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KeyNews—Keeping Up With Keystone
Progress Tools 2-3
Guidance Resources 3
Writing Expectations 4
Accountability 4
Student of the Month 5
Webinar Schedule 6
Tech Tip 7
SEPTEMBER 2016 Contact Keystone:
1-800-255-4937
Inside this issue:
At the be-ginning of every new school year, I ask
myself, what am I going to do this year to help my stu-dents be more successful than they were last year? What will I ask of my teachers? I’m sure as par-ents many of you ask the same question. It’s im-portant to understand the answer to this question is not simple and is not the same for everyone or every student and unfortunately, does not even stay the same for every student every day. At times, it might even feel that we are
not doing the right thing. I warn you to not be fooled by those few hard days. You must be willing to look beyond them and know that the choice you are making to give your student this flex-ible educational oppor-tunity is something that will work for them and meet their needs right now. However, with this flexibility comes the need for both you and your stu-dent to become accounta-ble; your student to doing the work and you to checking in that they are doing the work (trust me, log in either through your POA or their login and
double check) don’t just take their word for it. Help your student un-derstand how education will be important to them in their future. You can help them make their ed-ucation fun and exciting. Encourage them to share their experiences with their teachers, through their discussion boards and in their writing. Fi-nally, I feel one of the big-gest obstacles many stu-dents have is reaching out for help. As parents, we often want to ask the questions for them. Please understand en-couraging and aiding your student to make a con-
necting with their teach-er is essential. Keystone teachers can be reached by phone, email and many through Skype. Students don’t always have to talk, they can email and chat with their teacher, but it is really important that the teacher hear from the student and understand what piece it is that the student is miss-ing. Please be reassured that the faculty and staff here at The Keystone School are here to sup-port your student in their success! Let’s make it a great year!
Erica Rhone, Head of School
This hour-long webinar is geared to-
wards college-bound seniors, but all stu-
dents are welcome to attend!
Click here to sign up:
www.SignUpGenius.com/
Mark your Calendars:
Crash Course in College Preparation and Admissions
Webinar
Wednesday, October 5th 6:30pm ET
Page 2 Tools to Track your Student’s Progress
Keystone students do not have strict attendance requirements that they have to follow nor do their assign-
ments have specific due dates. This flexibility allows students to customize their school day and come up
with a schedule that meets their specific needs. However, this level of flexibility can also make parents wor-
ry whether or not their child is on track. Don’t worry, we have two different ways for you to keep tabs on
your student’s progress.
Parent Observer Account: Your username and password for this would have been emailed to you
within one week of your child’s enrollment. When you log into your observer account, you have ac-
cess to your student’s grade book for each course (updates live) so you can see exactly which assign-
ments have been submitted and the date/time they were submitted. Once graded, you will see not
only the student’s score on an assignment but also the teacher’s feedback. In addition to the grade
book, you can access the teacher’s contact information by clicking on Contacts as well as the last
time your student accessed each course. To see the last time they entered a course, you will need to
click on Parent Dashboard (top right corner) and then click on your child’s username.
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!
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/
Congratulations to Keystone’s 69 August Graduates
from 25 US states and 8 different countries! Best
wishes on your future success!!
Three Guidance Resources for Parents to Keep in Mind!
1. Guidance Services Resource Center. This is a one-stop shop for parents and students to learn everything
related to transcripts, college preparation and career exploration. You’ll need to know your student’s log-
in and password to access it. This tool is available to any student enrolled in at least one online course.
2. The College Application Toolkit. If your student is college bound, this is a must have! This forty-paged
guide will answer almost every question related to college preparation and applications. Click on this link
to access the college application toolkit: https://fw.unitymg.com/rdr/C:16914
3. Email. [email protected]! If you have a question related to transcripts, college prepara-
tion or careers, this is the first point of contact for parents who need personalized assistance.
Tools to Track your Student’s Progress Cont.
Progress Reports: These are emailed to the main parent email address that we have on file every
other Monday evening. They can only be sent to one email address so make sure we have the cor-
rect one on file. The progress reports show you your student’s average grade in each course as
well as the percentage he/she has completed in each course. You will want to compare the current
% complete in each course to the % complete on the previous report. If your student had 42% of
his/her Biology course completed on the last report, you will want to make sure that the current %
complete is not still 42%. If it is, you will know that your students has not been working in that
class.
Page 4
Please click on the image below and become familiar with the document titled, "Writing and MLA Expectations by Grade Level". These expectations do not change the assignments in courses, but they do clearly show what is expected of you at each grade level. The expectations focus on formatting for written/essay assignments, general writing standards, in-text citations, and works cited and bibliography pages. These items are most likely already being expected of you, so your transition should be smooth. Teachers are currently working on revising their score guides to include these standards if they were not present. The expectations will not come into effect until October 3rd. You should start familiarizing yourself with these expectations. There will also be optional live webinars held to discuss these standards before they are implemented. More information to come!
Learn about Writing Expectations at Keystone!
What it means to be a Keystone Accountability Partner To be a successful accountability partner, you will want to see the particular student succeed in their educa-
tion, and will give the student a gentle push if they start to get off track. Ideally, you will be the person who
has access the observer account associated with the student’s courses. If you cannot, at least dedicate a dai-
ly/weekly time to check-in with the student at their study space and review their Blackboard account
together.
As an accountability partner you will need to:
Make sure you stay informed. To do this, remind the student to send you daily/weekly notices on what
they have or have not done yet that day.
You will need to be knowledgeable of the ins and outs of the Keystone Blackboard program. If you would
like to review a course demonstration video, have the student reach out to the school and request a link
to this.
Know what the student’s plan is going to be. Ask them about their daily routine, what assignments they
should be submitting each week, and set up a day/weekly time to check-in together.
Page 5
September Email Forecast
Here at Keystone we value organization. An organized student is a successful student. It is much easier for
organized students to stay on track and stay updated on changing policies and new events. That is why we
want to take this opportunity to inform you about some emails coming your way. Keep an eye out for these
messages in your inbox this month!
Hey! My name is Navya Dhamija, I’m 14 years old and I’m from New Jersey but for now, I’m living in hot, hot, hot, Delhi, India. A few of my hobbies include youtube, performing arts, film editing, photography, and working. I attend BJAS in Delhi (Barry Johns Acting Studio.) I found Keystone thru K12, because at the time I was in 5th grade taking K12 and Keystone is so amazing and is very flexible for my crazy life! When I’m not busy, at least twice in a week me and my mom go to our local temple and feed the homeless and give them little homemade packages with some food, water and little bit of treats too. On weekends I go to the girl’s school for the blind and read to them. They always ask me what America is like and such, and it’s amazing seeing their smiles. In the future I see myself doing 3 things:
One: moving back to New Jersey Two: helping the LGBT community and making a difference and showing everyone it doesn’t matter if we’re trans, gay or normal… we’re all people. Three: getting into Juilliard. Before that, my plan is to take at least a year break after high school and just travel the world.
Congratulations, Navya. Keep on helping others and working hard!
Congratulations to this month’s Student of the Month:
Navya Dhamija
What When
Progress Reports *Sent every other Monday evening to the parent email ad-dress we have on file
Monday, September 19th
Monday Morning Message *only sent to full-time online STUDENTS
Every Monday morning this month! (9/12, 9/19, 9/26)
Can also be found on Keystone’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
keystoneschool/
New Parent Orientation and Getting Started Webinar
*Please refer to the Webinar Schedule found on page 6.
Page 6 Check out the September Webinar Schedule Getting Started webinars are designed for new students and parents, but any Keystone stu-
dent 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 Tuesday, September 20th at 7:00 PM
ET for a New Parent Orientation webinar de-
signed to help answer all of your “getting started”
questions. 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
succeed!
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 September 7th 12 pm ET Aubree Kresch New Students and Parents
Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone September 13th 7 pm ET Megan Strittmatter New Students and Parents
New Parent Orientation September 20th 7 pm ET Aubree Kresch New Parents
Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone September 22nd 3pm ET Megan Strittmatter New Students and Parents
Getting Started The Right Way With Keystone September 28th 7 pm ET Megan Strittmatter New Students and Parents
Getting Started Webinars: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafaf29a6fc1-getting
New Parent Orientation : http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafaf29a6fc1-newparent
Tech Tip of the Month Page 7
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.
I’m entering my username and password correctly, but
I am unable to login. What am I doing wrong?
You may be entering your username and
password incorrectly. Please contact Stu-
dent Services at 1-800-255-4937 anytime
between 8AM and 8PM EST Monday-Friday
if you need your login information.
Your courses may have become inactive
after going past the due date. If you need
more time to complete your courses,
please contact Student Services for exten-
sion options.
You may be forgetting to capitalize certain
letters in your username and password; log-
in credentials are case sensitive.
You may not be enrolled in online courses;
you cannot access Blackboard if you’re on-
ly enrolled in Print courses.
If you are brought to a second login screen
after entering your credentials, then there
may be a hold placed on your account due
to an unsuccessful payment. Please have a
parent/guardian contact Student Services in
order to make the missed payment and have
your courses reopened.
You may need to clear your history, cook-
ies, and cache on your internet browser. In
most computer-based web browsers, to
open menus used to clear your cache,
cookies, and history, press Ctrl-Shift-
Delete. When this menu opens, you can
choose to clear your browsing history,
temporary internet files, cookies, and
cache. Please contact Keystone Technical
Support if you need additional help at
1-800-255-4937.
