Common Sense, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of media and technology, has recognized Keystone Oaks Middle School as a Common Sense School.

Keystone Oaks Middle School has demonstrated its commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing its students to think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate while preparing them for the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying. With the right support, kids can take ownership of their digital lives, engage with real issues, and change their communities for the better. The recognition acknowledges our school's commitment to creating a culture of digital citizenship. 

"We applaud the faculty and staff of Keystone Oaks Middle School for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students' education," said Merve Lapus, vice president of education outreach and national partnerships at Common Sense Education. Keystone Oaks Middle School deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large." 

The Middle School has been using Common Sense Education's innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and are grounded in the real issues students and teachers face. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media literacy. The free K–12 curriculum is used in classrooms across all 50 states, in more than 80,000 schools by more than 1,000,000 educators.

"We're honored to be recognized as a Common Sense School," said Middle School Principal Jeff Kattan, Ed.D. "By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them an opportunity to build lifelong habits to help them succeed in a tech-driven world."

Keystone Oaks Superintendent Dr. Stropkaj recently attended the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Real Skills for Real Life Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit focused on students’ capability to think critically and creatively, without being distracted by outside barriers, along with being able to channel their inner strengths when faced with challenges in our schools.

Over the three days, Dr. Stropkaj interacted with nationally known neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators, discussing the importance of meeting students' needs in a K-12 educational system and teaching them the skills necessary to be successful in life beyond high school.

The “new basics," as it was described during the conference, is to focus on the needs that students must have to learn traditional academics: 

This brain science can change the culture of the educational landscape and meet the needs of today’s students. In addition, this brain science can be translated into transformative leadership strategies to inspire, motivate, and enable students to become successful beyond Keystone Oaks. 

During their dedicated half-day professional development time on Monday, October 27, a group of Keystone Oaks Middle and High School teachers participated in the first of four training sessions on Project-Based Learning. This is the second cohort of secondary teachers to participate in this training, and by the end of the 2025-2026 school year, a majority of middle and high school teachers will have been trained on the essential elements of project-based learning and will have designed and implemented at least one PBL lesson in their classroom. 

Led by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s Brian Stamford, Program Director for Accountability and Innovative Practices, and Rachel McVeagh, Instructional Innovation Coordinator, the PBL training focuses on the seven essential elements of project design and guides teachers through the process of designing a PBL unit. PBL is a way of teaching that allows students to explore meaningful questions, engage in real-world problem solving, and empowers them to tackle challenges by designing or creating something.

Research shows that PBL improves students’ ability to think critically, increases motivation and active participation, allows students to develop a deeper understanding of content, enhances teamwork and communication skills, fosters creativity and innovation, and boosts academic achievement. 

Last year's cohort of teachers implemented several creative and impactful PBL lessons, including:

This year's PBL lessons will be highlighted in future newsletters.

The Keystone Oaks School District’s new Technology Advisory Committee held its first meeting on Wednesday, October 29. Led by Technology Director Aaron Smith, committee members will meet regularly to thoughtfully evaluate the use of Artificial Intelligence and digital tools in Keystone Oaks classrooms. The committee will review and assess existing and emerging tools by using a structured framework to determine their instructional value, alignment with district goals, and compliance with student data privacy and security standards. The goal is to ensure that any applications adopted by the district are effective, secure, and supportive of teaching and learning. 

The committee includes 10 teachers and administrators, representing a variety of grade levels and content areas. 

Five Keystone Oaks 8th-grade students can now add film producer to their list of accomplishments! 

As 7th graders, Iris Brownlee, Justin Fullwood, Eli Cario, John Filson, and AJ Montenaro collaborated with Wonder Media and Rugrats producer Terry Thoren to create a full-length animated film titled Finding Stories of Wonder in the Land of Oz. 

Our students worked alongside peers from other schools across Pennsylvania, dedicating significant time to writing, recording, and animating their assigned scene. It was a rigorous and unique undertaking that truly highlights their creativity and dedication. The film is even listed on IMDB!

You can view the full movie in this Google Slideshow; jump to 23:30 to watch the scene brought to life by our talented middle schoolers!

Two dozen Keystone Oaks students recently stepped out of the classroom for three impactful field experiences, gaining practical insight into cutting-edge technology in the areas of robotics, manufacturing, and STEM, through visits to Eaton Corporation and the high-tech research hub, Mill 19.

Through the Chief Science Officers program, four Keystone Oaks Middle and High School students recently visited Eaton Corporation, where they experienced the operation of a simulated power distribution system and learned how clean power is generated via solar, hydrogen, and wind. As part of the visit, students used Hummingbird Robots to create a character or scene using sensors, motors, and lights provided by CodeyJoy. 

Chief Science Officers is an international program that gives students the opportunity to be a liaison for STEM and innovation in their schools and communities. Throughout the year, these four students will work to create an Action Plan and are expected to complete a project that will positively impact the STEM culture within their community.

Ten Keystone Oaks High School students recently participated in Catalyst Connections’ Manufacturing Day event at Mill 19 in Hazelwood. A former steel mill, Mill 19 is now a research and design facility that hosts Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Institute, the ARM Institute, ElevateBio, and other incubator companies that are working to transition manufacturing into the digital and robotics era. 

Representatives talked with students about the skills and knowledge that will be needed in emerging careers in this sector and the pathways available for students to develop the tools necessary to be successful in this industry. 

Nine students attended Pittsburgh Robotics Network’s Discovery Day at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where they had the opportunity to learn from and network with more than 200 organizations from the Pittsburgh area that are driving innovation across the robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence industries. Students also learned about a number of education and internship opportunities that are available for high school students interested in these fields. 

Nine Keystone Oaks High School student athletes were named to the All-Section, All-Conference, and All-WPIAL teams for their respective sports:

Keystone Oaks junior Anthony Cerminara competed in the WPIAL 2A Cross Country Championships, where he finished 36th out of 227 runners with a new personal best time of 17:28.50.

Keystone Oaks seniors Lael Nowlin and Alisha Thapa competed in the WPIAL Tennis Section Singles and Section Doubles. Seniors Remi Johnston and Amelia Scott also competed in the WPIAL Tennis Section Doubles.

The Varsity Football, Varsity Girls Soccer, and Varsity Girls Volleyball teams qualified to compete in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs in their respective sections.

Thanks to the generosity of the Keystone Oaks community, there are multiple ways to support Keystone Oaks families through this year’s Golden Elves Holiday Giving Program. 

Food Drive, sponsored by the High School’s Eradicate Hate Club. Through Wednesday, December 3, we will be collecting the following non-perishable food items: 

Gift Drive, sponsored by Integrated Contracting & Renovations and Conti’s Pizza. Through Sunday, December 14, you can donate new, unwrapped gifts at Integrated Contracting & Renovations or Conti’s Pizza, both on Killarney Drive in Castle Shannon. Suggested donations include: 

Coat Drive, sponsored by two generous Green Tree families. Look for more details soon! 

Financial Contributions. We are still accepting monetary and gift card donations. Donations can be made via Venmo - WelchKOSD - or by mailing them to:

Keystone Oaks School District

Attn: Sarah Welch

1000 Kelton Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15216