Lower School
Exceptional elementary education to k-4th grade making Keystone one of the best private elementary schools in San Antonio.
The emotional, social, and intellectual development of healthy students
At Keystone, we care about the wellbeing of the whole child. While we excel at teaching children how to be good students, we want them to learn how to be good people. The Lower School helps Kindergarten through fourth grade students develop their intellectual abilities and nurtures their emotional and social development too. With age-appropriate strategies and conversations, we encourage children to think about their actions and work out their conflicts as they progress academically.
Lower School philosophy
Technology instruction is integrated into academic courses. Academics are enhanced by enrichment activities and experiences outside of the traditional classroom.
While our academic program is challenging, our teaching approach guides children through their developmental stages. Our counselor, in partnership with faculty and administrators, direct Social and Emotional Learning, help students learn managing and communicating feelings, healthy friendships, conflict resolution, and executive functioning.
The result is a healthy student who is kind, confident and well prepared for the academic challenge ahead.
The Lower School Program
A balanced, healthy approach to high achievement for your kindergarten through 4th grade student.
Academics
Enrichment Activities
Outdoor Education
Physical Education
Develop your child’s character and leadership at Keystone
Among private primary schools, our Lower School stands out, not only for our academics and enrichment activities, but also for our character and leadership education. Character and leadership lessons begin in Lower School, because we believe that our students are not too young to have an impact in the world
Character lessons begin in Lower School, because we believe that our students are not too young to have an impact in our world. As educators, we strive to find opportunities in our students’ daily experiences to reinforce these qualities. We put them into practice every day to guide behavior - on the playground, for example. Using our mascot, we offer Cobra Dos and Don’ts to emphasize appropriate behavior with others and to learn how to avoid bullying and recognize it when it happens. When students’ behavior falls short of expectations, we ask them to reflect on their actions and what they could have done differently. We ask them to talk with their parents to reinforce the 4 C character lessons they learned at school.
Practicing the 4 Cs in a school context requires a growth mindset. This mindset acknowledges that stumbles are necessary steps on the road to mastery. Author and educator Barney Saltzberg refers to stumbles as “beautiful oops.” With a growth mindset, a student’s mistake can be made into something beautiful, a learning moment or an “oopertunity.” Our teachers read Beautiful Oops and other stories to encourage a growth mindset among students.
Leadership lessons begin in Lower School, because we believe that even our youngest students can be leaders. We want our students to understand there are many ways to lead others and they can be leaders for good.
☑️ Leaders are encouraged to listen to the needs in our school community and to act upon those needs. Past groups have:
➡️ Created and shared iMovies on proper play on the playground
➡️ Renamed the soccer field to The Cobra Court, a more inclusive name
➡️ Collected canned goods to donate to the San Antonio Food Bank
➡️ Worked in partnership with the Upper School’s National Honor Society and Foreign Language Club on a clothing drive to benefit SAMMinistries
➡️ Run a book drive to benefit San Antonio Youth Literacy’s Book Buddies Program
☑️ Leadership students often speak at Lower School monthly assemblies about topics related to the Keystone community.
Explore Keystone
Tour the Lower School
Get acquainted with the campus facilities for Lower School children.
