Weekly Message from HOS 2025/11/10-2025/11/14
Dear Keystonians,
Last Friday, while our students enjoyed a well-deserved day off, our campus transformed into a vibrant hub for educator learning. We were proud to host an IB regional conference while simultaneously holding our own professional growth day for all Keystone faculty and staff.
We welcomed hundreds of educators from across China and the region for the IB workshops, which some of our own faculty also attended. Meanwhile, the rest of our community engaged in a rich schedule of internal professional development.
The day began with an all-school faculty meeting led by our Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), where we reviewed the progress and official launch of the Keystone Professional Educator Program (KPEP, which we call “Kay-Pep”). This new system for faculty growth and evaluation will be the main topic at our upcoming PTA Town Hall at the end of the month.
Following the plenary, faculty broke into divisional sessions for targeted training, while our non-teaching staff participated in a workshop on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, arranged by our Human Resources department. It was inspiring to see everyone so deeply engaged in their own growth.
After the faculty meeting, I attended the beautiful opening ceremony of the IB conference, which featured stunning performances by our dance and wushu teams. Mid-morning, I welcomed an education researcher based in Beijing for a campus visit. We opted for a “walking meeting”—one of my favorite ways to connect.
While I’m happy to meet in an office when needed, a walking tour is the best way to introduce someone to Keystone. It’s an immersive experience; as I talk about our school, I can simultaneously show the evidence of what I’m describing.
This approach aligns perfectly with the fundamental design of our KPEP program. We have identified the key competencies for excellent teaching, and KPEP is designed to gather evidence of where those standards are being met and where there is opportunity for growth. We celebrate that every teacher at Keystone is unique, and our goal is to maximize the benefits of this diversity for our students—while ensuring everyone meets our high standards of excellence.
Similarly, during my tour, I could point to live evidence of our mission in action. We passed classrooms where high school and Center for Student Development leaders were training teachers on topics ranging from Theory of Knowledge to supporting students with trauma.
We then stepped into the Primary School gym, where the leadership team was workshopping “assessment-ready learners.” The moment we entered, teachers were tasked with defining “lifelong learning” in one sentence. After a first attempt, they were given clear success criteria, which immediately refined their focus and elevated the quality of their definitions. The takeaway was powerful: well-defined success criteria make successful learning—and assessment—far more likely. This is a crucial insight for teachers striving to create classrooms where every child is set up to succeed.
Finally, we walked over to the MPR, where our Middle School faculty were engaged in a thoughtful dialogue about balancing English and Chinese in different classes, exploring the educational strategy of translanguaging.
It was a day that truly showcased Keystone as a learning community for all—students and adults alike.
Warmly,
Emily
