Liberty Senior High School

Infobox_School | name=Liberty Senior High School


imagesize=150px
established=1977
type=Public
principal=Mike Deletis
District=Issaquah
Campus=Suburban
enrollment=1,276 (As of 2005)
free_label=Mascot
Colors
free_text=Patriots
Silver, Green & Blue
location=16655 SE 136th St
Renton, WA 98059
website=http://www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu Official Site
information= [phone]

Liberty Senior High School, also known as Liberty High School or LHS, is a secondary school located on the border of East Renton Highlands and Issaquah, Washington, USA. Founded in 1977, Liberty anchors the southern region of the Issaquah School District. Liberty is part of the Kingco 3A league and has one main rival, the cross-district Issaquah High School Eagles. The bell from Liberty’s namesake ship, the USS Liberty (AGTR-5), hangs in the recently remodeled entrance and echoes the strong traditions for which it is ceremoniously rung.

Liberty is knownClarifyme|date=April 2008 for its strong focus on academics and extracurricular activities. The school is richFact|date=April 2008 with tradition and spirit which is knownFact|date=April 2008 to have a strong presence at sporting events. Liberty is consistently ranked as one of Washington State's top performing high schools, both academically and in athleticsFact|date=April 2008. In 2004, the "Seattle Times" ranked Liberty in the top tier of "Best college prep schools"Fact|date=April 2008. The "Seattle Times" school guide also ranked Liberty in the highest category for "Toughest high schools"Fact|date=April 2008. The school is well known for its solid and challenging Advanced Placement classes. Liberty’s eight-period schedule allows students to explore various rigorous classes.Fact|date=April 2008

The "College in the High School" program offers students both high school and college credits in Psychology, Spanish, French, and English. The addition of 10th grade World History brings total AP offerings to over 15 classes. Honors classes are offered through the English, Social Studies, and Science departments.Fact|date=April 2008

National Blue Ribbon School

In the 1998-1999 school year, Liberty received the award of National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, the highest award an American school can achieve. Liberty was recognized at the national level in Washington DC on April 21 1999. Representatives Edmonds, Kagi, Dickerson, Wensman, Ballasiotes, Pflug, Kenney, McIntire, Thomas, Hankins, Esser and Fortunato proclaimed, "WHEREAS, Liberty High School encapsulates the ideals and beliefs that lie at the heart of the community it serves, and embraces core beliefs honoring personal dignity, quality and excellence in performance, moral and ethical courage, and individual capacity for flexibility and growth. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage every student, parent, teacher, school, and community throughout the United States to emulate the outstanding example and national recognition achieved by our National Blue Ribbon School."Fact|date=April 2008

chool achievements

Liberty Senior High School is home to the Technology Information Project (T.I.P.), a nationally recognized educational program promoting the use of computers in the high school setting. Due to the work of Michael Booky and Donald Robertson, this program promoted the teaching of computer science and information technology by having students run the district's network. See [http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~gaj1/issgg.html The Issaquah Miracle] for more information.

Liberty Senior High School received top honors in 2006, as one of the best schools for theater productions in the stateFact|date=November 2007. The Patriot Players—Liberty’s talented group of student actors—received numerous accolades at the 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards for their production of Seussical. Designed as a high school version of the Tony Awards, the 5th Avenue Awards program honors high school students throughout Washington who put on quality musical theater entertainment. All nominees are invited to the annual awards show at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. In addition to being asked to perform on stage during the ceremony, the Patriot Players won Best Chorus and Best Costume DesignFact|date=April 2008. Teacher Katherine Klekas took home Best Director. Seussical was also nominated in eight other categories: Outstanding Overall Musical Production, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Group, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Orchestra, Outstanding Lighting Design, Outstanding Hair and Makeup Design, and Outstanding Stage Crew. Fact|date=April 2008

It was also named the top culinary art school in the State of Washington during the 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school yearFact|date=November 2007. Liberty's culinary program, entitled "The L Cafe", went on to compete at the national level in North Carolina and became a well-known program around the nation. The team defended their title in March during this years state championshipFact|date=November 2007. The Culinary Arts Program follows the ProStart curriculum designed by the National Restaurant Education Foundation. Students are eligible to earn 15 college credits through the Tech Prep program as they learn culinary techniques and business skills, then practice those skills by running a restaurant in the school. Students have earned top honors and scholarships at local, state, and national competitions.

Liberty's newspaper, "The Patriot Press", has been ranked as the best high school newspaper in the state of Washington during the 02-03, 03-04, 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07 school yearsFact|date=November 2007. The "Patriot Press" Staff recently won two scholastic journalism awards: Honorable mention in the overall excellence category of the Edward R. Murrow journalism contest at Washington State University and first place for overall newspaper excellence in the Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists contest.

In 2005, Liberty competed against twelve other area high school to collect the most clothes in a fundraiser that was sponsored by the Seattle Seahawks. Liberty collected over 12,000 lbs. of clothing, nearly double the amount collected by any other school.Fact|date=April 2008

History

Liberty opened in 1978 with grades 10 through 12, transitioning to a four-year high school with grade 9 through 12 in 1984. The original campus did not include a library or cafeteriaFact|date=November 2007. Current enrollment is 1,276 studentsFact|date=November 2007. In 1988 Liberty won the state championship in footballFact|date=November 2007. In 1990 the PJAZZ ensemble won top awards at the Mt. Hood and Green River Jazz festivals.

In 1999, the school went under extensive modernizations and upgradesFact|date=November 2007. In 2004-2005, Liberty was the first Washington school to introduce "Challenge day". Challenge Day is a program designed to bring forth individual natural leadership and empower youth to become part of the solution. By taking part in powerful exercises, students identify hurts and learn ways to promote healthy emotional expression and conflict resolution, how to reduce stereotypes and racial, gender, and socio-economic tensions. Although very expensive, this program has been adopted my many other schools across the stateFact|date=November 2007.

A 15.2 million dollar addition and modernization to Liberty High School passed the February 7 2006 ballot measure for the Issaquah School DistrictFact|date=November 2007. A construction timetable will be released as to when they will construct 10 new classrooms, 2 new science classrooms, new roofing, an additional wrestling room, expansion of the core facilities and a new state of the art performing arts center. Architectural planning for Liberty's remodel and additions will begin in fall 2007 with completion date set after the Skyline High School remodel and Issaquah High School rebuild. 2005-06 was the first year for a new Algebra I math program based on individually paced computer learning supervised by a highly qualified math instructor. This course, combined with new after-school study programs, compliments our increased academic focus.School goal: By the year 2007, more than 70% of the students will pass the math portion of the WASL. The new administration was chosen for the 2006-2007 school year. Former principal Kevin Davis, was replaced by Mike Deletis and Marsha Denton.

Athletics

Liberty High School is a member of the 3A Kingco Athletic Conference and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Liberty athletes often distinguish themselves academically and many athletes are scholars. Liberty's gymnastics team were state champions for academics in 2008. Liberty girls' track team won state champions for academics in 2006. The Liberty Drill Team is one of the oldest in the state - The team has won the most "superior" awards, the highest ranking given, out of any other high school drill teamFact|date=November 2007. Liberty's most recent state title came in 2007 when Liberty's 4x400 men's Relay team took first place at the State Track and Field meet in Pasco and set a school record. [http://www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu/sports/Track/track_records.htm] In 2003 the Patriot's were also state champions when Liberty's baseball team beat West Valley High School of YakimaFact|date=November 2007. Liberty's most recent individual state champion was Kara Benett in 2005 for triple jumpFact|date=November 2007. In 1999 the men’s and women’s soccer teams were simultaneously ranked among the top ten high school soccer teams in the nationFact|date=November 2007. In 2007-2008 school year, it has been noted by the Seattle Times that the Liberty football team will become major competitor in the upcoming years. Both the freshman and JV teams remain undefeated, compiling 30 points on average against its competitors. This is due to the large influx of students which is attributed to residential communities that are under construction, planned or that have been recently built in the Newcastle areaFact|date=November 2007. Liberty's Ray Reeves Gymnasium is the largest and most expensive class AAA high school gym in the state of WashingtonFact|date=November 2007. In 1999, the gymnasium was remodeled and an adjoining building was added to create a higher seating capacity. The Ray Reeves Gymnasium holds regional high school sporting events throughout the year.

Notable alumni

* Chrissy Hughes -- (class of 2008) A current student at Liberty who won two Junior Grand Prix events in 2007 and is a medal contender for the JGP Final. Chrissy is looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC where she has a good chance of making team USA.
* Tim Lincecum -- (class of 2003) Current Player for the San Francisco Giants and top prospect in the nation. Led Liberty to the 3A State title in 2003. Went on to play for the University of Washington baseball program through his junior year and was a 1st round pick in 2006 for the San Francisco Giants and tenth overall in the draft. After two good seasons at UW, he emerged as the top player in the nation, going 12-4 with a 1.94 E.R.A. 199 strikeouts in 125 2/3 innings, earning him the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is annually awarded to the best amateur baseball player in the nation.
* Vicki Noon -- (class of 2003) Currently the lead role in the Broadway musical of Mamma Mia.
* Mkristo Bruce -- (class of 2002) Football defensive end for the Oakland Raiders and graduate from Washington State University.
* Brett Grandstrand -- (class of 2001) Played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
* Drew Dunning -- (class of 1999) Professional kicker who briefly played for the Jacksonville JaguarsFact|date=April 2008
* Lagatila Reynolds -- (class of 1999) Played baseball at the University of Washington and went on to play in the majors for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
* Sean Kinney -- (class of 1984) Drummer for the grunge band, Alice in Chains.

Feeder schools

Secondary Schools:
* Maywood Middle SchoolElementary Schools:
* Apollo Elementary School
* Briarwood Elementary School
* Maple Hills Elementary School
* Newcastle Elementary School

Communities

Within the past 5 years, the Liberty attendance area has seen a tremendous amount of growth, most notably in the Newcastle area. In February 2008, the Issaquah School District will form a boundary committee which will explore a variety of options regarding feeding patterns to the high schools. One likely proposal would include eliminating the neighborhood of Mirrormont from the Liberty attendance area, due to the lack of students at nearby clark elementary. Students from Mirrormont would attend clark elementary, Issaquah Middle and then return back to Liberty High School. If the school board approves this plan, The boundaries would move west and the Liberty attendance area would include a large portion of the Lakemont area and also the Talus development near downtown Issaquah. The student population will rise from 1,190 students to 1,356 students. Boundary changes will take effect in September 2009.

*Cedar Grove, Washington:*Four Lakes:*Cedar Grove Estates
*East Renton Highlands, Washington:*Maureen Highlands:*The Meadows:*Maple Hills Estates:*Maple Station:*Briarwood:*Lake Kathleen:*Windstone:*Windwood:*Amber Woods:*Shamrock Heights
*Four Creeks, Washington
*Issaquah, Washington
*May Valley, Washington
** Sunset Valley Farms
** South Firs
** High Valley
** Licorice Fern
*Mirrormont, Washington
**The Highlands at Tiger Mountain
**Mirror Lake Estates
*Newcastle, Washington
**Olympus
**The Highlands of Newcastle
**The Reserve at Newcastle
**The Pinnacle
**China Creek
**Stonegate
**Milestone

References

External links

*http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1999-00/house/4675-4699/4677_04221999.txt
*http://www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu
*http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu
*http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/schools/school.asp?school=liberty