - Oct. 6: The Middle School event runs from 5:30-7 p.m. During this event, parents will attend each of their child's classes in a shortened school schedule format to get an overview of each course, meet the teachers, and see the classroom environment. Mr. Handmaker will also give a brief address. Middle School parents will receive an email with more details.
Upper School - Oct. 8: The Upper School parent event runs from 5:30-7 p.m., and includes a presentation from Mr. Handmaker. Upper School parents should keep an eye out for student specific schedules and Zoom information from Head of Upper School Mr. Spedding.
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College admissions expert shares insights - Oct. 14 |
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Parents -- want to learn more about the college admissions process? Author and higher education expert Jeffrey Selingo discusses his most recent book "Who Gets in and Why" in a Zoom seminar on October 14 at 7pm.
Keystone parents are invited to this event courtesy of Parish Episcopal School in Dallas and others that are fellow members of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.
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Message for Keystone alumni, parents and grandparents
Would you like to create a legacy at Keystone School? How about honoring a friend or family member for years to come? Join us for an information session on Wednesday, October 28 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CST to learn how you can benefit through creative, flexible estate and planned giving options.
When you make a charitable gift through your estate, you are often able to make a bigger impact than you ever thought possible. Presenters include Keystone’s Head of School Mr. Billy Handmaker, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy John Benage, and Legacy Circle Member Class of ’67 Carolyn Brown Langenkamp. Please register for the Zoom meeting at avillafranca@keystoneschool.org.
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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:
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Virtual book fair coming Oct. 5-16 |
This year's book fair will be virtual, and offer books appropriate for Lower, Middle and Upper School students.
We will host a Junior Library Guild virtual book fair from October 5-16. Order online and books will be delivered directly to families.
Proceeds from the book sale help fund Keystone's subscription to Junior Library Guild physical books and the book streaming service, jlg Digital.
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JohnAidan Uribe-Kozlovsky '17 (aka Maberry) releases EP |
JohnAidan Uribe-Kozlovsky '17 has dropped a new EP and it's getting some serious notice on Spotify.
His music name is Maberry and he has 106,000 monthly listeners to his Spotify channel.
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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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