Weekly Message from HOS 2025/10/13-2025/10/17

Dear Keystonians,  

A warm welcome back to our 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students who have returned from their Outdoor Education Program adventures this week! These trips are a key in a Keystone education, and I am endlessly grateful to the teachers and trip leaders who worked with such dedication to make them happen. This year required particular resilience, with summer flooding and cooler temperatures demanding continual adjustments. Their commitment ensured our students had profound and memorable experiences. Thank you!   

Some of the most meaningful work in a school happens not in the classroom, but in the spaces where we come together to listen, to share, and to understand one another. This is true between teachers and students at a campsite, and it is equally true between parents and school leaders in a meeting room.   

This year, about 60 dedicated parents have joined our Parent-School Communication Task Force, engaging in a series of intensive meetings. Our fifth meeting happened this past Wednesday evening. Our goal is simple in concept but profound in practice: to strengthen the partnership between home and school. We have delved into complex educational philosophies, and the heart of this work has been in the shared reflections they have sparked.   

I have been deeply moved by the interactions and shared learning in this group. One conversation this week, in particular, left a lasting impression. A parent helped me understand the powerful intergenerational narratives that shape how many families view education. She explained that for her generation in China, the story passed down to their children is often one of remarkable transformation—a narrative where education was the undeniable engine of progress that lifted their own lives.   

This stands in contrast to the narrative I received from my family in the United States, which was one of continuity and sustained stability. Both narratives are powerful. Both place a high value on education. But they understandably create different emotional landscapes for parents. When your family’s story is one of recent, rapid ascent through education, the stakes for your child’s academic success can feel intensely personal and high.   

This insight was a gift. It moved our discussion from the theoretical—what is the “right” way to define success—to the human—how do our personal histories influence what we perceive as “safe” and “successful” for our children?   

My key takeaway is this: our work on communication is not just about sharing information more clearly; it is about building bridges of empathy. It is about understanding the hopes, fears, and cultural and historical contexts that we all bring, and finding a shared path forward that honors both the Keystone mission and the profound love every family has for their child, and their hope and dreams for their future.   

I am so grateful to the parents on the Task Force for their trust and candor. You are helping me see our shared mission in a new, more nuanced, and more compassionate light. I hope we can all have more of these kinds of trusting, and relationship strengthening conversations in our school community.   

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend.  

Warmly,  

Emily McCarren 

Executive Head of School