Handbook for Students & Families: 
Academic Information

Opening Day

The Key School 2023-2024 year will begin on Monday, August 28. On opening day, students should report to the following locations:

First School - First School Building
Lower School - Manse
Middle School - Barn
Upper School - Activity Building

There is a Back-to-School Coffee for all families, hosted by the Parents’ Association, at 8:30 a.m. on the Manse Field.

Return to Top

School Hours

Arrival Time

Students should not arrive at School before 8:00 a.m. unless they are registered for Before School Care, available to students in Kindergarten through grade four. There is no supervision for other students prior to 8:00 a.m. All students are expected to arrive on time.

When a student is absent or will arrive late, it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to inform the appropriate division by 8:30 a.m. A parent/guardian may leave a message in the Division Office's voicemail or use the Division-specific attendance email address as soon as they are aware that the student will not be present for homeroom.

First School - fsattendance@keyschool.org
Lower School - lsattendance@keyschool.org
Middle School - msattendance@keyschool.org
Upper School  - usattendance@keyschool.org

Homeroom/Advisory

The first minutes of each day are devoted to a homeroom period in First, Lower and Middle Schools. A similar gathering takes place mid-morning in the Upper School. Important announcements and activities take place at that time. It is essential that all students be present, as attendance is taken. The School asks for the cooperation of families and students in meeting this requirement.

Return to Top

School Supplies/Textbooks/Laptop Program

Information about school supplies will be communicated to families in the summer.

Grades 7-12: Families are responsible for purchasing textbooks. Information regarding textbooks will be provided by the Middle and Upper School Divisions.

Grades 5-12: 1:1 Personal Laptop Program. 5th and 6th grade students will be issued laptops by the School. 7th-12th grade students must bring their own laptop to School each day.

Key is mandated by the State of Maryland to schedule 170 instructional days; the School adds additional days to offset any unanticipated loss of instructional days. Additional contingency days are included in the annual calendar, during the final week of the academic year.

Return to Top

Reporting Periods

The academic year is divided into trimesters in the First, Lower and Middle Schools. Written progress reports are provided for parents/guardians at the conclusion of each trimester. In the Upper School, the academic year is divided into two semesters, with progress reports provided at two intervals within each semester. Exams in the Upper School are administered at the end of each semester.

Return to Top

Before School Care

In support of parents/guardians who commute for work, Key School offers free Before School Care for children in Kindergarten through Grade 4 beginning at 7:30 a.m. daily, when school is in session. Before School Care is not available on days when Key School is operating on a delayed opening schedule.

Licensing parameters limit the ages served and the maximum daily capacity, therefore pre-registration is required and can be submitted online via the Family Portal > Extended Day Options.

Return to Top

After School Activities

First School

We have limited After School Enrichment Activities for Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students. In the Key-Wee, Pre-School and Pre-Kindergarten, an optional early afternoon program is available from 12:00 noon until 3:10 p.m. During this time, students remain in their classrooms with their teachers.

The base After School Program for First School students is available from 3:10 until 5:30 p.m. Care is available from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. for an additional fee. Registration is required. Please complete the 2023-2024 Registration Form before the start of the school year. Questions? Contact Khristna Paysour, Director of Before and After School Programs. 

Lower School

The base After School Program for Lower School students is available from 3:10 until 5:30. Care is available from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. for an additional fee. Registration is required. Please complete the 2023-2024 Registration Form before the start of the school year. Questions? Contact Khristna Paysour, Director of Before and After School Programs. 

After School Program Enrichment Activities such as chess and theater also are available after school. Contact the Director of Auxiliary Services for information about these offerings.

Middle School

The base After School Program in grades five through eight is available from 3:20 to 5:30 p.m. in Katharine Hall and the Ford K. Brown Library. Care is available from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. for an additional fee. Registration is required. Please complete the 2023-2024 Registration Form before the start of the school year. Questions? Contact Khristna Paysour, Director of Before and After School Programs. 

After School Program Enrichment Activities such as chess, robotics, Girls Who Code, and theater also are available after school. Contact the Director of Auxiliary Services for information about these offerings.

Intramural athletics are offered to fifth grade students twice a week during the fall and spring. Fifth graders also participate in games with other area schools during spring and fall seasons. 

Interscholastic athletics are offered to sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Sports offered include:

Fall
Cross Country (co-ed)
Equestrian Team (co-ed)
Sailing (8th grade only, co-ed)
Soccer (boys & girls)
Volleyball (girls)

Winter
Basketball (boys & girls)
Equestrian Team (co-ed)

Spring
Equestrian Team (co-ed)
Lacrosse (boys & girls)
Sailing (8th grade only, co-ed)
Tennis (co-ed)

Practice and game schedules are distributed at the beginning of each season and are posted on the School website. Contact the Athletic Director for more information.

Key Theater offers a Middle School spring theater performance.

When school dismisses at noon, these programs are not available.

Important note: Any students who do not participate in a supervised After School Program are expected to leave campus promptly after dismissal unless supervised by an adult.

Upper School

An array of Junior Varsity and Varsity interscholastic sports is available to Upper School students. Sports offered include:

Fall
Cross Country (boys & girls)
Equestrian Team (co-ed)
Sailing (co-ed)
Soccer (boys & girls)
Volleyball (girls)

Winter
Basketball (boys & girls)
Equestrian Team (co-ed)
Indoor Track (co-ed)
Swimming (co-ed)

Spring
Baseball (co-ed)
Equestrian Team (co-ed)
Lacrosse (boys & girls)
Sailing (co-ed)
Tennis (co-ed)

Practice and game schedules are posted each season on the School website. Contact the Athletic Director for more information.

There are many available activities in Visual and Performing Arts. Key Theater offers several productions each year. Audition notices are posted by the Theater Director, and rehearsal schedules are distributed once each production is cast. So that student athletes may participate, rehearsals are generally scheduled in the evening, following athletic practices and games.

In addition, the Upper School Library is open to Upper School students for supervised study after school until 7:00 p.m. through early May and until 6:00 p.m. for the remainder of the year.

Return to Top

Families as Partners

Key School relies heavily upon its partnership with families in sustaining both the effectiveness of its educational programs and the health of the School community. Such partnerships involve trust, mutual respect and common understanding. As a community that is responsive to individual needs and dedicated to providing an optimal learning environment for each of its students, positive communication between home and school is essential. Key families support their student and the School, knowing that the spirit of cooperation is a vital resource in the School’s fulfillment of its Mission.

Key benefits enormously from the support and cooperation of families. While occasional misunderstandings may be inevitable, communication that works toward an acceptable resolution with the students’ best interest at heart is the common goal. In most cases, conversations are best initiated with the teacher/advisor or Division Head.

Because stewardship of an independent school requires such support, Key School reserves the right to terminate, at the discretion of the Head of School, the enrollment of any student whose families are unwilling to cooperate with the School and thus honor the long-established values of the community.

Return to Top

Community Expectations

Perhaps no mandate in Key School’s Mission Statement lies closer to the heart of the community than its injunction to “Sustain an ethical school culture that engenders an inherent respect for the dignity of every human being, recognizes that personal liberty must be balanced by personal responsibility and individual action by the needs of others, and stresses to all members of the School community the importance of trust, mutual respect, and compassion.” The School’s objective is not just to teach children to be good students; it also bears the responsibility to encourage them to be good citizens and, over time, to internalize core values of respect, responsibility and honesty.

Key School does not rely primarily on the enforcement of rules to teach students these values. Instead, it uses a method of instruction that may be best described as discursive: Students learn to respect and uphold the School’s values through discussion with teachers and other adult members of the community. Experience shows that, in most cases, the most powerful lessons about how to behave are learned through rational discourse with respected adults. Students also learn values at Key School from their peers and from behaviors they observe being modeled by adults. Through this process, children understand for themselves the importance of the School’s values and feel invested in the welfare of the School community.

Families also bear a great responsibility to teach their students the importance of respect, responsibility and honesty. Indeed, the School’s efforts to teach these values can only succeed when students hear the same messages at home and at school. An effective home-school partnership is essential to our collective ability to teach our children to be good citizens.

Family Expectations in Key’s Reenrollment Contract
Key School’s culture is defined by mutual respect, honesty, responsibility, and compassion. All community members are expected to uphold these values in words and actions. 

I understand my signature represents acceptance of the following terms for being a member of the Key Community. I understand and I am committed to the following shared school values:

• I agree to model through both language and behavior the values of respect, civility, honesty, responsibility, and compassion in all school interactions, especially at times and in places when students can observe them.
• I agree to treat fellow community members from differing backgrounds and identities with kindness and respect. 
• I agree to support students' participation in curriculum and co-curricular activities that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
• I support a safe school environment by refraining from harmful and unsafe behavior and reporting such behavior when observed.

I understand that failure to adhere to these expectations may result in separation from the School. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Expectations

Since our inception, Key School has intentionally opened its doors to families from all backgrounds and experiences, because when students and adults of diverse identities come together as a community, we develop an appreciation and respect for our commonalities and differences. We understand that educators have a unique responsibility and opportunity to advance equity in education locally and globally.  Our work is guided by the NAIS Good Practice - Equity and Justice principles and the National Association of the Education of Young Children Equity Position and led by the Key Administrative team with input from all community members.

Students are expected to:

• Treat their peers and all members of our community with kindness and respect, including using accurate language for human differences.
• Consider how their behaviors impact others in our community, including those with different perspectives, identities and backgrounds.
• Speak up (with others or alone) in age-appropriate ways against prejudice and or discriminatory actions, whether intentional or unintentional. 
• Actively participate in curriculum and co-curricular activities that advance and improve the School’s culture of inclusion and belonging for every student.

Families are expected to:

• Treat fellow community members from differing backgrounds and identities with kindness and respect. 
• Support their students' participation in curriculum and co-curricular activities that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. 
• Co-create an inclusive and equitable community that respects and affirms each of its members and recognizes DEIB's benefits and power for students

Return to Top

Attendance

Key understands that students will occasionally be absent or late for legitimate reasons, such as illness, family emergencies or religious observance. The School strongly discourages absences for other reasons and reserves the right to decide on a case-by-case basis whether an absence will be excused. Students and families should be aware that an unexcused absence may result in the following: 1) the student may not be allowed to make up the work missed; and 2) the student’s grade or written assessment may be negatively affected. Repeated unexcused absences may result in: 1) the student being placed on probation; 2) the student being suspended or dismissed; and 3) a reenrollment contract for the following year being withheld.

In the case of chronic or prolonged absence, the School will require the family to furnish a physician’s note.

Students who are chronically tardy will face consequences, appropriate to their Division, such as non-admittance to class and loss of privileges.

When school is missed due to an excused absence, teachers will assist students in organizing make-up work for study and will conduct an evaluation of the completed work for credit. Detailed instruction of a tutorial nature to facilitate make-up can only be extended on a tutorial-fee basis. For unexcused absences, teachers are not obliged to offer support in the completion of student work.

Procedures for Absences and Late Arrivals

When a student is absent or will arrive late, it is the family's responsibility to inform the appropriate Division office no later than 8:30 a.m. A parent/guardian may email the Division Office as soon as they are aware that the student will not be present for homeroom. Students arriving late must check in with their Division’s administrative assistant.

Leaving Campus During School Hours

Students are required to remain on campus during the school day with few exceptions. For a student to leave campus for a doctor, dentist or other essential appointment, a parent/guardian must communicate in advance to the appropriate Division office. Lower, Middle and Upper School students must sign out in the appropriate Division office.

Return to Top

Lockers

Students in grades five through twelve have lockers. Students may opt to have locks for their lockers.

Return to Top