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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)
Liberty Common Elementary School first opened its doors in September of 1997, but the story of The Liberty Common School dates back much further.
In the early 1990s, true educational choice was non-existent in Poudre School District. Parents without resources for private school sent their children to neighborhood schools. Nebulous curricula were largely determined by individual classroom teachers, leading to gaps and repetition in student learning. Dissatisfied, small groups of parents began to read, research, and meet throughout PSD in search of better options.
One young couple, with a seemingly insatiable interest in education issues, emerged with a solution. After months of research, Dr. Randy Everett and his wife, Ruth Ann, identified several fundamental elements they believed most parents desired in their children's schooling:
Parental choice in education
A core curriculum of specific content knowledge
Solid, content-driven skill instruction
Teaching the values of a democratic society
School-based management
Randy and Ruth Ann took their message on the road, placing advertisements in the local paper, and speaking in living rooms and meeting halls throughout the county. Soon, hundreds of parents had joined the cause.
In the spring of 1993, Dr. Everett submitted a proposal to the PSD Board of Education to establish an Elementary School of Choice organized around the Core Knowledge Sequence. The educational community fought the proposal with gusto. District teachers testified before the school board, pronouncing the Core Knowledge Sequence too difficult to teach or learn. In spite of this strong opposition, the school board approved the request, and the Washington Core Knowledge School opened with 125 students that fall. This progressive episode in PSD's history is documented on pages 62-63 of The Schools We Need by E.D. Hirsch.
Washington Core Knowledge School flourished. Parents painted the run-down school building and gathered curriculum resources. Courageous teachers joined the team, and students began to outperform their peers at neighborhood schools. In two years, enrollment had nearly doubled, and the waiting list numbered in the hundreds.
To meet this high demand, the school board allowed Washington Core to further increase enrollment and move into a portion of the old Fort Collins High School building. In a monumental construction effort led by parent volunteer Carol Christ, the high school building was converted to an elementary school over the summer of 1995. Things were going well for Washington Core, or so it seemed.
The school district notified Washington Core that its two-year pilot program had ended. Faculty would now be determined by the district, rather than the school's parent board. Sadly, the district immediately fired two teachers, replacing them with "tenured excess" teachers from within PSD.
The founding parents were dismayed. How could the school retain its integrity, if PSD brought in teachers who were not committed to the school's curriculum? Fortunately, the Colorado legislature had provided an answer - the Charter Schools Act.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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PLEASE VISIT LOST & FOUND BEFORE WINTER BREAK. All items not claimed by 3:00 p.m. on 12/19 will be given to a local charity. Thank you. 
If your child is a sibling of a student currently enrolled in Liberty, and will be attending kindergarten in the 2015-2016 school year, please make sure that they are on the sibling waiting list. We will begin running the lottery for the general public on January 26, 2015.
We want you to attend this year's Liberty Annual Spring Gala! Please mark your calendars so you don't miss this spectacular event! The Spring Gala will be held on Friday, April 10th, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in Loveland and 
Please remember that the front office is an office of business and the use of cell phones is prohibited. We also ask that conversations be kept to a minimum so that front office staff can provide quality customer service to students, staff members and other parents. Thank you.