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Liberty Common Elementary School
Phone:(970)482-9800
Fax: (970)482-8007
OfficeHours:7:50-4:00
Attendance Line:
(970)482-9800,option2
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, and A Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School
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Board of Directors
You may contact all members of our Board of Directors at BOD@libertycommon.org or by telephone:
- Patrick Albright: 232-8257
- Joel Goeltl: 593-8556
- Paulette Hansen: 282-8455
- Jeff Webb: 545-9636
- Bill Werst: 631-8379
- Denise Benz: 420-4184
- John Rohrbaugh: 225-2259
Next Board of Directors Mtg.,
Sept. 17, 2015, 6:00 p.m.
Liberty Common Elementary
 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.
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September 15|Classroom Volunteer Coordinator (CVS) Meeting, 8:00 a.m., Teacher's Lounge.
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September 16-18|Eco-Week-6th Graders at Pingree Park
| September 17|BOD Mtg., 6:00 p.m.
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September 17|Running Club Mtg., 3:15, Mrs. Hersh's Classroom
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September 18|Liberty T-shirt Day
| September 18|SchoolReach Test, approximately 4:00 p.m.
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September 18|Liberty Chess Club
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September 21-November 7th|Running Club, 3:20-3:50, LCS, see announcement below September 21|Odyssey of the Mind Informational Meeting, 3:30 p.m.
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September 25|Free Dress Day
Individual Student Photos
Liberty Chess Club
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September 26|Liberty2Liberty 5K Run. See announcement and registration information below.
| September 28|LCS Informational Night, 6:30 p.m.
| October 2|Fall Festival, 5:30 p.m.
Liberty Chess Club
| October 5-October 16|Canned Food Drive
| October 9|Liberty Chess Club
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Dan Knab, Athletic Director
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LCS Sports News
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This week in Junior-High Sports:
 Boys Soccer
Monday, 9/14, 4pm, Home vs. Heritage Christian
Tuesday, 9/15, 4pm, Away @ New Vision (Loveland Sports Park)
Friday, 9/18, 4pm, Away @ Knowledge Quest (Milliken)
The junior-high boys soccer team is 5-1, not counting last Friday's game against Loveland Classical. This week they play cross town rival, Heritage Christian for a big game. Come cheer them on to victory.
 Volleyball
Tuesday, 9/14, 4pm, Away @ St. Marys
The junior-high girls volleyball team lost their first game of the season to St. John, a tough opponent. The girls are sure they will see them again at the end of the season. This week is light with games due to Eco-Week.
 Cross Country
Boys & Girls Cross Country
Friday, 9/18, 3pm, Away @ Fort Collins High School (John Martin Invitational)
The junior-high cross-country team hosted it's first meet last Thursday with wonderful success. Liberty ran against Blevins, Kinard, and Wellington. The boys took 1st place and the girls took 3rd place. Thanks to the high-school cross country team for helping out. There was great opportunity for encouragement and leadership with the junior-high team.
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Yearbooks are still available to purchase, now at $20.00.
Questions?
Contact: Mrs. Clouser
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Art Volunteers Needed
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1st Grade: Tuesday and Friday afternoons
2nd Grade: Wednesday, Thursdays, and Fridays afternoons
Kindergarten: Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoons
CLICK HERE to sign up for one or more spots. Your child doesn't need to be in the class you are volunteering for and grandparents are welcome to sign up too!
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King Soopers Cards: An Easy Way to Fundraise
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Volume 19
Issue 4
September 14, 2015
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Newsworthy Announcements; Events, Activities and Reminders
 Fall Festival Is Just Around the Corner! "Come Along Little Doggies" and bring your friends and family to Liberty Common Fall Festival. Reserve Friday, October 2nd from 6:00-8:00 p.m., as the place to be. Games, crafts, bouncy houses and prizes await all who attend the fun. Delicious grub provided by Paninos Restaurant. Many volunteers are needed to make the festival a fun Liberty event. Watch for the Volunteer Sign-Up Genius Link coming soon.
School Reach Test. LCS and LCHS will be conducting a test
September 18th at approximately 4:00 p.m., using our alert system that informs parents and guardians of school closures, delayed starts, or other issues that may be important. This is only a test and is not a cause for alarm or further action from Liberty parents. Odyssey of the Mind Informational Meeting September 21, 2015, 3:30 p.m. Please direct questions to Odyssey of the Mind Parent Volunteer, Pinky Tiwari, at pinkytiwari@gmail.com
School Attendance Is Vital
All public schools in Colorado receive funding from the State based on the number of students who attend their school. It is critical that your student be present during the October Count period.
The count occurs Sept. 24th-Oct. 8th. October 1st is the official count date set by the state. If your child will be absent for more than two days in a row during this time period for reasons other than an illness, please contact the office for an official document to sign.
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True Grit 
by Steve Ronen, 4th Grade Teacher, Liberty Common School
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One thing all teachers, parents, and administrators can agree upon is that we want our students to be successful. While success may be defined in a myriad of ways, we all search for the key to high achievement. As the school year begins, our thoughts naturally turn to academic, or, more broadly, excellent school performance. Popular thinking tells us that success is determined by innate intelligence, or the teacher assigned a student, or the school chosen. These factors however absolve the student of responsibility for their own success. One can almost hear students and parents chanting a litany of excuses. "I'm just not smart." "My school fails to educate my child." "My student's teacher failed to connect with them this year." The good news coming from recent research however, eliminates the validity of these excuses, yet brings both great and bad news.
The bad news includes no longer being able to assign blame for failure in school on some outside force; the good news is that the greatest determining factor in our quest for success proves to be within our own control. According to Dr. Angela Duckworth in her recent Ted Talk on success, the overwhelming determinant for success turns out to be perseverance, work ethic, or desire. I invite you to watch Dr. Duckworth's Ted Talk by click on the video link below.
Recently, I came across Dr. Angela Duckworth spreading the importance of what she calls "grit." She told of her fascinating study at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), in which she researched the characteristics of successful cadets. Surpassing intelligence, class rank, and aptitude in importance, was grit. The fact that grit plays such a decisive role in the success of such a handpicked, high achieving, intelligent, and motivated study group gives her findings serious gravitas. In her Ted Talk, Dr. Duckworth also mentions the rule of 10,000. This interesting observation that I first read about in Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers," postulates that for anyone to be considered an expert in any endeavor requires approximately 10,000 hours of dedicated and focused practice: the very definition of perseverance and grit.
After watching this lecture, I was immediately reminded of the true story of Jaime Escalante in the movie "Stand and Deliver" (see YouTube Video below). You may or may not have seen it, so here's a brief synopsis. Escalante endeavors to teach calculus to a class of inner city, impoverished, minority students. Constantly confronted by roadblocks from administrators, students, and parents, he perseveres. Through his tireless efforts he was granted permission to teach his advanced mathematics course. His students performed beyond all expectations, and predictably, were then accused of cheating. Eventually the students retook the test with even better results thus vindicating themselves and their teacher. One reason for his success is that he introduces his students to "ganas," the equivalent of desire in Spanish, which drives his students to persevere through the challenges of high school calculus. Escalante knew what these kids needed to overcome the barriers to learning they faced in their lives, namely desire and perseverance.
As teachers, parents, and employees, we all know the joy of working with determined and gritty people. Now, recent research has made the benefits of that personality trait more precise and understandable. We would all benefit from fostering the development of grit in ourselves and our students.
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All of Liberty Celebrates ACT Scores
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#1 in Colorado! Congratulations are, once again, in order for the entire Liberty Common School staff, community, and students. The Colorado Department of Education posted statewide ACT scores last Friday allowing us to finally compare the composite score earned by the LCHS Class of 2016 with their peers from throughout Colorado. Our LCHS Class of 2016 is #1 in Colorado! Their composite score of 27.078 edged out the nearest competitor Thomas MacLaren charter school which earned a score of 27.052. CLICK HERE to see CDE's presentation of updated state ACT scores. Upon hearing the news, one of our seniors Jared Graham said something rather impressive, "Thank you Liberty for giving us a school where we can achieve rankings like this." He certainly has it right. This astounding fourth-year-in-a-row #1 ranking is a function of a solid, coordinated, well-designed, classical curriculum, active and engaged parents, erudite students, and the best instructors on earth. Clearly, Liberty's instructional contributions to this extraordinary achievement started in kindergarten. Congratulations to the especially hard-working Class of 2016. Henceforward, the Class of 2016 will enjoy various perks, privileges and accolades which have become somewhat customary for LCHS seniors. Needless to say, we are all quite proud of them. This unique milestone along their academic journeys indicates they're all on an exciting upward path. BRAVO! News Feature. LCHS seniors made big news Saturday. The Fort Collins Coloradoan, a local daily newspaper, published a nice story featuring the mighty Class of 2016 and its state-record ACT composite score. CLICK HERE to read the story in the newspaper's website edition.
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Stay Informed With PowerSchool
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PowerSchool is a valuable resource that allows parents to access lunch transactions, grades, attendance records and fee payments.
This year we are again using a daily bulletin option that alerts you of any "happenings" at Liberty. To access the Daily Bulletin, log into your child(rens) PowerSchool account, look on the left hand side of the screen and click on Daily Bulletin.
Please use this communication option to keep you and your family informed of Liberty news and important dates. If you are a new family to Liberty Common and have not received your student's log-in information, please visit the Front Office to obtain.
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Liberty Roadrunners
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Attention 4th - 6th graders!
Lace up your running shoes and join the Liberty Roadrunners!
Find your passion for running while training to run the CSU Veteran's Day 5k on Nov. 7th
- Weekly group runs are Mondays and Thursdays from 3:20 - 3:50
- September 21st - November 7th
- Find out more at the Parent Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17th at 3:15 in Mrs. Hersh's room
LRR is a club for beginners - no experience necessary!
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6th Annual Liberty-2-Liberty 5K, September 26, 2015
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It is time once again for the annual Liberty-2-Liberty 5K, which is  being organized by Domus Fortitudinis and will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 9:00 A.M. (registration begins at 8:30 A.M.). CLICK HERE for registration forms and return to either front office by September 18th for an early-registration discount. The registration fee is $20 if received by 9/18, but $25 after that (including race-day registrations). Please note: If you turn in your forms by the 18th, you will receive your t-shirt on the 26th when you check in. However, if forms are turned in after that, then you will get your t-shirt the following week. Volunteers are more than welcome. If you or your student wishes to volunteer, please send an email to DF House Captain Mary-Claire Spurgin (LCHS Class of 2017). Please come out and join us. It should be a great time to meet new and old Liberty families while bringing our Liberty community closer as a whole!  Also, please help the LCHS Key Club eliminate neonatal tetanus in third world countries! The Key Club will be having its annual car wash during and after the Liberty to Liberty 5K at LCS (1725 Sharp Point Dr). 100% of the car wash donations will be used for the Key Club Eliminate project. |
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