Weekly Message from Head of School 2023/03/26-2023/04/01

Dear Keystone Community, 

Happy Friday!  

It’s been a wondaful week at Keystone! Spanish painter Pablo Picasso said,  

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

As we rounded the corner to the holiday, every school day (and night) this week was packed with performances and exhibitions of learning and excellence—it was truly stunning. From the second-grade poetry readings to the DP Art exhibitions to wushu performances, we end the week with not a speck of dust on our souls! At the DP exhibitions, each night a performer would remind the audience that as part of the DP music program, you don’t just perform music, you explore and experiment with it as well.  

This was demonstrated in the depth of the performances, and in a couple of moments worthy of highlighting. Last night, on Thursday, the East lecture hall was ROCKING with the modern music performances. Like every night this week, the performances were world-class. And, on this night, I saw two things that truly impressed me. First was when a student realized halfway through the piece, that he needed to adjust his tuning. He turned to his accompanying artist, let her know, let the audience know, and started over to vigorous applause. This was beautiful on two levels: First, he didn’t mind stopping. He might have continued and later regretted an error (not that most of us in the audience would have noticed—I sure wouldn’t have!). Instead, he trusted the audience to participate in his process, to see learning on display. It was actually a better demonstration of learning than if he had gotten it right the first time. This depth of reflection showed confidence and maturity to see errors as opportunity for growth, and not a definition of ability. This is a worthy lesson for us at any age and to see a 12th grader master it so gracefully was inspiring.  

And the response from the audience was the second thing I loved—we quickly cheered both artists on—“Jiayou!  Let’s hear it again!”.  We were all delighted in the strength of musical exploration and talent and in the visual demonstration of a growth mindset.   

Earlier in the day in the middle of a parent “learning walk” I came across a small group of 5th graders investigating the crime scene that has been central to their IPC unit over the past month or so as they unlock the “mystery of the missing iPad”. As some students were fleeing the scene after some detective work, we called out to them “Jiayou!” and a parent asked me, how do you say “Jiayou” in English?   I wasn’t quite sure! English doesn’t have a word quite as good as Jiayou! We have plenty of cheers (Yeah! Go get, ‘em! Stay strong! etc. . .) But Jiayou--literally “add fuel!”-- is about the best expression of support and encouragement in any language that I have learned so far.   

So, Jiayou Keystonians!  Keep adding fuel to the brilliance of your talents and lighting our shared path forward. This is our shared joy and indeed helps us keep the dust off of our souls.  

I wish each of you and your families a restful break and health and safety for Qingming festival. Please take time to rest up and recharge for the rest of the school year.

Yours,

Emily