Liberty Common Elementary School 
1725 Sharp Point Dr. 
Fort Collins, CO 80525 
Phone:(970)482-9800
Fax: (970)482-8007 
www.libertycommon.org

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  
   

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
  • Denise Benz: 420-4184
  • John Rohrbaugh: 225-2259
  • Aislinn Kottwitz: 217-5925
Next Board of Directors Mtg., 
December 17, 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. 

Mark Your Calendar

December 14|Character Assembly
Cooperation
8:10-8:45: (4th-6th grade
8:55-9:35: Kinder-3rd grade

December 14|Music Concert
6th Grade Band
5th and 6th Grade Choirs
6:30 p.m., LCS

Please stop by the Lost and Found before December 18th.  Items not claimed prior to Winter Break will be donated to charity.

December 15|
3rd & 4th Grade Soccer-3:15-4:00
5th-6th Grade Soccer- 4:05-4:50 
Last Day to turn in Jan. 2016 Lunch Calendars. Must include a $10.00 late fee.  No Jan. lunch calendars will be accepted after today. 
December 17|BOD Mtg. , 6:00 p.m., LCS.
December 18|T-shirt Day
End of 2nd Quarter 
December 21-Jan. 1|Winter Break

January 12| Registration Mtg. for current 6th Graders,  2:00-3p.m., LCS Gym. Parents are welcome to attend.   
January 12|Geography Bee, 3:00 p.m.-5:00, LCS Library
January 14|Spelling Bee, after school, LCS Library
January 18|Martin Luther King Jr. Day, NO SCHOOL
CLICK HERE for 2015-16 School Calendar

Attendance Policy
Please call our attendance line by 8:30 am if your child will not be attending school due to illness, appointment or is out of town.
The number is 482-9800, option 2.

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 my email as early as possible and homework will be available after 3:00 pm in the Front Office. 
 
Dan Knab, Athletic Director
LCS Sports News

GO EAGLES - CLICK HERE to access our webpage.
JH-Girl's Basketball Tryouts
12/16 & 12/17, 3pm - 5pm, Elementary Gym

BLUE CARDS and Parent Athletic Packet due January 8, 2016.  Download the Parent Athletic Packet, complete and turn in to Mrs. Ronen with copy of a sports physical.  A blue card will then be given by Mrs. Ronen.   
     
JH-Boy's Basketball
Monday, December 14, 5pm, Liberty @ St. Marys (Northern Colorado Independent League Championship Game) 

Brand-New Convenience.
We now accept payment by credit/debit cards.  You can conveniently pay your athletic fees online on a financially secure website called CheddarUp.  Start now by clicking HERE.  Just click on the sport of participation and pay.   If you have already paid the athletic fee for basketball, I will enter your method of payment on the site and you will receive a receipt from CheddarUp.

Booster-Club Committee Forming.
If you have any interest in athletics and are considering deepening your support for the school by volunteering, Mr. Knab suggests joining the LCHS Booster Club.  This is a parent-run club that is very instrumental in the success of our athletic programs.  There is a lot of work that has been put into this club, but most of the weight has been carried by a very small few.  Our vision is to build the LCHS Booster Club to a number of people that would make the work light.  Being at every athletic contest is not required.  Members can go to the games or events that interest them....and free of charge.  Thank you for considering this opportunity.  If you are interested, contact LCHS Booster Club President, Rebecca Finkel.
 



Winter is here.  Please remember to send jackets, gloves and hats with your child. Students will go outdoors unless it is raining or the temperature is below 15 degrees. Thank you. 
The Eagle's Nest
Volume 19, Issue 17 
Liberty Common Winter Break begins Friday, December 18th. at 3:00. School will resume on January 4th., 2016 at 8:00 am.  We wish you rest and relaxation, a blessed holiday season and a prosperous New Year.   
Newsworthy Announcements; Events, Activities and Reminders:

 Time To Give. 
Our school urgently needs all parents to make financial donations to the school.  We need a lot of money - $500,000.   CLICK HERE to contribute online.  Please do not let the letter you recently received from Mrs. Paulette Hansen linger.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the school's immediate construction plans.   Liberty is a qualified charity so any donation is fully tax deductible.  Donating in the next few weeks will reduce your federal and state tax liability for 2015.  CLICK HERE for details of Liberty's Capital Campaign.  Thank you in advance for your generosity and for your ongoing investment in Liberty.
Liberty's Board of Directors needs more parents to assist with fundraising activities to finance crucial expansion projects at both school campuses.  Groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2016, so please regard this as an imperative need and an urgent request.
Fundraising Leadership Urgent. 
For those interested in amplifying parents' financial commitments to the school, Liberty's Board of Directors urgently needs parent leaders and volunteers to assist with the school's Fundraising Committee, its Grant-Writing Committee, and its Financial Advisory Committee.  To volunteer, SEND A MESSAGE HERE - and soon please!  
Important Notice to Parents: 
Your employer can match your contribution to Liberty Common School by making a donation to the CORE KNOWLEDGE CHARTER SCHOOL (CKCS) Foundation. The CKCS Foundation was established in July 1996 as a Colorado nonprofit corporation to receive grants and donations for the benefit of the school which would become known as Liberty Common School in 1997. The CKCS Foundation is the formal holder of Liberty's Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization status.
The foundation board meets as needed for the purpose of distributing funds to the school. Current board members include Liberty founding parents Randy Everett,
Phil Hutchinson, Peter Kast, Maureen Schaffer, and Laurel Van Maren.


Thank you to the Madrigal Singers from Ridgeview Classical School for sharing the holiday spirit with LCS 6th graders. Happy Holidays.  


Ms. Danielle Anderson performs at today's 
Cooperation Character Assembly.   
Danielle Ate the Sandwich is the stage name of indie-folk, songwriter, Danielle Anderson. She started playing open mic nights in Fort Collins and got noticed for her YouTube videos, 
that show off her songs and silly personality. This year, Danielle wrote the music for the HBO documentary film "Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson." She has 5 CDs full of original songs, almost 200 videos on her Youtube channel and plays shows all over the United States! Danielle lives in Fort Collins, plays the ukulele and guitar and calls her fans and followers 'Fanwiches.' CLIKE HERE to access Danielle's website.  Thank you Danielle Ate the Sandwich for an entertaining, interactive and fun-filled performance. 
 
Robotics Presentation.
PSD's Dr. Todd Lambert receives books donated by Liberty's 5th-Gear team.
Last week, Dr. Todd Lambert, assistant superintendent of the Poudre School District (PSD) received books donated to PSD by LCHS student members of the "5th-Gear" robotics team.  Students gave Lambert a presentation of their projects and donated a book they helped write for every school library in the district. 
Mr. John Rohrbaugh explains robotics goals.   
The prize-winning team consists of Michael Werst, Taylor Reinke, Joshua Rohrbaugh, Michael Hofinger, and Sydney Reinke; team mentor David Rohrbaugh; and coaches John Rohrbaugh, Janelle Rohrbaugh, Melissa  Reinke, and Dale Reinke
Julia Cook's newest book Techno Smart is displayed alongside Liberty's 5th-Gear awards.
. 
The team's members are listed as "contributors" on the front cover of the book Techno Smart by Julia Cook.
 
Liberty Lecture:  New Orleans and the Birth of American Music.    
Next Liberty Lecture. Attention all perpetual students:  If you consider yourself an intelligent person who enjoys learning, make sure to put on your calendar the next "Liberty Lecture."  On Thursday, January 28, 2016 from 6:30 - 8:00PM in the LCHS Great Hall, Maestro Dave Lunn will deliver a spectacular lecture entitled "New Orleans and the Birth of American Music."  Liberty Lectures are designed for parents, the community, and students.  It's a great way to learn together from authentic academic experts.  Don't miss this one.
Future Liberty Lectures.  Everyone who misses a Liberty Lecture regrets it when they hear from others what they missed.  Put these upcoming Liberty Lectures on your calendars now and make sure you participate in one of the most unique and valuable aspects of our school community:
  • Tuesday, February 16, 2016 | 6:30-8:00PM | LCHS Great Hall | Topic:  Art:  The Sustenance of Western Tradition | Presenters:  Mrs. Megan Salazar, Mr. Rex Seiple.
  • Wed, March 30, 2016 | 6:30-8:00PM | LCHS Great Hall | Topic:  Sharing Common Knowledge - Students' Rights to Read Original Sources | Presenters:  Mrs. Natalie Scarlett and Dr. Bob McMahon of Ridgeview Classical Schools.
Good handwriting is a blessing. Bad handwriting is a curse.

 
Latin Proposal. At its regular monthly meeting this Thursday evening, the Liberty Board of Directors will consider on "Second Reading" a recommendation by the school's Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) to broaden Latin-instruction in the junior-high and high-school grades.  CLICK HERE to see the AAC's PowerPoint presentation on the strategy and its description of the proposal which is on the BOD's Thursday agenda.  The BOD meeting begins at 6:00PM in the elementary-school teacher-break room.  CLICK HERE (Part I) and CLICK HERE (Part II) to watch an LCHS faculty lecture on the virtues of Latin instruction delivered by Foreign-Language Department Chairman Mr. Marques Kem.

 
Chessmates Begins Again on January 22nd.
Sign-Up And Pay for 2016 Chessmates By Clicking Here

 
 
Why Not Add Being A  
WATCH DOG To Your 2016 RESOLUTIONS?

WATCH D.O.G.S. is an innovative father involvement, educational initiative of the National Center for Fathering . It began in 1998 in Springdale, AR and has since grown into a nationally recognized program that has brought hundreds of thousands of fathers and father figures into our nation's classrooms and hallways.
 CLICK HERE to learn more and become a part of the Liberty WATCH D.O.G.S. program.




Why Liberty? A Project of the Parent-    Education Subcommittee
Why Liberty? Spreading the word about our unique philosophies is something our Board of Directors and founding parents believe is paramount to the success of our community. It is the responsibility of each parent to understand our philosophy and the policies that support them. To that end, we will post articles pertaining to each, written by an expert in that domain. Please make the time to read and absorb them. Here is the latest in the series by Dr. Maureen Schaffer, founding parent. 
"Good" Literature At Liberty
By: Dr. Maureen Schaffer

The books which fill Liberty's library and classrooms are selected according to criteria beyond current popularity. The quality of language, the value of a story to the human experience, the contribution to character education, and the support of the Core Knowledge Sequence all play a role in identifying "good" books. 
 
According to Neil Postman, whose ideas are frequently referenced in our Charter, "Human beings require stories to give meaning to the facts of existence. If our stories are coherent and plausible and have continuity, they will help us to understand why we are here, what we need to pay attention to, and what we may ignore." Our goal, then, is to immerse students in great stories.

And, how do we identify great stories? Great authors do not write stories so students can identify the main characters or write plot summaries. Rather, commendable authors seek to portray characters struggling with the great issues of life (e.g. truth, love, war, faith, politics, even loneliness). As our Charter states, "literature that will be introduced is chosen... because it provides access to deeper meaning of universal human problems."

We recognize these stories because they hold our interest, even as adults. We recognize these stories because the characters have something to learn. They develop and grow as the plot unfolds. We recognize these stories because readers desire to emulate their heroes. Good literature withstands the filter of time by capturing the essence of human nature, and by addressing universal struggles of humans throughout the ages.

Great stories are intended to be enlarging experiences, rather than cures prescribed for a given sociological, political or emotional problem. Genres which encourage narrow self-preoccupation, which are void of meaningful character development, which encourage acceptance of and identification with poor role models, or which strive to give children "appropriate" attitudes about contemporary social issues (e.g. divorce, sex, war, gender) are avoided at Liberty.

The majority of literature at the school is generally acknowledged as traditional classical or children's classical. To support our character-education program, Liberty is filled with books providing examples, over and over again, of reasons for living well. Liberty also strives to provide content-based non-fiction books necessary to support the Core Knowledge Sequence, student research, and parent education.

Examples of children's 'non-books' -a prevalent trend in children's non-fiction - are publications composed of tiny facts and snippets of interesting material with visually pleasing graphics and which have no sustained narrative, carefully developed argument, or background knowledge. They require little concentration or focused thinking; but like television, are instantly accessible. The most conspicuous example of a 'non-book' is the Guinness Book of World Records. Such books are diversion-laden filler and fail to meet Liberty's criteria for literature worthy of our student body.

For more information please read Policy 7.14 Literature Acquisition and The Case for Good Taste in Children's Books by Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal, July/August 2013, Volume 42, Number 7/8. 


Winter Intramurals Sign-Up Begins Thursday, December 17th. at 7:00 p.m.
Our winter intramural session is a five day multi-activity (favorite games from P.E. classes) for 3rd-4th graders, and basketball for 5th -6th graders.

This semester, registration and payment can only be done online from Thursday, December 17th. at 7:00 p.m. - Wednesday, Jan. 6th.  No registration or payments will be accepted in the Front Office.  
CLICK HERE to sign-up and pay. 
CLICK HERE for more information about 3rd and 4th grade Intramurals. 
 CLICK HERE for more information about 5th and 6th grade.

Any questions contact: