Keystone Oaks High School celebrated its 61st graduating class on Thursday, June 5, 2025. This year’s 137 graduates plan to pursue 54 career paths at more than 35 post-secondary institutions across the country. Seven students have committed to serving in various branches of the United States Armed Services.

Read more about the academic and athletic accomplishments of the Class of 2025 on the District’s website.

The Keystone Oaks School District congratulates six individuals who retired at the end of the school year! Together, they served Keystone Oaks students, staff, families, and the community for 132 years.

The District recognized these individuals both at the Board of School Directors’ May meeting and at a luncheon, where they celebrated with family, their supervisors, and District administrators. 

Keystone Oaks’ Odyssey of the Mind program can now add “World Champions” to its growing list of accomplishments over the past decade!

This year, the team Precisely Cut Potatoes—which included middle school students Iris Brownlee, Frankie Custer, Reagan Dobson, Rainer Loyd, Grace Luft, Afton Rogers, and Alex Smith—brought home first place in their age division at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, held in May at Michigan State University.

Competing against more than 50 teams from around the world, they were tasked with producing an “out of this world” performance featuring a shooting star and lighting effects.

They were one of four Keystone Oaks teams to compete in the World Finals: 

Check out these two great stories about the Odyssey of the Mind program at Keystone Oaks: 

For the second consecutive year, Keystone Oaks Middle School has been designated as a No Place for Hate school by the Anti-Defamation League. This program recognizes schools that build inclusive and respectful learning environments and take steps to combat bias, bullying, and hatred, while promoting unity and acceptance. 

Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, a student-led committee organized several initiatives, including signing the No Place for Hate pledge, implementing the Middle School’s second Culture Day, and facilitating two activities on bullying, rumors, and gossip. 

“We applaud the Middle School students and staff for earning this important designation,” Superintendent William Stropkaj, Ed.D., said. “The educational and interactive activities that the students have organized have helped to create a school culture where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued.”

This school year, Myrtle Avenue Elementary School kindergarten teacher Mrs. Caitlin Lucas participated in the third cohort of the Goyen Foundation’s Literacy Fellowship, a program that identifies the best reading teachers across the country and gives them a platform to share resources, techniques, and science-based strategies to get kids reading. 

 

As part of the program, Mrs. Lucas filmed lessons in her classroom, which she then shared with teachers from across the country during their monthly meetings. She also published two blog posts - “Simple ‘Literacy Hygiene’ Tasks: A Guide for Parents,” and “Technology in Education: A Breaking Point, Not a Turning Point" - where she combines literacy research with her expertise as both a LETRS-certified and Pathways to Proficient Reading-trained teacher. 

 

She also recently filmed a segment for Pittsburgh Today Live, where she demonstrated “Playful, practical strategies to keep kids sharp all summer long.” She will be appearing on Pittsburgh Today Live on Monday, July 7 - be sure to tune in!

 

“We are very proud of Caitlin for being selected for this prestigious fellowship and for being recognized as one of the best elementary reading teachers in the country,” said Shannon Varley, Ed.D., Assistant to the Superintendent for Student Achievement. “Since the district transitioned to using the Science of Reading and LETRS in our elementary classrooms, Caitlin has become a leader in effectively using these programs to teach our youngest learners how to read. It is quite an honor for Caitlin to represent Keystone Oaks in improving literacy education in the United States.”

The 2024–2025 school year was one for the Keystone Oaks Music Department’s history books!

Senior Nadia Dojcak became the first Keystone Oaks student to perform as part of the National Association for Music Education’s Eastern Division All-Eastern Honors Mixed Choir Ensemble. Following an audition during the PMEA All-State Chorus Festival, Nadia was one of 189 vocalists from 12 states selected for this prestigious ensemble. She performed in late April at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Junior Kada Lamonde became the first Keystone Oaks student selected to perform in the Western Region Orchestra Festival. She was one of 12 violinists from the region chosen for the ensemble, placing her among the top 100 violinists in Pennsylvania for the 2024–2025 school year. In February, Kada performed at the Richland High School Performing Arts Center in Johnstown, PA, under the direction of film, TV, and video game composer Mr. Chris Thomas.

Nadia and Kada were among 27 Keystone Oaks Middle School and High School students who performed in 12 different PMEA music festivals this school year. 

You can read more about all of the festivals that Keystone Oaks students participated in this year on the District’s website.

The Keystone Oaks School District’s Board of School Directors approved the 2025-2026 Final General Fund Budget during their Business/Legislative Meeting on June 17, 2025. The Final Budget calls for total expenditures of $51,593,474 and total revenues of $49,763,184. The budget will be balanced with a 4% tax increase and by using a portion of the District’s available fund balance. The 4% increase is the maximum increase permitted by state law for the Keystone Oaks School District. 

 

The tax increase is necessary as the District plans for an estimated $15 million dollar renovation of all three elementary schools that will include HVAC system upgrades, roof repairs, window replacement, and the purchase and installation of new playground equipment and surfaces during the first phase of a multi-phase project. The elementary schools have not been renovated for 30 years. 

“District administrators and the Board of School Directors have been reviewing the architectural study that was completed earlier this year and have been working diligently to ensure that this project addresses the needs of our students and staff in a way that is fiscally responsible to Keystone Oaks taxpayers,” Superintendent William P. Stropkaj said. “We do not take raising taxes lightly, but this increase was necessary so that we can address our aging facilities while making improvements that reflect teaching and learning today and in the future.” 

 

The tax increase also offsets a $485,000 decrease in real estate revenue related to reductions in property assessment values, as well as increases in nearly all areas of operations, including:

 

The final millage rate for the 2025-2026 school year is 21.9442. Taxes will increase approximately $85 for every $100,000 of assessed property value. In the past five years, property taxes have increased three other times, with only one other year representing the maximum increase allowed. 

Approved property owners will receive a $279.15 reduction in their tax bill from the Homestead Exclusion through Pennsylvania's Tax Payer Relief Act.

The Keystone Oaks School District is sponsoring a free lunch program this summer, available each weekday through Friday, August 8, 2025.

Funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the program provides a free, nutritious bagged lunch to any child 18 years of age or younger, regardless of residence, at five distribution sites throughout the District:

10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. 

Keystone Oaks High School (Entrance C31 behind the building)

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

Wilson Park, Green Tree

11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. 

11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.

No photo identification or sign up is required for children to be able to receive lunch. Program guidelines from PDE require that the meal be eaten on site.  

In addition to the Summer Lunch Program, Keystone Oaks families may also be eligible for SUN Bucks, Pennsylvania’s Summer EBT program—a new grocery benefits initiative that provides households with a one-time payment of $120 per eligible child to buy food while school is out. Benefits can be used at local participating retailers to purchase groceries.

For more information, eligibility guidelines, and details on how to apply, please see the post in ParentSquare. 

Gene Kelly Awards ⭐️ Congratulations to Keystone Oaks senior Nora Bosniak, who was named a semi-finalist in the Outstanding Actress category for her portrayal of Cady Heron in this year’s high school musical, Mean Girls – High School Version.

The Gene Kelly Awards, a program sponsored by the Pittsburgh CLO, recognizes and encourages student achievement while highlighting the importance of musical theater and arts education. The program began in 1991, and this year, 34 schools participated in the Gene Kellys.

Phipps Fairchild Challenge 🌅 Eighth-grade students Amelia Dulaney, Brianna Ibarra-Romano, and Eliza Flowers earned first place for their photographs submitted as part of this year’s Fairchild Challenge Middle School Challenge #4, “Looking Through the Lens.”

Sponsored by Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the challenge asked students to tell a story through three photos that highlight the influence of nature. Each photo was accompanied by a short paragraph explaining the image and why the student chose to capture it. You can read their entries on the Fairchild Challenge’s blog.

As part of their first-place award, the students and Mrs. Carolyn Manko, sponsor of the Middle School’s Environmental Club, were recognized at the Fairchild Challenge Awards Ceremony and by the Keystone Oaks Board of School Directors.

5th Grade KOffee Shop ☕️ It was another perfect Thursday morning for the fourth annual Dormont Elementary School 5th Grade KOffee Shop, with community members lined up along the sidewalk for more than an hour to purchase baked goods, coffee, and books from Beyond Bedtime Books—all to support the students’ efforts to raise funds for Paws Across Pittsburgh, a nonprofit, foster-based animal rescue organization.

Through their efforts, students raised $2,250 for Paws Across Pittsburgh!

Data Jam 💻 Throughout the school year, six Keystone Oaks High School students prepared projects for the 2025 DataJam, an academic competition sponsored by Pittsburgh Dataworks that focuses on using big data to answer a research question.

Students completed their projects as part of an independent study under the direction of KOHS math and computer science teacher Kevin Gallagher and presented during a virtual DataJam Finale in May.

Congratulations to Riley Dobson, Lydia Deimel, and Jillian Stakich, whose project, Global Literacy and Educator Factors, won a Fan Favorite Award during the live voting portion of the DataJam Finale!

Join Keystone Oaks’ team of dedicated employees! 

The Keystone Oaks School District is currently accepting applications for the following positions:

Additional details about the positions and instructions on how to apply are available on the District’s website.