Head of High School
Keystone Academy
Beijing
- Expired
- Salary:
- Competitive
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- July 2021
- Apply by:
- 4 October 2020
Job overview
Keystone Academy has set out to be unusual, to be a ‘new world school’, a school that is simultaneously national and international. Keystone brings together the best in Chinese, American and international pedagogy and practice on its campus in Shunyi District, Beijing. Established in 2014, Keystone is moving into the next phase of its development. It now seeks a new Head of High School to succeed Diana Martelly, with effect from July 2021.
In its first six years, Keystone Academy has rapidly grown to 1,500 students from Foundation to Grade 12, and further growth to around 1,800 is anticipated. The first High School class graduated in 2018, and the High School (Grades 10-12) will continue to grow as the school reaches capacity in the mid-2020s. The High School curriculum in Grades 11 and 12 is the IB Diploma Program, which is taken alongside Keystone’s innovative ‘Chinese Thread’. 90% of the students are Chinese, although this will likely settle at a slightly lower figure as Keystone reaches capacity.
Keystone is a not-for-profit bilingual school and is fully residential in Grades 9-12, with boarding optional in Grades 7 and 8. The commitment to bringing together the distinctive traditions of eastern, western and international education is apparent throughout the school, from the design of its campus to the language immersion program and classroom practice, the structure of the curriculum and the range of co-curricular activities.
Keystone’s first six years have been highly successful. Its challenge now is to build on this success, to consolidate where appropriate, and to develop and innovate further, constantly seeking to make the concept of a new world school a reality, while also redefining the idea so that it can remain relevant to changing contexts. One challenge that defines Keystone, especially its High School, is its overt ambition to be about more than examinations grades, including selecting students not only on the grounds of academic potential and cultivating rounded young people who will be able to succeed in a variety of walks of life, while balancing this against the need and desire to be results-focused as well.
The Head of High School position offers a wonderful opportunity for a world-class educator who is fully committed to Keystone Academy’s mission and approach, who believes in the power of bilingual education, and who is attracted by the excitement and the benefits, the challenges and the tensions that come from intentionally bringing together such different cultural and pedagogical traditions.
For a preliminary, confidential conversation with Jean Sullivan, Head of International Search, Search, or Keith Clark, the Senior Advisor leading this assignment, please contact: jeansullivan@rsacademics.com
For further information, please visit www.rsacademics.com
Closing date: Monday 5 October 2020 at 10:00 (BST)/17:00 (China).
Keystone Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The post is subject to appropriate safeguarding checks, satisfactory references and a medical.
KEY DATES
Closing date for applications: 5 October, 10:00am (BST)
Preliminary Interviews: Weeks commencing 5 and 12 October
Longlist Interviews by Videoconference: Late-October
Final Interviews: Mid-November, with arrangements and timings subject to change as restrictions on travel change.
About Keystone Academy
Our Campus and Community
Keystone Academy is located on a beautiful 20-acre site in the Shunyi area of northeast Beijing, not far from the Beijing International Airport. The Academy consists of several iconic buildings, designed around an open grass quad by the Chinese Architecture firm Borderland, and Preston Scott Cohen, Chair of the Department of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. The buildings reflect Chinese and Western architectural features, both inside and out. Interior spaces and finishes for up to 1800 students, with over 93,000 square meters of academic, residential, and athletic program are designed by Centerbrook Architects and Planners of Centerbrook, CT, USA.
The main academic building accommodates three separate divisions for primary, middle, and high school students. Classroom design throughout accommodates small classes of 14-18 students, and features over 25 labs for biology, physics, chemistry, and robotics, as well as three libraries, fabulous art and design spaces, and a magnificent Performing Arts Center.
In addition to the academic centers, there are two multi-story residence halls for boarding students in the middle and high school divisions. Dorm floors feature large rooms, with private bath, housing two or three students. Many members of the teaching and administrative faculty of the school live in the school’s comfortable and furnished two- and three-bedroom apartments. Four or five residential faculty share responsibility for a single floor of approximately seventy students, and share this responsibility with several non-residential faculty assigned to each floor. All faculty, whether they be residential or day teachers, play a role in the co-curricular life of the school, and thereby contribute to the broad family atmosphere that characterizes the best boarding schools. Students and faculty enjoy meals in two dining commons, which provide a broad menu of Asian and Western cuisine.
For athletic activities, Keystone has an athletic field for football, three separate indoor gymnasia, a twenty-five meter swimming pool, several squash courts, a fitness & training center, indoor and outdoor running tracks, wushu and dance studios, and safe outdoor play spaces for children.
Beijing’s air quality has come a long way from the “airpocalypse” days of a few years ago. Indeed, Beijing doesn’t make the World Health Organization’s “top 20” list of major cities with air pollution issues. Nonetheless, Keystone Academy uses high technology water-and air-purification systems to ensure good air and water-drinking conditions on campus. In addition, the Chinese government continues to implement new measures to reduce emissions and improve quality of life.
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