The Eagle's Nest
 |
Liberty
Common
Elementary
School
|
Common Knowledge, Common Virtues, Common Sense
A National Charter School of the Year, A Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon School, A Certified Official Core Knowledge Site School, A John Irwin School of Excellence , A Gilder Lehrman Affliate School
|
|
Volume 17 Issue 16
|
December 9, 2013
|
|
Dec. 10|January Lunch Calendars Due
Dec. 13|Free Dress Day
Dec. 13|Registration Deadline for Lil Dribblers Intramurals-1st and 2nd Graders (See below)
Dec. 16|5th/6thBand and Choir Concert-6:30 pm
Dec. 17|Character Assembly
4th-6th-8:10-8:45
K-3rd-8:55-9:35
Dec. 17|Mandatory Informational Mtg. for 5th and 6th graders who are interested in auditioning for Beauty and the Beast (See below)
Dec. 19|BOD Meeting-6:00 pm
Dec. 20|2nd Quarter Ends
Dec. 20|T-shirt Day
Dec. 23-Jan.3|Winter Break, NO SCHOOL
Jan. 8|Registration deadline for Love and Logic Training
 Lost and Found is overflowing with jackets, lunch boxes, water bottles and much more. Please take a few minutes to visit the lost and found and claim your student's missing items. The items not picked-up are donated to charity regularly. January Lunch Calendars are due tomorrow, Dec. 10th. by 4:00 p.m. Please CLICK HERE for a calendar.
 Lil Dribblers Basketball Intramurals
for 1st & 2nd Grade Boys and Girls begins Sat., January 11, 2014. Registration deadline is December 13th. CLICK HERE for more information and registration form. Liberty Intramural Basketball for 5th-6th Graders begins Thursday, January 16th from 4:00-4:10 and will meet four additional times. The cost for the five weeks is $10. CLICK HERE for more information and a registration form. Only 24 slots available-so act fast.  Schedule and Registration Now Available for 2014 Chess Club. CLICK HERE for information and sign up. Dismissal Dilemma. We have seen an increase in the number of telephone calls at the end of the day from parents asking us to relay messages to their student(s). The majority of the messages are regarding pick up-where and with whom. Please discuss pick-up plans with your child in the morning or write them down in your student's planner. These small steps will reduce the number interruptions in the classroom and front office. Thank you. Liberty Earns 2013 John J. Irwin Award. Colorado Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond announced last week that for the umpteenth year in a row, Liberty will receive the John Irwin award for demonstrating excellent academic achievement. On the school performance framework that is used by the state to evaluate schools, Liberty exceeds expectations on the indicator for academic achievement over three years. In 2013, 178 schools earned this award. Congratulations to students, parents, faculty and all Liberty staff. Liberty Earns 2013 Distinguished Improvement Award. Last week, Commissioner Hammond also announced Liberty has received the 2013 Governor's Distinguished Improvement Distinguished Improvement award for demonstrating excellent student growth. On the school performance framework that is used by the state to evaluate schools, Liberty exceeded expectations on the indicator related to longitudinal academic growth over three years. In 2013, 130 schools earned this award. Congratulations to students, parents, faculty and all Liberty staff. 
On November 16th Liberty Common Elementary's all-girl Lego robotics team, the Killer Koalas from Outer Space, competed at the regional qualifier tournament at Poudre High School. The seven girl team consisted of Ellen Benz, Olivia Good, Sophia Solis, Amber Kranz, Sarah Solis, Carolyn Carpenter, and Lily Wilson. The entire team, with the exception of Lily, were rookies. The competition consists of a project, a core values exercise, and a robot challenge. In addition to an outstanding score of 183 on the robot challenge, the Killer Koalas took home the award for best research on their project, which focused on raising awareness of tsunamis by Pre-installing Tsunami warning aps onto cell phones in Hawaii. Congratulations girls, outstanding work! 
Singin' in the Rain. Come see a LCHS's fantastic production of the musical Singin' in the Rain popularized by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynold's 1952 film. Students in the high school musical theatre class have been working on this production all semester and have even learned to tap dance! Buy tickets at LCHS at the table by the front office at lunch. Please have exact change or a check made out to LCHS. Contact Ms. Ogg via email at [email protected] if you have any question. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for any student. Performances will be at Liberty Common Elementary School at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 13th & at 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 14th.  | |
LCHS 7th-grade Order Leaders Chloe Eberl and Jack Hastings made a trip to the elementary school last Thursday to talk to 6th graders about next year's transition to the high-school building. Eberl and Hastings spoke for 30 minutes and answered questions about the Dress Code, class schedules, curriculum, sports and more. The pair told the audience that the upcoming Sixth-Grade Day at the high school on Friday March 14th, 2014 will ease everyone's anxieties and will be a lot of fun. The student-leaders then introduced Principal Schaffer, Assistant Principal Lovely, and Academic Dean Stoltzfus to the 6th graders.
|
 Jr. High Basketball The Jr. High boys' basketball team is in the NCIL championship game that will be played in our gym Wednesday, December 11th at 4pm. This is a big SPIRIT game and we encourage all Jr. High Kids to attend to cheer them on to a victory! WEAR RED! Congratulations for making it this far fellas! The Jr. High girl's basketball tryout is December 18th and 19th in the gym at 3:15pm. Blue Cards must be obtained from Mr. Knab no later then January 7th. To do this a parent packet must be completed, which can be found on the website. This packet must be accompanied by a doctor's physical form that has been done in the last calendar year (January 7th). The Fee for Jr. High Athletics is $80.
|
|
|
Contact Us
|
Liberty Common School
1725 Sharp Point Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Phone: 970-482-9800
Fax: 970-482-8007
Office Hours: 7:50-4:00 p.m.
Our attendance line is (970)482-9800, option 2, please call by 8:30 a.m.
If you need to take your child to an appointment during school hours, please come to the Front Office, sign them out and we will call them out of class.
All students who arrive after 8:00 a.m. must be signed in at the Front Office. It is important that a reason be written as this determines if the tardy is excused or not. Please note that you may go to your student's classroom and wait for them to be dismissed only after 2:50 p.m.If your student is ill and you want any/all homework, please contact the teacher by email as early as possible and homework will be available after 3:00 p.m. in the office. If you have any questions about these policies please contact Mrs. Ronen at [email protected]
|
 Board of Directors |
Sarvjit Gill 227-4202
Joel Goeltl 593-8556 Paulette Hansen 282-8455
Jeff Webb 545-9636
Bill Werst 631-8379Amy Redstone 378-1170
John Rohrbaugh 225-2259
You may contact all members of our Board of Directors at
December 19, 2013
6:00 pm
Teacher's Lounge
Liberty Common School
|
|
News Tidbits
| |
Liberty Directories now in the front office. Pick up yours today for only $1.00.
Library in Use and off limits to families and students Monday- Friday 3:20- 4:30 with an after school booster. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your consideration.
LCS adheres to Poudre School District's school closures due to inclement weather causing hazardous road conditions. If PSD schools are closed due to hazardous road conditions, so is LCS. If PSD delays the start of the school day due to snow or ice, so will Liberty. CLICK HERE for up-to-the-minute PSD snow-day announcements.
 Holiday Shop at Liberty for Liberty T-ShirtsIf you haven't already bought a Liberty Common t-shirt, now is the time. We have sizes from XS Youth-Adult Large. All sizes are $5.00 and can be purchased in the office.
 LCS supermom Dhipanee Mayes, owner of Sri Thai Restaurant, warmed a cold, snowy school day last Thursday, by providing the faculty and staff with a spectacular lunchtime spread. A very happy staff enjoyed the offering down to the last tasty morsel. Thank you, Dhipanee.
|
|
|
|
History of Liberty Common School
Part 2 of 3
| Liberty Common School has a unique history that is important for all to know. There were many hardships and roadblocks encountered along the way. The Founders persevered to make our school what it is today, but it wasn't easy. We are fortunate to have had such persistent pioneers with a vision to make one of the best charter schools in Colorado.
For the next three weeks, we will run, "How Did We Get Here?" by Dr. Maureen Schaffer. Dr. Schaffer does a superb job of detailing the events that took place to develop Liberty Common School as we know it. Our hope is that by sharing our history, we will better value the efforts by our founders to get where we are today. It is because of their vision and foresight that we have the top elementary and high school in the state of Colorado.
We continually thank our founding parents for their hard work and dedication. We could not have asked for a better educational system to educate children. Our hope is that you feel the same.
The History of Liberty Common School
By Dr. Maureen Schaffer (Founding Parent)
The huge demand for the educational program offered at Washington Core Knowledge School prompted the school's founders to begin drafting an application for a Core Knowledge charter school. By the summer of 1995, unresolved issues about the permanence of Washington Core and the authority of the parent board over the academic program spurred a full-scale charter effort.
Meeting after work and on weekends, parents meticulously defined and documented the charter school's mission, goals, curriculum, governance, budget, facility plan, employee relations, and more. On October 31, 1995, the Core Knowledge Charter School (CKCS) Partnership submitted its application to the PSD Board of Education.
Rather than proceed with negotiations, the PSD board requested more and more information, explanation, and detail. The CKCS board, led by Chairman Phil Christ, diligently responded to each request, but to no avail. On December 11, the PSD board voted to deny the charter application without ever having met to negotiate with the parents.
Undaunted, the CKCS board appealed the decision to the Colorado State Board of Education. In February, the state board sided with the parents and instructed the PSD board to negotiate an agreement in good faith with the charter group.
Weeks of meetings ensued. It appeared the two sides were slowly coming together. However in an 11th hour surprise, the PSD board suddenly voted to "approve" the charter with several major restrictions, not previously discussed: the charter would be limited to two years, enrollment would be capped at 300 students, and the school would be limited to a K-6 program, thereby eliminating the school's innovative junior high program.
PSD further directed the charter school to find space in a non-district building and execute the charter contract with PSD no later than June 1. The constraints made it virtually impossible to open the school.
Disappointed, the CKCS board filed a second appeal with the State Board of Education. In an apparent attempt to quash the charter school, PSD unleashed its attorney. A paper war erupted as the lawyer threw legal obstacles in the path of the charter school. The charter group managed to fend off the legal challenges and was finally granted a hearing before the state board.
At the April 23 hearing, the final punch was landed when PSD announced it had filed suit against the State Board of Education and CKCS Board of Directors! Concerned that the lawsuit could result in an injunction preventing the charter school from opening, the state board recommended the charter group try to open a school with PSD's restrictions.
Dozens of outraged parents criticized the legal shenanigans at the next PSD board meeting. PSD director Bob Bacon denied they had sued parents and accused charter supporters of promulgating a "big lie." But PSD President Mike Liggett confirmed the lawsuit had indeed named five parents: Phil Christ, Randy Everett, Timothy Gilmore, Cheryl Olsen, and Maureen Schaffer, as defendants.
The clock was ticking down to the June 1st deadline. Charter parent Peter Kast, a commercial realtor, conducted yet another survey of potential properties to accommodate the PSD-imposed school configuration. A near match was identified. However, two adjustments to the restrictions would be necessary:
1) Increase the charter length to 5 years to amortize building improvements
2) Increase the enrollment cap to 364 students to meet the annual lease and maintenance obligations.
The charter group entreated PSD to consider adjusting the restrictions. The PSD board refused to consider the request. "The Board of Education will not take any further action," came the response in a May 3rd letter to the CKCS board.
The June 1 contract deadline expired, and PSD dropped its lawsuit against the parents.
The clock had run down. There would be no charter school in 1996.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR THE EXCITING CONCLUSION!
|
|
Grandparents Corner by Jan Dougherty
| |
Parents, the Grandparents Day was phenomenal. Approximately 500 Grandparents were at the LC Elementary School, and about 300 at LCH. They also bought merchandise to support the schools. Thank them. Such dedication to their Grandchildren. Shows how the older generation wants to see their Grandchildren succeed. I think that they had an excellent time and I heard many say that where they live that they don't see this kind of participation in their schools. What a great performance by our Grandchildren. Tell them thank you from all of us. Parents, you have done an excellent job in training your children. Continue to support your teachers in every way you can, they work hard and are dedicated to giving your children love and guidance that will profit your child throughout his or her lifetime.
I was in Jenna Allen's classroom, 2nd grade, and the Grandparents were astonished at what their Grandchildren are learning. Seems to me that a lot of us would have to start in first grade again to learn what is being taught at Liberty Common School. It is a tough curriculum and so worth having our Grandchildren in such a high quality school.
Update on Grandparent's Day: Everyone enjoyed their day. Altogether $1129.00 was made on the merchandise sold at both the upper and the lower grade schools. Generations were united. The grandparents that were unable to attend are being sent Post-It-Note pads and the Save-the-Date magnet. We want them to know they are valued and missed. The Grandparents Club is now working on putting the Spring Gala together and filling the grab bags again. There will be seventy-five of them. They went like hot cakes last year. Also, we are procuring merchandise to go into those grab bags. The new Snack Shack is ordered and we are waiting for a delivery.
Interesting information about "What is "Boxing Day?" Boxing Day has no reference to things pugilistic. In England, the day after Christmas is so called because on that day the Christmas boxes placed in the churches for casual contributions are opened and the contents distributed to those who render small services without pay. The night of the same day is known as Boxing Night. Boxing Day is a survival of an older custom. In medieval times the monks of certain orders offered mass for the safety of vessels and placed a small box on each ship to receive contributions from the sailors. Carrying a box from door to door for the collection of Christmas money and presents was an early custom, and in the course of time, alms boxes were placed in churches for donations to be distributed to the poor on Christmas morning. Angel trees provide a fun, useful and loving way to give to someone who is less fortunate than ourselves.
|
|
The Critical Nature of the Liberty Common School Charter-Test Yourself
| |
Liberty's Board and Administration subscribes to this view: It is the right and responsibility of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children. To help you accomplish this goal, we encourage you to learn the foundational principles contained within Liberty's charter. In upcoming Monday Notes, you'll find a new quiz question pulled right from our charter. Test yourself. The correct answer can be found in the notes as well. The charter can be found on our website.
How Well Do You Know Liberty's Charter? Excellence in education means raising academic standards and success to the levels offered by the best examples. This is demonstrated by a) An increase in the mean student achievement b) A decrease in the standard deviation in student achievement c) An increase in the average score of at-risk students to the mean score of all students d) An annual decrease in the overall percentage increase in student achievement
|
|
Love and Logic Returns to Liberty
|
Parenting Class For Liberty Parents.
Liberty is proud to offer again to all parents "America's most practical and entertaining parent training" Parenting The Love And Logic Way.
This is a six-week parent-training program that is very effective in helping with proven strategies covering everything from getting your kids out of bed in the morning, to establishing household expectations, discipline and positive relationships with teens.
Our expert instructor is Liberty mom Mrs. Shannon Yockey. Cost is $125.00 per individual, $175 per couple, which includes workbooks and materials. All profits from the class will go to professional development for LCS and LCHS faculty and staff. Classes run from Jan 14th - Feb 18th 2014 for six weeks and will be held at Liberty Common School, 1725 Sharp Point Drive. This class is open to all parents with children of all ages. Please register by printing out registration form ( CLICK HERE) and submitting payment to the front office. For more information about the class, contact Shannon Yockey at (970) 224-2080 ext.1. Class size is limited and you must register by Wednesday, January 8th.
|
|
Liberty Common Lecture Series
|
 Soak Up Some Solar Radiation. It's safe to say our first two Liberty Lectures were outstanding events. The third one will be, too. LCHS's Dr. John Allen is a distinguished atmospheric chemist who's career research involved the effects of solar ultraviolet radiation exposure on humans. Find out if your brand of sunscreen really works, and what happens if it doesn't - directly from a foremost expert on the topic. Mark your calendar now for Tuesday, January 21st 6:30 - 7:30 PM in the LCHS Great Hall.
Answer:
a) An increase in the mean student achievement
|
|
Giving Back to Liberty
|
 Other Fundraising Opportunities. "Cartridges for Kids" gives us cash for your old printer cartridges, cell phones, ipods, video games and consoles, laptops, GPS devices, PDAs, digital cameras and DVDs. "Box Tops for Education," Campbell's soup labels and Morning Fresh Dairy bottle caps also provide our school with additional funding. Drop-off point is in the front office.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
