“There’s no greater enemy to effective thinking than a divided interest.“ – John Dewey When the weather is not blazing hot and I don’t have an evening school event, my wife and I like to go for walks and catch up on the day’s happenings.  Truth be told, it’s one…

“Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping.“ – Julia Margaret Cameron  When we watch Keystone students perform a lab in their science classes, practice their serve, or rehearse a scene in the theater, we admire their commitment to getting it right. Students share how they…

“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.” – Carol Dweck, Mindset  This week, I share a byline with Mallory Matthews, our Head of Lower & Middle School. We recently spent Lower School Back…

Content Warning: Mentions of suicide and self-harm. “We all have our struggles and fears, but no one should fight them alone.” – Sterling K. Brown  Earlier this summer, while taking an early morning walk along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, I saw a young man in his late 20s…

“When you hold young people to high standards and make it clear that you believe they can meet those standards, you are respecting them because you are taking them seriously.” – David Yeager, PhD  Whether it’s in the classroom, the theater, arts studios, on the fields and courts, or serving…

“We send our children to school hoping that they will become insightful, knowledgeable, principled, independent. Hoping, essentially, that they will become well educated.“ ― Dr. Deborah Kenny Just like our students, our faculty members have summer reading.  Sometimes, we select a book that pertains to the entire school; other times,…

“Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.“ ― Garrison Keillor Seeing alumni brings a bittersweet juxtaposition of emotions. On the one hand, we’re proud of them and the excellent work they are doing in college and beyond; on the other hand, we miss seeing them daily, and selfishly,…

“First day of school! Wake up! Come on. First day of school.“ ― Finding Nemo Welcome and welcome back! It’s great to see you!  Now that we’re commencing a new school year, what can Keystone students and parents expect? Expect dynamic and enthusiastic teachers to challenge our young people to…

“May you have the courage to begin; the patience to persist; and the strength to finish.” ― Michael Bassey Johnson, “These Words Pour Like Rain” As we approach the end of the year, we are filled with gratitude for the  Keystone community. Our faculty/staff and students excelled throughout the year.…

“You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it requires people to make the dream a reality.” – Walt Disney After years of planning, designing, and fundraising, we broke ground earlier this year on a $10 million capital project to transform a once-glorious…

“Sleep is the best meditation.” – Dalai Lama Many Keystone students don’t get enough sleep. Every year, when we conduct the Independent School Health Survey, a significant percentage of our Upper School students respond that they sleep fewer than eight hours a night during the school week.  Interestingly, their anonymous…

“Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context.” – Phyllis J. Wheatley At Keystone, we encourage children to take risks, whether the student is in the classroom, on the fields and courts of play, or climbing…

“We are a continuum. Just as we reach back to our ancestors for our fundamental values, so we, as guardians of that legacy, must reach ahead to our children and their children. And we do so with a sense of sacredness in that reaching.” – Paul Tsongas On a recent…

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious gift. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it.  You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.”…

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius Here’s a riddle. If a student attends Keystone from kindergarten to high school graduation, they are known as a “lifer;” so what do you call students who’ve been Cobras since pre-kindergarten at the Little School through senior…

“I put on my summer clothes and feel the summer slip inside me.” – Bhuwan Thapaliya Every year after Memorial Day, the rhythm of our days change. At school, we dress more casually and our days don’t have evening activities. The commute goes more quickly, since the highways aren’t as…

“It is important to find a place where you feel trust, you feel belonging and stability.” – Bojan Krkic It seems like every weekend at Keystone there’s a variety of different events ranging from athletic and academic competitions to dances to game nights to practices for teams like robotics. In…

“We need to motivate future generations to maintain the level of human excellence that previous generations have made possible, even though it is easy to outsource it.” – Matthias Rise, Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Carr-Ryan Center for…

“Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. “ -Thomas Jefferson in a letter to his daughter, Martha Few events on the Keystone campus bring more joy, anguish,…

“The point of parenting isn’t to have all the answers before we start out, but instead to figure it out on the go as our children grow, because as they do, so will we.” — Bridgett Miller One of the most difficult elements of parenting is watching our children stumble…

“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow.” —Mary Tyler Moore It may feel obvious to state, but Keystone students routinely perform at a high level in a variety of fields, and we take pride in their achievements. Because our students often excel in academics, the arts, athletics, or in…

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” —Princess Diana As you likely know from bringing your children to school, morning dropoff can be hectic. One recent morning at dropoff, we witnessed…

“Time doesn’t take away from friendship, nor does separation.” —Tennessee Williams Every year, we experience the bittersweet emotions of graduation.  Students we have taught, coached, watched perform, traveled with, laughed with, sometimes cried with, and seen grow up prepare to leave us for the next step in their educational journey. …

“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” —Aristotle Keystone students constantly devise new ways to help others.  Whether it’s collecting supplies for victims of earthquakes in the Middle East or fires in Hawaii, creating and selling jewelry to support refugees from Ukraine, or tutoring…

“It is okay to own a technology, what is not okay is to be owned by technology.” —Abhijit Naskar So, after a semester of upper school students not having access to their cellphones on campus during school hours, how’s it going?  I believe I can speak for many of us…