KeyNews—Keeping Up With Keystone

Independent Learning 2

Motivation 4

College and Career 5

School in the Summer 6

Webinar Schedule 7

Facebook Groups 8

Tech Tip 9

JUNE 2016 Contact Keystone:

1-800-255-4937

info@keystonehighschool.com

Inside this issue:

As we enter into the sum-mer month’s here at Keystone,

we notice many students starting to wrap up their courses. We are proud to see that many of these students have utilized the tools and resources developed by the Keystone staff to successfully learn independent study hab-its. Whether you are new to Keystone or an experienced Key-stone family, you know what challenges exist when schooling a student at home. The Key-stone faculty and staff are con-tinually working to research, cre-ate and share resources and in-formation to help you and your student develop these necessary

skills. We hear all the time from our graduates the bene-fits from learning these skills in middle and high school have given them as they enter into their post-secondary studies. Many of our high school students take ad-vantage of dual-enrollment through local colleges and universities during their junior and senior years. By already being comfortable with man-aging their own time and workload, they have no prob-lems meeting the expecta-tions given to them by profes-sors. If you find yourself or your students struggling, please don’t hesitate to con-tact us for help and sup-port.

Erica Rhone, Head of School

On June 14th at 7:00 pm ET, Keystone's Head of School, Erica Rhone will host a

Town Hall meeting and all parents are encouraged to attend. The Town Hall

meeting will give you an opportunity to learn what's happening at Keystone, what

we have achieved this past year and our goals for the coming year. You will also

have the chance to share your feedback and ask questions. Topics up for discussion

will include:

Success of the Strong Start program and plans for the coming year

College successes

Instructional enhancements

Student Handbook updates

Feedback and questions from YOU!

Click here to sign

up to attend!

Keystone Annual Town Hall Meeting

Graduate Spotlight: Scott Warren

Scott Warren started with

Keystone in the middle of

his junior year and went on

to be a Keystone graduate.

He took a number of print

courses and said that his

math teacher, Mrs. Palmer

was always there to help.

From Scott’s perspective,

the best thing about Key-

stone was the flexibility and

the most challenging was

the amount of work in the courses. Both of these led him

to having strong organizational skills and a “get up and get

it done” philosophy. Scott also credits Guidance Counselor,

Cristena Jenner with helping him find a college and pro-

gram that fit his needs and goals. She was a great help

throughout that process. Scott’s advice to current students

is to “Stick with it! The things you struggle with now will

help with your future in college and career!”

Page 2

“According to Philip Candy, from Self-Direction for Lifelong Learning, it is a ‘process, a

method and a philosophy of education: in which a student acquires knowledge by his or

her own efforts. Carries freedom of objectives, choice, and encourages increased responsi-

bility.’”

Independent Learning with Keystone is not solely dependent on the student. There is a

team that is comprised of Students, Parents/Guardians, and Keystone who each have im-

port role in the student’s success.

The role of the Keystone Student is Responsibility. They are to plan a daily routine and cre-

ate a learning environment that best helps them retain the knowledge and succeed within

their courses. Parents/Guardians are the role of Accountability. They check in on the stu-

dent to verify they are making the proper progress within in their courses. Flexibility is

Keystone’s role. The school provides the student with unlimited access to their courses

and resources to finish within a years’ time.

Hear from one of Keystone’s

Guidance Counselors, Ms.

Jenner about Independent

Learning at Keystone!

What does it take to be an independent learner at Keystone?

There are six characteristics that all successful independent learners possess. While stu-

dents may not come to Keystone strong in all of these categories, these are characteris-

tics that can be learned or improved upon as your student continues their time with Key-

stone. To be an independent learner, all you need is a bit of school SPIRIT!

Page 4 Motivating Students Through Independence

It is the job of parents and educators to mold students into con-

fident, independent thinkers, and learners. Most know that is

the end goal when all is said and done, but getting started or

knowing where to start can prove to be a difficult task all of its

own. However the steps below can be the stepping stones

needed to head down the right path.

1: Develop a daily routine. Just like teaching a child to ride a bike

you need to hold on and when the timing is right, let go. Stu-

dents are typically good at letting parents know when they have

the daily routine down as they will automatically start their day

as they do every day. However, parents still need to be there to

guide them and let them know when to turn and put on the

breaks. This too should be less and less frequent as the student

dives more and more into the routine and it becomes second

nature.

2: Set clear goals. If you give the student something to work to-

ward, often it is easier for them to see the end, which is what most students are looking for at this point.

For some students some goals will seem miles away, like when they were first told to try and make it to the

end of the drive way and back on their bike. But, goals can always be changed, so if that is the case, you can

make them smaller and then gradually increase the number of goals or the size of the goal they are to

achieve.

3: Last, let them learn from their mistakes. Sometimes students believe they are ready to take the training

wheels off and so you need to take them off to prove they are not ready, but there is someone still there to

catch them. Never meet the student with an “I told you so”, but ENCOURAGE THEM to think about what

went wrong and how to improve upon their idea. This can build a new found confidence in students and

help them succeed the next time.

Congratulations to Keystone’s 62 May Graduates

from 27 US states and 6 different countries! Best

wishes on your future success!!

Page 5

Independent Learning Skills: Preparing for Your Future Successful Keystone students and successful college students have one major thing in common, and that

is the ability to successfully apply independent learning skills. The independent learning skills that are ex-

tremely valuable at the collegiate level are time management, motivation, and advocating for yourself.

Here are some tips for how to apply these independent learning skills in college:

Time Management: College is slightly more structured than Keystone, but college is still far

more flexible than most brick and mortar schools. Students who graduate from brick and mortar

schools may struggle with the college transition. Keystone students, however, are already pre-

pared to manage their time. Students may have an entire semester to write a term paper- this can

mean up to three months. When you get your syllabus the first week of class, read it carefully and

map out the home work in a calendar the first week of classes. This way, you can forecast ahead

to know when you’ll have busy weeks and plenty time to prepare.

Motivation: Keystone students have mastered the art of motivating themselves with open dead-

lines. However, this is one of the independent learning skills that may need to be taken to the next

level, as college will bring a new, added factor! You’ll likely be on campus with friends and lots

with friends and various activities, maintaining a good work/fun balance is important.. So, make

sure you learn to balance the fun and you are able to complete all of your assignments!

Advocating for yourself: A big part of college is learning to ask for help as needed. College stu-

dents need to email their teachers with questions, visit teachers during their office hours, or set

up study groups with classmates if that is their learning style. Fortunately, successful Keystone stu-

dents have already practiced many of these strategies. Keystone students are familiar with calling

or emailing Keystone staff when they need assistance.

Keystone students are able to practice many important independent learning skills at Keystone and trans-

late them to success at college. If you have any questions about college, feel free to email guid-

ance@keystonehighschool.com.

This time of year is a busy one at Keystone! We have a number of students working hard to finish their course work by their deadlines, graduation or a family event. As a reminder, teachers have three busi-ness days to grade online assignments and the grading time for print courses is seven to ten days from when it is received. Unfortunately, we cannot rush grade any student’s assignments and they will be graded in the order they were submitted. In addition, Keystone does not give zeros for assignments that were not attempted. Assignments need to be completed entirely and with honest effort. In addition, if you need to have a transcript sent to another school or institution, we recommend that you allow at least three weeks between submitting your last assignment and the day your transcript is due. This al-lows time for the teacher to grade the assignment, the final grade to populate onto the transcript, and finally for the guidance department to process the official transcript request. We encourage you to talk to your student about this and to help them adjust their plan with this information in mind.

Finishing Up? Here are a few tips:

Page 6 Congratulations to Keystone Student of the Month: Valentina Resano

I am Valentina Resano, I have been attending Escuela Santa Ana in Nicara-

gua for 6 years. Our school has been using K12 curriculum since I was in

3rd grade... So last year when I was going to get into middle school, my

teacher found The Keystone School program so that middle schoolers and

high schoolers could get official accreditation. We tried it out and so far it

is working great. I think it is really cool that different students from

around the world can communicate and get into different clubs like the

book club, or the photography club.

I surf competitively all around the Americas, and I am under 16 Central

American champion. I also enjoy doing aerial silks, and acro.

Congratulations, Valentina!

Making Time for School this Summer The summer months are upon us and for most public and private

school students that means summer vacation. A break from school

after 9 long months of listening to lectures, studying for exams,

completing projects, writing essays, etc, is critical. As you can imag-

ine, their brains need a break!

Keystone varies greatly from a traditional public/private school.

Not only do we have open enrollment (you can start at any time)

but we also give our students 24/7 access to their courses and up

to one calendar year to finish them. This flexibility is one of the

things that students and parents love most about our school. You

have the freedom to follow your own schedule so you can make

your school schedule the same as a traditional school, enroll in Au-

gust/September and finish in May/June, or you can do something

completely different. The problem, however, is that some students

who decide to “do something different” still think they should have

the summer off.

What does the summer mean for your student? Is he/she at the

end of their courses? If so, they deserve some vacation time, but

what if your student just enrolled in classes a few months ago? Or

maybe your student enrolled last fall but still has quite a bit of work

left to complete? Should they also take the summer off? Probably

not. Here are two ways that you can make sure your student stays

engaged this summer:

Page 7 Check out the June Webinar Schedule

Getting Started webinars are designed for new students and parents, but any Keystone student or parent is welcome

to sign up and attend! You can click on the event to sign up or use the links provided below.

New Parent Orientation Webinar

Join us on Wednesday, June 22nd at 7:00 PM ET

for a New Parent Orientation webinar designed

to help answer all of your “getting started” ques-

tions. We’ll go more in-depth on the role of the

Keystone Parent, the Strong Start program, and

how to support your student. There will also be

time for you to ask questions. Our goal is to give

you the tools needed to help your student suc-

ceed!

Click here to sign up to attend the webinar:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafaf29a6fc1-

newparent

New Parent Tool Kit

We have prepared several documents to help

you as a new Keystone parent get oriented to

Keystone and start to embrace your role as the

parent of a successful independent learner! We

suggest you review all the documents carefully

and keep them for reference. You can download

them to your computer, print them, or come

back to this site again and again to view them as

needed.

Click here to access the Parent Tool Kit:

https://fw.unitymg.com/rdr/D:2797

Event Date Time Presenter Audience

Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone June 9th 3 pm ET Megan Strittmatter New Students and Parents

Annual Town Hall Meeting June 14th 7 pm ET Erica Rhone All Parents

Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone June 15th 7 pm ET Aubree Kresch New Students and Parents

Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone June 21st 12pm ET Aubree Kresch New Students and Parents

New Parent Orientation June 22nd 12pm ET Megan Strittmatter New Parents

Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone June 28th 7 pm ET Aubree Kresch New Students and Parents

Getting Started Webinars: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafaf29a6fc1-getting

Annual Town Hall Meeting: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4ca8a92ca7f85-keystone5

New Parent Orientation : http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafaf29a6fc1-newparent

June Email Forecast

What When

Progress Reports *Sent every other Monday evening to the parent email address we have on file

Monday, June 13th

Monday, June 27th

Monday Morning Message *only sent to full-time online STUDENTS

Every Monday morning this month! (6/6, 6/13, 6/20, 6/27)

Can also be found on Keystone’s Face-book page: https://www.facebook.com/

keystoneschool/

New Parent Orientation and Getting Started Webinar

*Please refer to the Webinar Schedule found on page 7.

Course completion reminders June 10th

The Keystone Literary Magazine

The Keystone Literary magazine group was hard at work the past few months, putting together the first

“ever” edition of the magazine: The Rolling Keystone. Many of the talented students here at Keystone (High

School and Middle School) submitted their creative works to be included in the magazine, and others were moti-

vators and editors of the magazine. The formatting choices were a key component to the success of the first edi-

tion, so kudos to the editing team on their hard work and dedication to make this the best representation of

Keystone’s creative minds. As the advisor of this club, I am extremely impressed with the effort I saw from the

students involved, and we are all proud of the finished product. If you love to draw, paint, tell stories, inspire

with poetic techniques, or want to share other creative works, please reach out to Mrs. Sarah Eighmey

(seighmey@thekeystoneschool.net) to join the group. The second edition will be gearing up in mid-June, so con-

tact her as soon as possible to receive sign-up information.

http://pub.lucidpress.com/14451710-83f0-43b2-bcda-dbe25219cf85/

Page 8

Midwest Region: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1712204375691181/

Northeast Region: https://www.facebook.com/groups/430927457111137/

Southern Region: https://www.facebook.com/groups/831284283666164/

Western Region: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1530683317229360/

International: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1528539600810023/

Connect with other families through Facebook! Keystone has created regional Facebook groups to help

you reach out to people who are within your region. These are YOUR groups! Keystone staff will be

available to answer questions, but this is something we have developed at the request of our families.

We hope you enjoy this opportunity!

Tech Tip of the Month Page 9

Changing Default Audio Player on Windows 10

Windows 10 has a default audio player called “Groove Music” that prevents students from loading and listen-ing to audio in certain courses. The following document will explain how to change the default audio player on Windows 10 and resolve this issue.

1. Open "Settings" and click on "System."

2. Select "Default apps" from the left hand pane.

Tech Tip of the Month Page 10

Keystone’s Mission

The Keystone School provides high quality, individualized educational experiences in a safe, technology enabled learning environ-

ment to empower students to achieve their academic and personal goals.

More information about Keystone’s mission and our expected school wide learning results

can be found in the student handbook posted in the online homeroom and on our website.

3. Scroll down until you see "Music Player."

4. Choose your alternative. Keystone recommends using either Windows Media Player or iTunes as your default audio player.

5. Restart your computer and then attempt to access the audio components that were not loading.