Email: colbert.justin@iowacityschools.org
Website: https://liberty.iowacityschools.org/
Location: 1400 South Dubuque Street, North Liberty, IA, USA
Phone: (319) 688-1350
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LibertyHighSchool2017
X: @ColbertJust, @ICLibertyHS

Instagram: liberty_bolts

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

• October 7- 4:15-7:45 PM (In-person)
• October 9 - 4:15-7:45 PM (Virtual)
• January 22 - 4:15-7:45 PM (Virtual)
• TBD - Will align as a course registration conference

DANCES

• September 21 - Homecoming Dance @ Liberty (7:00-10:00 PM)
• January 25 - Winter Dance @ Liberty (7:00-10:00 PM)
• May 3 - Prom @ IMU (7:30-10:30 PM)

SENIORS

• October 8 - Senior Jostens Assembly (@ 1:45 PM, Auditorium)
• March 1 - Senior photo due to Yearbook
• May 21 - Senior Awards & Scholarship Recognition Evening
• May 30 - Senior’s Last Day
• May 30 - Graduation Rehearsal (Xtream Arena @ 10:30 AM-12:00 PM)
• May 31 - Liberty High Graduation (Xtream Arena @ 6:00 PM)

MIDTERMS & END OF TRIMESTERS

• October 4 - Midterm
• November 21 - End of 1st Trimester
• January 24 - Midterm
• March 6 - End of 2nd Trimester
• April 25 - Midterm
• June 6 - End of 3rd Tri. & Last Day of Classes (2-hr. early release)

In late October Liberty Journalism students attended the Iowa High School Press Association Conference. They participated in sessions learning about all aspects of journalism. The day ended by earning various yearbook awards, and the Live Wire Staff was named All-Iowa News Team of the Year! Congratulations to Liberty journalism teacher Mrs. Jabbari and the entire newspaper staff for earning this recognition.

Click here to visit The Live Wire and check-out our student journalist's award winning work.

Each year the College Board shares an AP School Honor Roll Progress Report with schools who offer their students the opportunity to enroll in AP courses. We are happy to share that Liberty achieved all criteria to be listed on this year's AP School Honor Roll as a Silver school! This is the highest AP honor roll level yet achieved by Liberty.

To qualify for the 2024 AP School Honor Roll, schools must meet or exceed the criteria for a given recognition level for all three metrics. The three metrics used are college culture, college credit, and college optimization. College culture is the percent of students in the graduating class who took an AP exam at any point in high school. College credit is the percent of students in the graduating class who scored 3+ on any AP exam in high school. Finally, college optimization is the percent of students in the graduating class who took five or more AP exams in high school, where at least one exam was taken in 9th our 10th grade.

Congratulations to all Liberty band, choir, and orchestra students who auditioned for All-State on Saturday, October 26. The All-State audition is an incredibly rigorous process that students have been preparing for over an extended period of time. The following students were accepted at All-State auditions:

Band

Abigail Watters, Flute 2
Clara Frank, Clarinet 1
Colsen Shaffer, Clarinet 1; 2nd Year
Sophia Smith, Clarinet 2; 2nd Year
Victor Yao, Clarinet 3

Aleksey Titarenko, Bass Clarinet
William Rumping, Tuba

Choir

Bella Solis - Alto 2; 1st Year

Maddie Schieltz - Alto 1; 1st Year

Rowan Iannone - Bass 1; 1st Year

Zane Lee - Tenor 2; 1st Year

Tyler Hodges - Tenor 2; 2nd Year

Savannah Page - Alto 1; 2nd Year

Madeline Austin - Soprano 1; 2nd Year

Toby Schoon - Bass 2; 3rd Year

Miriam Terwilleger - Soprano 2; 3rd Year

Orchestra

Will Turnis - Violin II

Xavier Oberfoell - Viola

Yuzuka Fujikawa - Violin II

In an effort to not overload students with all of their final exams occurring on the same day, we have divided our finals schedule into two main days where designated odd and even testing periods are extended to one hour blocks. There is also a third day for test corrections, remediation, and other similar end of the trimester tasks. Please note that there is no expectation for teachers to have a traditional summative final assessment at the end of a trimester. However, if teachers are planning an assessment in the final two weeks of the trimester, the assessment needs to be scheduled on a class periods designated day.

Additionally, in order for 4th period to have a full 1-hour uninterrupted testing period, lunch is scheduled during Advisory on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Students will eat A, B, or C lunch based on the name of their Advisory teacher. Please see the Trimester 1 Finals Schedule and Advisory Lunch Schedule Teacher List below:

Hello Liberty Families,

Thank you for your awesome support of our meals for staff during Liberty's Parent Teacher Conferences. The meals were well-received by our staff. We appreciate those who set up, brought in items, and made monetary donations. The response was unlike any other school year!

We are so thankful for our wonderful staff at Liberty! To show our appreciation to teachers and staff for their efforts on an amazing first trimester of the school year, the PSTO (Parent Student Teacher Organization) would like your assistance to stock the LHS Staff Room with grab-and-go snacks and beverages. In addition, we have included a few of the school's most needed supplies to add to their supply.

Help show your support for the teachers and staff by signing up for one or more of the items listed here: LHS Stock the Staff Room. Please deliver your items to the Liberty main office on Monday, November 11th or Tuesday, November 12th. Items will be shared on the 13th. If you prefer, monetary donations may be made by sending cash or check to Liberty High School and given to the front office. Or, donations may be sent through Venmo @lhs-psto or https://www.venmo.com/u/lhs-psto. Please put Staff Appreciation in the memo for Venmo payments or checks dropped off at the school.

Thank you!!

Please see the event flyer below for more information. You can click on the following link or the picture below to purchase tickets: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/dueling-pianos-2024/items?cart

The 2024 Lightning Marching Band recently wrapped up their most successful season to date. With over 200 members this year, this is the largest band in Liberty history. This year's halftime show was "Happily Ever After", featuring a variety of music from Disney movies. In addition to performances at home football games, the Lightning Marching Band received third place in a highly competitive 4A field at the 5 Seasons Marching Invitational in Cedar Rapids. In their second year attending the State Marching Festival, they received another Division I "Highly Superior" rating, but for the first time as a unanimous rating from all six judges. Liberty also hosted the 3rd Annual Corridor Marching Classic, a non-competitive showcase featuring the marching bands from Liberty, City, West, West Branch, West Liberty, and Clear Creek Amana. They ended their season marching in the University of Iowa Homecoming Parade.

Additionally, you can support the band program by getting some delicious BBQ at Jethro's in Coralville on Wednesday, November 13! Show your server the flyer below and 15% of your total will go the Liberty Band. Valid for dine-in or carry-out!

The Liberty Dance Team hosted third third annual Be A Light competition on Sunday, October 20th in honor of Brooke Anne Langland, a beloved Liberty Dance Team member who passed away in November of 2020. This competition has continued to grow every year, and we hosted 12 teams and over 100 dancers in a day full of dancing, bringing the community together for a great cause!

In addition, both the JV and Varsity teams are gearing up for their busy competition seasons. Our JV team competed at state on Thursday, October 24th and brought back a third place finish. Our varsity solos also competed on Thursday, October 24th and we had seven dancers earn a Division 1 ranking.

Both teams will compete next at a regional competition at Linn-Mar high school on November 9th, and you can see them in action throughout the basketball season as they will perform at halftime.

IN SHOC is a community service club here at Liberty High School, and one of their recent projects was the Pink Lemonade Stand Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to give away pink lemonade while encouraging people to donate funds to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Their recent efforts were featured on KCRG in late October. Click here to read the article and watch the clip featured on the local news.

Join Liberty Lightning Theater for our fall play, The Crucible! In 1600's Massachusetts, a group of teenage girls led by Abigail Williams begin accusing their neighbors of witchcraft. John Proctor, Abigail's ex-lover, must fight to save his wife, friends, and town from their accusations.

Runs Nov. 7-10th at Liberty High School-- buy your tickets here!

Our Liberty Lightning Booster Club plays a vital role in supporting our athletic programs, enhancing the student-athlete experience, and providing resources that benefit all our students.

Joining the Booster Club is a fantastic way to get involved, make a difference, and connect with other parents who share a passion for supporting our students. Your participation directly impacts the quality of our programs, from helping fund new equipment to supporting team activities and recognition events. Every contribution, big or small, makes a meaningful difference!

Please take a look at the attached letter for more information, and consider joining us in making our programs the best they can be.

You can also donate directly to the Liberty Lightning Athletic Booster Club at this link.

On Wednesday, October 23 over 350 Liberty 9th grade students joined thousands of other local students for the Corridor Career Inspire Event. Students had the opportunity to explore a multitude of career pathways through hands on activities and simulations, and to talk directly with professionals working in the various fields. Students could handle basic home building tools, take the controls of robotic surgical equipment, explore a swat team vehicle, talk to park rangers about land maintenance, learn how to hang a door and install a window, and countless other career exploration experiences.

During high school is the perfect time to research different career paths students are interested in. We encourage our students and their families to have conversations at home about their future college and/or career choices in addition to the exploration activities being done at school and beyond.

Do you have a Cap & Gown from an older sibling or someone else that is taking up space in your closet? We would like to begin collecting lightly used purple Liberty cap and gowns to offer to students and their families who may not currently have the resources to purchase a new one for graduation. All donated cap and gowns can be dropped off in the main office during regular school hours.

Quarterly the District Cultural Diversity & Equity team produces a newsletter. Click here to access this quarter's Cultural Diversity & Equity Newsletter. You can also visit our District Equity website for additional information and links to previous newsletters.

Take a moment to check out the new Liberty High Spirit Store provided by BSN Sports. This store offers a large number of options for Liberty gear. You can search by your favorite brand and customize your own items.

Check it out by clicking on this link: https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/iowa/northliberty/liberty-high-school or by clicking the image below.

Support Student Programs. Leave a Legacy. Donate today!

The Liberty Fund needs your help! We want to ensure all Liberty students can participate in school activities where belonging and school pride come together through both academic and co-curricular activities.

The Liberty Fund has provided grants to students and groups to support student access to opportunities through fundraising. Here are a few program examples that grants have supported:

• New Student/Freshman Orientation
• National French Competition Exam
• Liberty Lightning Technical Theater
• Garden Club
• African American Literature Classes & Black Student Union
• Business Professionals of America Leadership Conference

Make a tax deductible donation to The Liberty Fund today! Donate at The Liberty Fund Website or email for more information at libertyhighfund@gmail.com.

Liberty High PSTO (Parent Student Teacher Organization) welcomes all new and returning families to Liberty for the 2024-2025 school year. Please follow us on Facebook: Liberty High PSTO to stay up-to-date.

The next PSTO meeting will occur on Thursday, October 17 from 12:00-12:30 PM via Zoom. The passcode for the meeting is CEDwk1

Questions?

If you have any questions, please send them to libertyhsPSTO@gmail.com

The PSTO has an ongoing fundraiser with our Amazon Smile account. Please consider using this with your next Amazon order.

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Jeremy Tabor, Director of Equity and Employee Relations, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, 319-688-1000, howard.eric@iowacityschools.org.