Weekly Message from Head of School 2024/1/7-2024/1/12

Dear Keystone Community,    

“It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.” 

Henri Poincaré (French Mathematician, physicist and scientific philosopher of the 19th century) 

Poincaré’s eloquence about the value of an ensemble might be complemented with the colloquial English expression “There is no I in Team”.  This week a few things led me to reflect on this idea of the extraordinary value of giving oneself to teamwork, to being part of an ensemble which results in achievement greater than the sum of its parts.   

First, we welcomed our new Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, Mr. Taryn Loveman to campus for the first week of a two-week visit before he starts officially after the CNY holiday. Taryn’s role at Keystone will be to lead our Teaching and Learning Center and collaborate with divisional leadership to ensure outstanding learning environments for our students. Mr. Loveman will oversee the systems of faculty recruitment, growth and support and support our all-school curricular review processes, ensuring that we are continually asking ourselves, “Are we doing all we can for our Keystone students?”. But of course, as the Assistant Head of School, he won’t do all those things on his own; he will be part of a networked and expert team doing that interconnected work across our campus. This will, in the words of Poincaré build on Keystone’s unique “harmony of the diverse parts” creating a happy balance that “introduces order” and “permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.”   

Speaking of happy balance and harmony, our campus community was charmed by the experience of seeing Shrek: The Musical. I went to opening night on Wednesday in the Performing Arts Center. After a delay due to the snow in December, the show delighted audiences this week with talented students (and a few teachers!) singing, dancing, acting, running the tech, and playing music. Theatre (like other administrative areas of a school or any enterprise) cannot run with a group of people who all want to do the same thing, or who strive just for their own personal glory. To be part of such an ensemble, individuals must see the inherent value in their part as part of a bigger whole, often time toiling for hours in the literal shadows, so that others may shine. Sure, we need someone to play the leads, and with that we need a group of people who are committed to the enterprise, to the ensemble, and excited to play the many parts that the group needs to create the magic of the performance.   

Then, Thursday morning I was speaking to Mr. Percy Jiang, our Director of College Counseling. He reflected on how he believes we need to continue and perhaps increase our school’s emphasis on collaboration and being a part of teams or ensembles for our students. It is easy to pursue individual excellence, and most of our students and families see the inherent value in that. But we must remember that it is essential for our students to invest time into being a part of something that is bigger than their own excellence, it is essential to learn to be part of a team, whether it is athletics, academic or in the arts. This is a core purpose of a school environment like the one at Keystone—it creates opportunities for students to learn and navigate the challenges, heartaches, and every once in a while breathtaking triumph, of being part of something you couldn’t do on your own. How fun to be in this all together, challenging ourselves to always work in the direction of meaningful symmetry and happy balance.   

Yours,   

Emily