Weekly Message from Head of School 2022/10/16-2022/10/22
Dear Keystone Community,
How are you doing as we end the week? What challenges did you overcome? What was exciting? What did you learn?
I had a fabulous week! One of the highlights was seeing some primary students rocking out on the west end of the quad Thursday afternoon. Besides the musical talent, my favorite part was teachers walking by on their way back to the residential towers stopping, dancing, and asking with delight: “Wait?! How old are these kids?”
In other joy filled moments: once a week or so, I enjoy Middle School recess duty and walk from the field to the middle school library to the student center. Middle School recess is new this year and gives students a time to take a break, to get some fresh air and exercise, or to relax together off their computers—no electronics allowed! All three of those areas are always full of delightful energy, whether students are playing an intense match of football, playing cards in the library, or shooting pool in the student center. These breaks provide important learning as students navigate unstructured social interactions. The time also prepares them to return to their afternoon classes energized and ready to learn.
As promised last week, I will share a little more this week about one of the all-school committees that we have established: the Employee Well-Being Committee. The faculty and staff at Keystone Academy are the single most important factor in the quality of our students’ learning. It is essential for us to ensure that Keystone continues to be an excellent place to work.
This year, this committee will carefully examine the organizational structures that support employee engagement, success and well-being. For educators, opportunities for professional growth, learning and continual improvement are often important factors in job satisfaction, so we wonder: how might we best support the continued learning of our faculty?
In a survey to faculty earlier this fall, we asked faculty to describe the factors that keep them at Keystone and might nudge them to consider another employment path. For those who continue to work at Keystone, the number one answer is Keystone’s mission, vision and values. This suggests that another important way to ensure faculty retention and well-being is to ensure that we are staying true to those values and living them every day, in our work with our students, families and with each other as employees.
For faculty who are considering leaving for next school year, the number one factor causing that decision is the difficulty around travel to see family outside of Beijing. While this is out of the school’s control, we have tried to increase the feasibility of being able to travel home by combining the winter and lunar new year holidays this year into one longer break.
Results to surveys and small focus groups like we had with faculty this fall are important in supporting administrative and school-wide decisions that support employee well-being and steward this precious resource of Keystone. We will also look to the insights of the Employee Well-Being Committee to shape our systems of support and care of these remarkable human beings.
At Keystone, faculty often declare--with awe and love in their eyes-- how much they treasure our students here. When our students are thriving and sparkling – that is what brings the deepest joy to our lives as employees. For our students to thrive is, of course, the goal of our Keystone parents and families as well. When we make decisions in the school about what is best for our students (like having recess for middle schoolers, or a mid-week concert on the lawn), we all benefit.
Warmly,
Emily McCarren
