The Key School

Founded in 1958, Key School engages children from 2.5 years of age through grade 12 in a progressive, coeducational, college-preparatory program on its picturesque 15-acre campus located 4 miles from downtown Annapolis. For nearly sixty years The Key School has been guided by the premise that a child’s innate curiosity, when nurtured, fosters a commitment to lifelong learning. That commitment inspires Key students to continuously question, explore and create.

Under the guidance of an outstanding faculty, Key students across all grade levels engage in an intellectually dynamic and challenging academic program that is complemented by a host of co-curricular offerings, providing opportunities for them to explore their interests and talents to the fullest.

What makes Key unique for our students is our belief that every child plays an active role in the learning process. Be it in our classrooms, art and music studios, or on our playing fields, Key students engage in their work with a seriousness of purpose. Deeply woven into that focus is joy and laughter because ultimately school should be not only challenging, but also a great deal of fun.

The Key School is founded upon the conviction that children are innately curious about themselves and the world; they want to learn, they want to discover, and they want to create. Our mission is to nourish and guide this natural exuberance, energy, and delight in the search for meaning, so that each student embraces lifelong learning and develops into an informed, thoughtful, and constructive member of society. With these beliefs and objectives in mind, we commit to:

• Provide a dynamic education that demands rigor, intellectual independence, creativity, interdisciplinary thought, and openness to differing perspectives through academic and co-curricular programs that teach students experientially, as active participants in the learning process.
• Guide and support students in their efforts to mature intellectually, socially, and emotionally; to make decisions for themselves and take responsibility for those decisions; to address their individual learning needs; and to broaden and deepen their talents and interests.
• Prepare students with the collaborative and competitive abilities and the communication and thinking skills they need to effectively undertake challenges and assume responsibilities in an interconnected, complex world.
• Cultivate a community in which teaching and learning are lifelong endeavors for all, pursued through reflection, private study, and communal engagement.
• Sustain an ethical school culture that respects the dignity of every human being, recognizes that liberty must be balanced by responsibility and individual action by the needs of others, and stresses to all members of a diverse school community the importance of trust, mutual respect, compassion, and service to others.

The Key School promotes individuality and encourages the free expression of ideas and points of view in both academic and non-academic arenas. The tone of the campus is egalitarian, informal and caring with an academic focus which is both rigorous and innovative, for the School seeks to develop in its students an interest in learning and a sustaining degree of intellectual curiosity. To that end, Key prefers to foster and recognize excellence in all its students through adult-to-student communications, both written and oral, rather than through use of such devices as academic awards and honor rolls.

Key School's program is designed to develop independent thinkers, creative innovators, effective collaborators, tenacious problem-solvers, and articulate leaders while cultivating in its students a deep sense of purpose, accountability and intrinsic motivation.

Through active participation in both academic and co-curricular programs, Key’s Mission is designed to develop the whole person. Promoting a common interest in diverse endeavors that extend beyond the traditional classroom, the School enriches the lives of its students and encourages growth in multiple arenas. Of a special quality simply not found in other schools, Key’s distinctive programs enhance intellectual development, promote leadership skills, and foster a passion for life-long learning.

The adults on campus honor the intelligence and capacity of the students and the students, in turn, create genuine and long-lasting connections with their teachers. Mutual respect, teachers to students and students to teachers, is a hallmark of Key School.