BEIJING, Nov. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Keystone Academy is pleased to announce the launch of the Keystone Scholars Program, a merit-based scholarship for highly motivated and talented students from around the world who endeavor to expand their horizons by choosing to pursue a Keystone education in Beijing, China. As our most competitive and distinguished scholarship, the Keystone Scholars program represents the highest level of scholarship, leadership, and service.
Keystone Scholars In Honor of our future leaders
A Keystone education epitomizes the pursuit of excellence to the highest degree, honoring both the mission and values of the academy. It is also a program that acts as a door to a realm of opportunities for students who seek to expand their world.
The Scholar's Program will cover the full cost of Keystone boarding tuition for each year through to graduation, provided the student maintains a distinguished level of academic performance and is a positive, contributing member of the school community. In addition, if the student enrolls at an Academy approved college or university, Keystone scholars will receive a grant to cover one year of college tuition.
Dean of Admissions at Keystone Academy, Rachael Beare, speaks with Keystone's Marketing and Communications Department in a special interview on the merits and value of scholarship in Keystone's educational philosophy.
Q: Since 2015, Keystone has offered several scholarships such as the Founder's and Junzi Scholarship. For the 2018-2019 academic year, the academy announced a new scholarship program, Keystone Scholars. What is the primary difference between this scholarship and previous scholarships? What kinds of students is the academy seeking to attract?
A: The Founder's Scholarship was the first scholarship we offered as a school, and the intention behind that scholarship program at Keystone is that we are a very dynamic school that offers a range of opportunity for students. The Junzi Scholars Program honors boys and girls who have demonstrated academic success and leadership skills in their previous school environments, and who demonstrate qualities of a junzi. We want talented students who will take advantage of the plethora of opportunities and exposure the academy has to offer.
The primary difference between the Keystone Scholars Program and the nature of other scholarship offerings is that the Scholar's Program is purely merit-based. This means that the award is based solely on the candidate's capacity to perform at the highest standard in the school both academically and in other ways. This program is about creating an incentive for high performing and high achieving students, regardless of the place they originate from, to add Keystone to the list of other amazing options that they have available to them.
At Keystone, we are seeking ways for the best students around the world to consider our school. All scholarships at some level are an incentive, especially purely merit-based scholarships such as the Keystone Scholars as opposed to need-based scholarships. These programs are designed to attract bright students to our school. We want to provide options, such as Keystone, to students and their families and to consider us among the list of world-class school that can educate their child.
We are committed to making sure that we are accessible to the best students and that we have the opportunity to enroll the best students and ensure that their resources will not prevent them from becoming part of a truly wonderful community.
Q: Keystone is a highly competitive school that pursues excellence and that seeks to attract highly motivated, talented students. How can students and their family's best position themselves when applying to Keystone, and applying for Keystone scholarships?
A: The first step for any student to be considered for any Keystone scholarship is that the students must undergo an evaluation by our Admissions Committee. We do not consider students at the scholarship stage unless we have deemed them as an excellent candidate amongst other applicants who are also applying to the school.
The scholarship stage is another level beyond that first level of competition because now these students are competing against the other students who have also applied for the scholarship. So, it's not just a matter of being excellent enough to be accepted to Keystone, you have to be exceptional enough to compete against the other scholarship students who also share similar profiles in order to be awarded the scholarship.
Q: How do scholarship students enrich and diversify the school community
A: In a million different ways! The focus of the Junzi Scholarship, for example, highlights kids who are able to enhance the level of scholarship of those around them. In other words, they're the kind of kids who ask unusual questions, who push others thinking to be better or more expansive. They are kids who lead in and outside of the classroom; they are kids who are sparks in different ways around the community. Maybe they get others interested in participating in doing community service on the weekends because it is a passion that they have but because of the nature of the type of person they are, they draw others with them into doing those kinds of activities.
I would say in almost every area of the school, whether it's in classrooms or outside of classrooms, in the arts, in the humanities, or in school productions on stage, the kids who are on the scholarship are impacting just about every area of school life in important ways. Scholarship kids tend to value what they're getting so much more than someone who has a lot of choices for school. Giving scholarships has the opportunity to make the school better. For the students, it provides more understanding and appreciation for the opportunities they've been given, both scholarship students and non-scholarship students benefit from this.
Q: How does the academy ensure that these students are successful here?
A: I think it starts by selecting the students well. I would say that's true not just for scholarship students, we think that way with every student that we accept to Keystone. We're not looking to set anyone up to fail. We want to bring students in who we feel have the capacity to be successful, and in the case of scholarship students I would say our standards are even higher because these students have an additional set of challenges that other students do not have.
I don't worry too much about them being successful when they get here. The school is very attentive in putting systems in place to help our students be successful. We're going to help students be successful not just by supporting their tuition, but also other things that they need in order to be successful in school.
Q: Keystone has established several traditions that leave lifelong imprints in our school history. Are scholarship programs viewed in the same light? What kind of legacy does the academy hope to create through various scholarship programs?
A: It's really about the pursuit of excellence for us as a school. From the very beginning of our founding as a school, there were a few things that were essential about who we wanted Keystone to be. One was that we were going to be a school that was going to be here one hundred years from now and that the great, great grandchildren of the first accepted students may one day be going to school here. In other words, we weren't starting a school that was going to be here for a few years and then disappear. We were starting a school that was going to be here for generations.
We wanted to establish a school that was going to be perceived as one of the best schools in China someday. If you're going to be a school that's perceived in that way you have to have students who are the best students. You have to create criteria that evaluates them. So even from our first year, we did not accept all the students who applied. And so, our desire in having this scholarship program was in service of getting the best students into the academy.
Q: In redefining the meaning of scholarship at Keystone, what goals does the academy hope to achieve in implementing these programs?
A: I think that having a scholarship program is a way to help the Academy achieve its goals of academic excellence. We are working hard to be the best school that we can, to educate students in the best way that we know how, and to prepare them for the best colleges and universities around the world. Having a scholarship program is all a part of the process of getting ourselves to that point.
The true meaning of scholarship, however, is not limited to an academy's ability to provide financial support to families. Scholarship at Keystone is also an act of service, a duty, and is emblematic of Keystone's mission to holistically nurture and cultivate students that fit into our community. Scholarships provide unparalleled opportunities for learning and are a distinctive characteristic of good learners, who are eager to share their passions, explore their curiosity, and serve their school communities. At Keystone, we strive to attract the best students from around the world, who can use their gifts to help shape and mold our community and lead by example in all domains of school life.
Please click here to learn more about Keystone's Scholarship Programs.
About Keystone Academy
Keystone Academy, in operation since 2014, is located in Beijing, China. It is a non-profit, philanthropic educational venture governed by a board of trustees. The school blends distinctive traditions in eastern, western, and international education, creating a "new world school" that is academically outstanding and a new model of education in China. We learn from and we learn for this enterprising, global community.
www.keystoneacademy.cn
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