Keystone board, PTO announce scholarships for academy graduates

High school seniors who graduated from the eighth grade at Keystone Academy in Sumpter Township are invited to apply for two, $1,000 scholarships to a post-high school educational institution.
At the March 11 Keystone board meeting, it was decided that the scholarship should be offered to seniors no matter where they are graduating, as long as they completed eighth grade at Keystone and were a student for at least two years.
Deadline for application for the scholarships offered by Keystone Academy and the Parent Teacher Organization is April 16. The application is partially based on a one- to two-page essay on perseverance and the writer’s strengths that helped get them through high school. The application form also calls for a Grade Point Average, school counselor’s name, and student’s address and phone number.
Also the applicant should list extra-curricular activities and school and community services the applicant was involved in at Keystone and the current high school or home school.
Keystone Principal Jorvonna Drain said most of Keystone’s students live in the Belleville or Lincoln high school areas and when they graduate from Keystone the students usually return to their home district for high school. Information has been sent to those schools for posting. They also plan to alert Keystone graduates at Huron High School, Arbor Prep, Canton Prep, Summit Academy, Airport High School, Milan High School, and other schools. The deadline for the other schools is May 21.
For more information go to [email protected] or the Keystone PTO facebook page.
The winning applicants will be invited to this year’s eighth-grade graduation ceremony where they will be given a certificate to be redeemed once the student is enrolled at a post-high school educational institution.
In other business at the in-person board meeting (with one attendee via Zoom), the board:
• Received the 2021-21 annual education report with Principal Drain stating, “We are making some gains.” She said they missed a whole trimester and there was no testing last spring. They were tested in the fall and will be tested in the spring and, “We can see how we’ve done.” She said according to the 2018-19 M-STEP results, Keystone outperformed the local districts as well as the State average in all subjects and grade levels for the past 12 years. Also, Keystone’s enrollment is strong and average daily attendance, at 96.6%, exceeds the State’s goal;
• Approved Keystone’s Current Delivery of Instruction Method, noting there is no change and K-8 students are being educated in person, with an option for virtual learning. This report is required by the state every 30 days;
• Approved the 2020-21 audit letter of engagement with Plante Moran for a fee of $5,780, paid by National Heritage Academies;
• Approved spending $100 total for two gifts to show appreciation to two office staff ladies for Administrative Professionals Week, April 19-23;
• Approved donating $50 to help pay for a breakfast for Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-7, which includes all 62 employees. Principal Drain said they plan to do something for the teachers every day that week and the PTO also has several treats and gifts that week for teachers. The board decided to help with breakfast and spend the extra money that would have been donated to teachers to be spent on the proposed expensive play equipment for middle school students. This will work off energy on the playground so the students will be all settled down to learn when they come back to the classroom;
• Agreed to get the total cost of the two or three pieces of proposed outdoor middle school playground equipment before committing to the purchase. The board paid $28,000 for the last pieces installed. Three new selected pieces would cost $49,398 plus installation of about $13,000, plus freight of $1,745. The board gets $30,000 a year in discretionary funds, but has $76,735.73 in its treasury because of the canceling of events and programs due to the pandemic;
• Learned the Gaga Pit has been purchased and it is expected to be shipped in four weeks. Principal Drain said she would keep the board informed of the schedule. Also, the new shed installation date was moved of March 31 because of a weather delay;
• Changed the next board meeting date from April 15 to April 8, in person;
• Discussed the need for board members to be committed to attending the meetings;
• Heard Principal Drain thank Mr. Cheng and Ms. Patton for creating the school’s Black History Month program. She also thanked volunteers who participated in the program: Anna Krushlin, Jordan Baumgartner, Jackson Green, Natalia Suchyta, Julian Wood, Jackson Blair and Kendall Duncan. To view the program go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JDdbPhBUzl&feature=youtu.be ; and
• Heard Principal Drain announce the new fifth-grade teacher is Josie Cryder, sister of Keystone’s other fifth-grade teacher. Second grade teacher McNulty resigned so they are looking for another second-grade teacher and an interim EL teacher. The Resource Room teacher in Intervention Paraprofessional are out on medical leave until the end of the school year.