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.

Last week we ran Part One of "The History of Liberty Common High School" by Mrs. Michelle Provaznik and LCHS Principal Bob Schaffer, founding parents. This week, we are publishing the latest chapter of our Liberty story. 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.

(continued from last Monday)
The school would offer a classical, liberal-arts curriculum building upon the

Director of the Elementary School, Casey Churchill organized the move from LCS to LCHS and the expansion at LCS. It was an enormous undertaking of brilliant coordination.

Core Knowledge Sequence. It would accentuate the humanities, and excel in math, science and engineering. Committees of parents were convened to further refine the curriculum and the course schedules.

Public meetings were held to describe the school, its goals and plans. Administrators described the kinds of teachers they envisioned hiring and who from the current school would go to the high-school building. A relaxed high-school Dress Code was developed and elated ninth graders were allowed to try it out for their last semester at the old Liberty Elementary School.

The House System was developed. Ninth and eighth graders who had committed to attending LCHS were assigned to one of three Houses: Domus Scientiae, Domus Virtutis or Domus Prudentiae. They began working on House projects such as House crests, logos, mottos and events.

Still, one question loomed over all of these discussions and activities: Where would the new high school be located? Hopes for a high-school property adjacent to the current school were fading. Visions of a single Liberty campus were becoming dim. All options considered had turned into dead ends. The school was now well into 2010 - the year the high school was scheduled to open, but there was still no building in hand.

One mile south of the elementary school stood a building that had been occupied by a defunct charter high school for a few years and had been abandoned for a few more years since. Would that building work?

Peter Kast approached the building's owners, and obtained a key allowing the Board to wander through the dusty vacant facility. After the walkthrough, the Board huddled in the parking lot looking on the abandoned school as the winter sun set over its roof. The group began mulling numbers and options. If the price came down, with some remodeling, and with additional classroom expansion over a few more years, this location could work. The Board decided to pursue the building at 2745 Minnesota Drive, and to continue searching for other options.

LCHS opened under the guidance of Director of Secondary Schools Bob Schaffer who was soon after named school principal by the Liberty Board of Directors.

It quickly became apparent the poor economy stressing Liberty's finances was simultaneously working to the school's advantage as a buyer of an abandoned building in a slow real-estate market. The price of the building was, by the week, dropping further below its original asking price. With the help of an investment corporation FCCS, LLC, headed up by local developer and charter-school backer Troy McWhinney, a solution materialized allowing Liberty Common School to lease the building and purchase it a few years later.

Tenancy stretched the Liberty budget to its limit, but the numbers added up - barely. With solid enrollment and aggressive fundraising among the parent community, the Board believed it could make ends meet.

A Letter of Intent was signed in February of 2010. Once an agreement was finalized, the landlord opened the building right away so parents could take a tour. From that moment, excitement punctuated all the work and countless hours required to get the building ready to open by August 18th of 2010.

Teachers needed to be hired. After attending numerous job fairs and accepting applications from literally around the world, a first-rate team of LCHS educators was assembled.

The high school's roster of inaugural instructors was announced: Jared Dybzinski, Dr. Charles Hubbeling, Dawn Karr, Marques Kem, William Kranz, Kay Lannen, Jerry Lavin, Torgun Lovely, Duane Staton, Dr. Barbara Werner, Ken Vetter, Sarah Aguilar-Francis, Megan Ellis, Connie Logsdon, Dave Lunn, Susan Porter, Donny Reeves, Wade Torgeson and Erin Voorhies.

Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, former U.S. Congressman and State Senator, and founding parent Bob Schaffer, who had been hired as project manager for the high-school expansion, was named Director of Secondary Schools, and later Principal. Along with Liberty's headmaster, the school's new administration would direct the opening and operation of Liberty Common High School.

Architects and contractors worked feverishly throughout the summer remodeling the building. The administration shopped at auctions for used school furnishings and equipment. New lockers - cherry red ones - were ordered and would eventually line the empty hallways. New lunchroom tables were ordered, too. There was no turning back now. LCHS would open on time with its leading class of 10th graders. In three years, these pioneering students would become Liberty's first graduating class - the inaugural Class of 2013.

The night before LCHS was set to open, students grades 7 - 10 came together at Liberty Elementary School for the last time. Elementary Principal Casey Churchill lit a ceremonial lantern that was carried by students at the head of a 2.2-mile long procession along the Poudre River then West up to the high ground upon which Liberty Common High School sits. This was Liberty's first "Torch Trek," which has been reenacted by Liberty students every year since.