“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
—T.S. Eliot

It feels like we just welcomed you to campus, and now we’re ready to graduate the Class of 2025 and wish everybody else a wonderful and restorative summer.

We’d like to take a moment and look back on this eventful year. Our students have many reasons to be proud. As educators, we delight in the large and small victories our students achieve throughout the year.

We began this school year with many changes. We inaugurated a new security policy, including an armed guard on the main campus and security on the Little School campus. We also tightened our policies on personal electronic devices.

In an effort to better support our students, we added two new counselors: Emma Russell, as PK-Lower School Counselor; and Chanel Williams, as Middle/Upper School Counselor. They have quickly grown into treasured members of our community. We made an effort to support our students’ mental health in many ways, including teachers, staff, and administrators composing and sending Gratitude Grams to students to show they matter and that we value them for who they are as individuals.

To commemorate one of their classmates who died in her junior year, the members of the Class of 2024, other upper school students, and art teacher Josh Welker painted a mural of their classmate and friend Siri Reddy. We opened the new school year with the beautiful commemorative piece of artwork in the library for all to see when they ascended the stairs to the second floor.

Academically, our students continued to excel. Four seniors were named National Merit Finalists, six seniors were named National Merit Commended Scholars, and 10 juniors and seniors earned either National Hispanic, National African American or National Indigenous Scholar Recognition honors from the College Board. Keystone teams swept the regional Academic WorldQuest competition, and finished 7th at a national competition in late April. Three Upper Schoolers advanced to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. Our Camber Robotics team finished 4th in a regional competition and received a “Rising All Star Award” at the state competition. And our returning spelling bee champion, 7th grader Siyona, advanced to the national competition again after taking the school and regional titles for the third year in a row.

Recently, our middle school brought home the hardware when they won the Mayor’s Smart Challenge Competition.

Keystone students received recognition throughout the year. Local television station KENS highlighted four seniors and a water-saving project they have worked on for several years in a report, while our Model UN club won 6 awards at a conference in Austin.

In the arts, 12 Upper Schoolers received recognition in the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, while 11 students in Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools were named Young Pegasus poetry winners. In theater, the Lower School students performed beautifully in grade-level productions, while Upper Schoolers performed “Pippin” and Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” and Middle School students performed “Matilda.” Students from all three main campus divisions showed their creativity during the Fine Arts Festival in late April.

This year, we launched Keystone’s inaugural international exchange program. In it, a group of Middle School students spent a week at the American School Foundation in Mexico City, while a group of students from that school spent a week at Keystone. It succeeded brilliantly and we are looking forward to continuing it next year and beyond.

Our students lived out the core value of service in a variety of activities. Among them, Keystone began a new partnership with the nonprofit group, Respite Care. Little Schoolers collected food for the San Antonio Food Bank for Thanksgiving and toys for children for the holidays. On their respective service days, Upper and Middle Schoolers volunteered at sites that include Respite Care, Brackenridge Park, San Antonio Food Bank, and Catholic Charities. Upper Schoolers helped organize a mayoral forum and one senior moderated a mayoral debate.

In athletics, our varsity volleyball team and varsity soccer team advanced to the top 8 in state competition, and the soccer team was the undefeated district champ. This year, we inaugurated a cross country team; one student finished in the top 10 in state and another coming in 11th. The 8th grade volleyball won their district championship, and finished unbeaten in district play. The Middle School soccer team celebrated an undefeated championship season. In basketball, 11th grader Jack scored 49 points, setting a new school scoring record. The girls varsity basketball team upset the top seeded team in the TAPPS 3A area playoffs. In varsity tennis, Cobras won a silver medal in girls singles and a bronze medal in boys doubles.

Our Outdoor Education program continues to set an example locally and regionally. We have searched throughout the state and Southwest and haven’t found another school with as comparable and comprehensive a program as Keystone offers. This year, students in kindergarten through 3rd grade took day trips to local parks, while fourth graders braved an overnight thunderstorm in Government Canyon. In Middle School, fifth graders stayed in cabins at Camp Champions in Marble Falls, sixth graders visited Nature’s Classroom Institute in New Ulm, seventh graders went to Mo-Ranch in the Hill Country town of Hunt, while eighth graders spent a week in Yellowstone National Park. Upper Schoolers continued their trips with ninth graders going to Olympic National Park, tenth graders visiting the Florida Gulf Coast, eleventh graders spending a week in Shenandoah National Park and Washington, D.C, and seniors closed out their Keystone experience at Yosemite.

You helped make this an unforgettable year. Many of you came to campus and offered your expertise and experience as guest presenters and lecturers in all four divisions. You may have changed the trajectory of a young person’s life and not even known it. You came to parent breakfasts, coffees, class lunches, and athletic events in all four divisions.Little, Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools. You supported the Keystone Annual fund, with a parent participation level of 98.55%, way above the national average of 67%. You attended the Keystone Food & Drink Festival, and you came to Fun Day.

Now our seniors are preparing to leave Keystone and take the next step in their educational journey. They will attend many of the nation’s finest colleges and universities – and just as importantly, they have found the right school that is just right for each of them.

We are proud of all our students, and incredibly grateful for your support throughout the year. Thank you for being a part of the Keystone community. Together we will continue to make this a stronger and better institution for our current and future students.

Have a safe and restful summer. Here’s to a wonderful school year and looking forward to a fantastic 2025-2026!