The Eagle's Nest
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Liberty
Common
Elementary
School
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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
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Volume 18 Issue 24
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February 17, 2015
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Important Dates
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Feb. 20|Winter Carnival
Feb. 20|Free Dress Day
Feb.23-Feb. 27|Penny War
Feb. 24|New Kindergarten Parent Orientation,6:30 p.m.
March 6|Group Pictures
March 6|End of 3rd Quarter
March 13|6th graders to Liberty Common High School (All Day)6th graders will return to LCS by 2:30
March 16-20|Spring Break, NO SCHOOL
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Winter Carnival This Friday. Join In Fun,Family Time
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Is your family busy? Are you looking for a great way to to take take a break from your hectic schedule and spend some fun time with your children and other Liberty families?
Come to Liberty's Annual Winter Carnival
Friday, February 20th, 6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Enjoy games, crafts, bouncy houses and face painting.
 Dress up in your favorite 1950's Sock Hop themed outfit, all while dancing to Rodney James and the Blue Flames!
Paninos' Italian Restaurant will have amazing food for sale, at a fraction of the price to feed an entire family.
Leave the cooking and cleaning behind.
Volunteer opportunities are still available. Volunteers are needed to decorate, run stations, serve food and clean up. CLICK HERE to donate items for stations and
CLICK HERE to volunteer for activities the night of the event.
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Box Tops Spring Deadline-Feb. 27th
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 $2083.90. That was the total for the Box Tops fall check! Way to go liberty families! Thank you so much for all your clipping, bagging, shopping, and bundling. Every little bit sure ads up to a lot!
Did you know Box Tops sends two checks a year? One in the fall and one in the spring. The deadline for the spring check is fast approaching. For your Box Tops to be counted we will need them by the 27th of February. All Box Tops submitted after the 27thwill be on next year's fall check. Please check your drawers, cabinets, and pantry's. Oh, and if you have a few minutes, the expiration dates. It sure speeds up the counting and sorting process. Every little bit helps!
Your Box Top Parent Volunteers,
Becca Miller, and Jeanne-Marie Siegfried
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Teaching Children to Think
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Liberty founder Dr. Randy Everett will discuss Liberty's "Thinking Framework" strategy at a special parent lecture on Wednesday, February 25th at 6:30PM. All Liberty parents are urged to attend.
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All Liberty parents of students K - 12, are encouraged to attend a special lecture entitled "Teaching Children to Think" on Wednesday, February 25th at 6:30pm in the LCHS Great Hall. Organized by Liberty's Parent-Education Subcommittee, the featured speaker is Liberty founder Dr. Randy Everett who will help parents better understand the school's "Thinking Framework" strategy. This method is used in curriculum development, lesson planning and classroom content delivery. This classical framework was articulated by Liberty's founders when the school's predecessor school first opened in 1993. CLICK HERE for more information about Liberty's history. The Thinking Framework has been perfected by Liberty faculty over the years. In an important effort to help parents more fully understand Liberty's philosophy and academic tactics - and to better reinforce teaching strategies at home - Liberty's Board of Directors strongly encourages parents to attend this lecture. Together, we can do a better job teaching our children to think.
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Penny War Collection Going to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
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 LCS Student Council is sponsoring our Annual Penny War, Feb. 23-Feb. 27, with money collected going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
We will NOT accept money after lunch, on 2/27/15.
Rules of the Penny War:
-Coins only! No bills or rolls of coins, please.
-Pennies add to your class's total. Silver coins subtract from other class's totals.
-The cardboard boxes are a place to collect coins at home for the next few weeks. The kids are not to go door-to-door.
-The winning class gets a Pasta Party from Olive Garden.
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And the Survey Says......
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It is the time of year when The Board of Directors seeks parental input on your child's educational experience at Liberty. The Board values your opinion and strives to do its very best to be one of the top schools in Colorado.
A general survey focusing on our institution as a whole was distributed to all Liberty families via email on February 2, 2015. On February 9, 2015, families received an individual teacher/class survey. If you have more than one child attending Liberty, please complete a survey for each of your students.
If you have any questions regarding the surveys, or you have not received a survey, please call the front office at (970)482-9800. We value your feedback.
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Act Now: Tickets Available for Liberty's Spring Lecture
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Attention Parents:
Liberty Common School is excited to host a talk by Daniel T. Willingham. Please join us on March 27th at 6:30 PM to hear a talk by Daniel T. Willingham a professor and author from University of Virginia. He is an advocate of the Core Knowledge Curriculum and teaching our students content to comprehend the literature they read.
Dr. Willingham has worked closely with ED Hirsch to cognitively explain why and how what we do works. He will be discussing literacy and what we can do as parents and educators to make sure our students are reading. Dr. Willingham does an incredible job of making the cognitive sciences accessible to all participants.
Tickets are on sale now at
We will have Dr. Willingham's new book, Raising Kids Who Read What Parents and Teachers Can Do, for sale and book signing after the presentation. In Raising Kids, Willingham explains this phenomenon and provides practical solutions for engendering a love of reading that lasts into adulthood.
We hope you can all make it to this educational evening.
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Magloughlin Continues to Sting Competitors
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 Congratulations to Katie Magloughlin for qualifying for the State Spelling Bee to be held in Denver on March 14th. Katie joins the following 2015 District Spelling Bee Qualifiers for the Colorado State Bee: Landon Ball Bethke(4th)
Calvin Blunk Ridgeview Classical(6th)
Evan Grubb Kinard(7th)
Alyssa Ho Liberty Common H.S.(8th)
Jaden Ly McGraw(4th)
Katie Magloughlin Liberty Common Elem.(6th)
Rain Orsi Blevins(7th)
Khalid Shahba Lesher(7th)
Josh Sommer Linton(5th)
Natalie Springer Boltz(7th)
Good Luck Katie, Liberty is behind you all the way!
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Contact Us
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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.
In an effort to keep students safe during drop-off and pick-up times, please refrain from using cell phones. The front, middle and back drop-off and pick-up areas are designated NO CELL PHONE AREAS.
Please call our attendance line by 8:30 a.m. if your child will not be attending school due to illness, appointment or is out of town. 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 included on the sign-in sheet. 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 jronen@libertycommon.org
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Healthcare Reminder
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If your student is sick with a fever of 100 degrees or higher or is throwing up or has diarrhea, he or she is NOT ALLOWED to attend school. Your child may return to school if they are not throwing up or fever-free(WITHOUT FEVER REDUCING MEDICINE) for 24 hours.
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Board of Directors
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Sarvjit Gill 227-4202
Joel Goeltl 593-8556 Paulette Hansen 282-8455
Jeff Webb 545-9636
Bill Werst 631-8379Denise Benz 420-4184
John Rohrbaugh 225-2259
You may contact all members of our Board of Directors at
February 19, 2015
6:00 p.m.
Teacher's Lounge
Liberty Common School
1725 Sharp Point Dr.
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Quiet Zone
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 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. |
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Charter School Parents Invited
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The Poudre School District is looking for charter-school parents to serve on the district's accountability committee. The accountability committee consists of thoughtful parent and school representatives who provide guidance and recommendations regarding district spending priorities, the District Improvement Plan, and the districts charter schools to the PSD Board of Education. It also works to increase the level of parent engagement in the district. This important work is facilitated by a committee representative of the diversity of our district.
We are in need of a parent representing charter-school students. Parent candidates for the DAC must have a child currently enrolled in a PSD charter school, and may not be employed by either the district or the charter school.
If you know a parent who would enjoy contributing to the important advisory work of this group, please have them reach out to Robert Beauchamp, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. The contact information is listed below.
The committee meets once per month, typically on the third Wednesday of each month.
Feb 18,Mar. 25 (may be moved to March 24th to accommodate the board adoption of the district UIP),
Apr. 22, May 20,6:30 pm - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Board Room, 2407 LaPorte Avenue.
Contact Robert Beauchamp by email at rbeaucha@psdschools.org or call at 970-490-3667 if you have any questions about the commitment.  You make a difference. Questions or Suggestions? LCSGiftCards@gmail.com Extra gift cards in the Front Offices
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Core Knowledge Colorado Network 
By Casey Churchill, Liberty Common School Principal,
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"If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there."
This statement is why we write goals for ourselves. At the beginning of the school year, I wrote 3 goals for our elementary school. The second of which was to stay a Colorado Core Knowledge leader. To do this, we will teach 100% of the Core Knowledge Curriculum and we will continually assess all that we do to make sure students are getting meaningful instruction in all areas. To accomplish this goal, we decided to host the first ever Colorado Core Knowledge Network. This took place last year on February 7th here at Liberty. This year we passed the torch to Twin Peaks Charter Academy in Longmont, Colorado.
Last Friday, approximately 118 participants from all around Colorado were in attendance at Twin Peaks to share ideas about Core Knowledge. We are very excited to have started this annual networking tradition. We have gained valuable insight on what other schools are doing and we are able to show others the great things we are doing here. One of the most powerful things about teaching Core Knowledge is the power of networking. Not only can teachers talk about instructional pedagogy but also the content in which we teach. The content in most other non-Core Knowledge schools vary so teachers are confined to discussions about behavior management and instructional pedagogy.
Several of our very own staff stepped up to share their expertise. Debbie Wood and Cherie Pedersen presented a unit they teach on Ancient Rome. Steve Ronen, Jeff Siener, and Elissa Hersh presented on how to improve writing through content. Sherilyn Galeener, Jenny Cardenas, and Bri Schupp presented how to teach memory pegs. Tracy Nichols, presented her timeline that she created (this timeline can be purchased on her fancy new website http://www.timelinestaircase.com/). And finally, Erin Grandprey presented on the Renaissance. Five of the 11 speakers were from Liberty. Thanks to our staffs intellectual leadership these content talks were a success.
We ended the day with grade level round tables. Teachers shared Core Knowledge units they teach with colleagues in the same grade level. This is when the real networking began. Names were put with faces and contact information was shared. Teachers are now able to communicate throughout the year to ask Core Knowledge questions to help them grow as professionals. Thanks to Connie Trout, Jessica Rencher, Jenna Allen, Cherie Pedersen, Jeff Siener, Jenny Cardenas, Devin Duroux, Tracy Nichols, Erin Grandprey, Amy Clemens, Donny Reeves, and Jon Wilcox for leading these discussions in each of their grade levels or subject areas.
We look forward to sharing all the great things we are doing here at Liberty and we hope to learn more about other schools in the area. Liberty Common School is not only a leading school in Fort Collins but also in the state. We hope this tradition of sharing knowledge will continue for years to come. It is because of our dedicated staff that we have this amazing school and it is because of their leadership that we can travel to other schools and share our expertise.
We do know where we are going, and we are getting there.
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Join Us for Liberty's Annual Spring Gala!
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Mark your calendars for this year's premier fund-raising event. Liberty's Annual Spring Gala is Friday, April 10th at 6pm at the Embassy Suites, Loveland. Join us for an exciting evening filled with laughter, camaraderie and Eagles' Pride!
The Gala will feature a wonderful Silent Auction, Dessert Auction, Teacher Treasures Auction and fun-filled Live Auction. We will have many fabulous items on which you can bid:
- A Year of Premier Reserved Parking Spots at LCS and LCHS
- Precious handmade art pieces created by Liberty's kids
- Time-saving Class Baskets
Spring Gala Invitations are in the mail. Register prior to Wednesday, March 13th to take advantage of lower-priced tickets and ensure your reservation. Let's make this year's event our biggest yet.
Spring Gala Auction Donations Needed 
Do you own or work for a business that could donate items or services that could be auctioned? Perhaps you have sporting event tickets or a vacation rental you can donate? Maybe some artwork or new digital gadgets? Perhaps a gift card to a local business? All donations are appreciated. Donations are needed by this Friday, February 20th. Please bring your donation to the LCS office or contact Jodi Fraser (970-988-1570) or Qeryldine Hofinger (970-219-4374).
Please look for the Spring Gala booth at the Winter Carnival on February 20th. Gala volunteers will be on hand to process invitations, collect donations and answer any Spring Gala questions you may have.
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Check out the new and improved Volunteer Webpage on the Liberty Website
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Check out Liberty's new and improved volunteer webpage. This is your all access page to the many ways you can get involved and volunteer at Liberty. The page will be kept up to date with immediate needs in the school as well as links to information about ways to get involved in...
- - The Classroom
- - At School
- - Specials Help
- - Fundraising and Special Events
- - Extra Curricular Activities
CLICK HERE to access this great new addition to our website.
Thank you,
Marnie Dame
LCS Volunteer Coordinator
marniedame@msn.com
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News from the Athletic Director, Dan Knab
|  This Week in Jr.-High Girls Basketball:
2/17 4pm @ St. Joseph (A Game @ 4pm with 5th Qtr afterwards)
2/19 4pm vs. Union Colony
Jr.-High Girls Soccer
The team's first practice is on March 9th at 3:30pm on the soccer field at the elementary school. Stay tuned for information on the parent meeting.
Jr.-High Track
The team's first practice is on March 23rd at 3:30pm starting in the gym and then moving on to the track. Parent meeting will be on March 9th at 6:30pm in the elementary gym. (Athletic Packet due date is March 13th)
CLICK HERE to download the Athletic Packet. Fill out and turn in with a copy of a Physical and a check for $80.00 The Athletic Packet and Physical needs to be turned in only once per year. After the Athletic Packet is turned in to Mrs. Ronen, in the Front Office, a Blue Card will be issued. The student will give the Blue Card to the respective coach on the first day of practice. |
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Summer Math and Reading Camps and Individualized Tutoring Coming to Liberty. Plan and Register Now
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 Research at Liberty Common School has shown that a whole summer without regular math and reading practice can cause a HUGE drop in reading levels and fluency and a drop in math testing and grades. To combat this trend, Liberty Common School is offering summer Reading and Math Camps and individual tutoring of students entering grades 1st-6th. Space is limited, so register now! Click Here for Reading Camp Information and Registration Form. Click Here for Math Camp Information and Registration Form. Click Here for Individualized Tutoring Information and Registration Form.
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