Weekly Message from HOS 2026/08/31-2026/09/04

Dear Keystonians,

For those of you who are new to Keystone this year, welcome to your first edition of In the Loop. This weekly newsletter has been a part of the school since its founding. In those early days, our founding Head of School, Malcolm McKenzie, began writing weekly letters—which he affectionately called his “Loopy letters", in his office parlance.

Malcolm was in the habit of writing them on Sunday before the week began, in the quiet of his office. My style is very different. While I sometimes write ahead of time, I tend to leave it to Thursday night so that I can reflect on the week we have all experienced together across the school.

This presents a greater challenge for the many hands that put together the newsletter each week. So, I start this year by commending and expressing my gratitude to the talented team in the Office of Marketing and Communications that makes this robust newsletter happen every week—and I thank them for accommodating my reflection, learning, and work style.

This week, I crossed paths with many students and colleagues who shared different versions of the same reflection: we are excited, and a little tired. It does indeed take a while for our systems to recalibrate to the rhythms and pace of a normal school year. Early mornings, late nights, lots of action all day long. I am sure this feels true for all of us on some level, no matter what the summer months brought. So please pay attention to that and ensure that each one of you is taking care of your health and well-being in this season of transitions.

This is one of the reasons we keep our campus closed to after school play in these first couple of weeks. Particularly for our smallest students, an extended day on campus can be just a little bit too much. After the norms, routines, and rules of school are well internalized, we will open up our campus for after-school play for the rest of the beautiful fall. I look forward to those long afternoons—especially with the new playground nearly ready to open. We will have so much fun together!

For me, the focus of this week was the launch of the Keystone 101 series. This has been co-designed with parent leadership and is a year and a half in the making. These sessions are an opportunity for members of our parent community to dive deeper into Keystone's history, mission, vision, values, and program. Our first session explored “What is Keystone?” and our second focused on the “Keystone Program”. Both enjoyed full houses in the Multi-Purpose Room —a testament to the eager engagement of our parent body. What a great group of learners!

We will continue these sessions—designed to orient new families and deepen understanding for returning families—throughout the month. I hope to see even more of you there!

And if it seems to you like there are more new faces on campus than usual, you are right! While Keystone reached our full enrollment target years ago, we are beginning this school year with the largest student body in our history—a testament to the strength of a Keystone education and the dedication of our talented teachers. We are delighted that our community remains strong and continues to grow!

Thanks to everyone, especially our dedicated teachers, for their many efforts to make the start of the year such a success!

Warmly, 

Dr. Emily McCarren