Message from the Head of School
One SEMESTER,
Four MONTHS,
Many MOMENTS.
D
efining moments, let me see…
there have been so many. I cannot
choose only one. Here are just a few:
• Meeting new teachers, so many of
them, getting to know them and
realizing the excellence of the faculty
and their commitment to our school.
• Welcoming the President of Pomona
College to our campus and listening
to him talk to parents about the
importance of the Liberal Arts and
what they bring to the rich academic
recipe that we are putting together
here at Keystone.
• Being dismayed that we could
not open on time, and then
understanding that this was not the
end of the world, just a delayed start
to a new world.
• The young children in the Primary
School getting used to me and
greeting me so warmly, and with
such a variety of inventive names,
as they enter the school gates each
morning.
• Appreciating that chemical pollution
inside buildings can be more
important than air pollution outside.
• Swimming with and against Chinese
Olympians, and world record
holders, in our own Keystone pool.
• Sleeping in my apartment on campus
for the first time.
•
our
Parent
Teacher
Forming
Association, and electing our
first committee with such joy and
enthusiasm.
• Dedication Day on September 20,
with my wife Judith receiving a
special gift from founder trustee Yang
Yanling, with the orchestra playing so
beautifully after only twelve days of
school, and the tears in the eyes of
some parents as our students raised
the Chinese flag.
• Being captivated by our first classical
music concert, with cello maestro
Feng Yao.
• The quick development of the
residential program, and the even
quicker ways in which our boarders
have blossomed and matured.
Another defining moment, as the
semester has come to a close, has
been to write an end-of-term letter to
the school community, inclusive of
teachers, students, and parents. Here
is the body of that letter, reproduced in
this different context of our Keystone
magazine. Below are some of the
thoughts and things that have defined
our first semester, for me. Allow me to
quote:
• Our first community dinner as a
group of residential students and
adults.
During these past few months I have
found that I am, at last, understanding
• Hearing the Princeton Tigertones
sing so harmoniously and then join
in graciously with our own student
choir.
4
The Keystone Magazine
what I have committed myself to, what
we have all committed ourselves to.
We have come to the end of our first
semester as a brand new school. What
a journey this has been. Although I have
wanted to help start a school for many
years, I never thought that it would
happen in such a spectacular way, and
in China. If a friend had said to me
three years ago that I would be living in
Beijing, helping to open a trail-blazing
school there, I would have smiled
politely and shaken my head: ‘No way,
you are crazy’. But here I am, and I am
delighted to be here with all of you as we
step out on this new road together. It is
definitely one of the best moves of my
working life.
Like me, I am sure that almost all of you
would have felt surprised, three years
ago, if a friend had said that you would
soon be participating as full members of
this new Keystone community. Surprise
can be a blessing, like the rain that ends
dryness and drought. I have found that
some of the finest things in life are
those that you never thought would
happen to you but that turn out to be
exactly right when they open the door
of opportunity. Such surprise describes
my Keystone experience perfectly. I am
sure that it does for many of you. Our
school is a thrilling gift to all of us, the
right school in the right place at the
right time. Breathe deep, and savor what
is happening here. Let’s make sure that
we enjoy this surprising school.