Recap of the week:

On Monday City Councilor and former Mayor Christina Rinderle toured Liberty.  She was impressed with what she saw and who she got to meet.  We discussed the best way to approach Governor Hickenlooper regarding potential induction into the Dyslexic Hall of Fame on November 10, 2012.  I wrote an invitation letter to the Governor asking him to consider being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Christina will be hand delivering my letter to the Governor this Sunday at the Taste of Durango.

Wednesday was Octopi Durango (sounds better than squid) with Mr. C’s class and parent volunteers doing autopsies on tentacle sea creatures.

Thursday was Open House, both day and evening and five potential families got a taste of Liberty.  Again, thanks to everyone on our welcome team!

Friday morning we travelled to the Havasupai School and Village thanks to a magnificent Power Point presentation with pictures from 30 years ago as well as the present, presented by the former school principal Roy Lyons.

This afternoon many of us will head out to Camp Atchison on the shores of McPhee Reservoir and others will join us tomorrow for our Spring Family Camping Trip!

The week ahead:

May 21-25: Monday-Friday Parent Conferences

May 22: Tuesday 5:30-7 PM Liberty School Exposition.  Students will present their culminating reports on Social Studies topics they have worked on.  Please invite family and friends to join us.

May 25 Graduation. 5:30 PM at the Grace Church, 1440 Florida Road.  Join the Liberty School Community to celebrate our five fabulous 8^th grade graduates.

The Final Week of School:

May 29-30: Final Parent Conferences as necessary

May 31: Thursday 3-3:30 PM.  Volunteer Appreciation/Summer Birthday Recognition.  Please join us if you can to thank all our parent and community volunteers and celebrate student’s summer birthdays.

June 1:  Awards Assembly at 10 AM.  Our awards assembly will be followed by a Liberty school Potluck, please plan to join us to finish out the 2011-2012 school year.

We had an assembly today to hear about conservation from Tom Campion and Ms. Laura Knapp.  Our students learned a good deal and most will be coming home with a tree to plant, perhaps for Mother’s Day.  Best wishes to all, and especially to Moms a great weekend!

The next three weeks there will be a great deal of activity so please mark your calendars with care:

Wednesday, May 16 1:00PM:  Mr. Christian’s Science Class will be dissecting squid.  Parents are invited to assist, please let Mr. C know if you will be joining him.

Thursday, May 17: Open House, 9-12 AM and 6-7:30 PM.  Spread the word, encourage parents, professionals and potential students to attend.  Look for our Ad in the Sunday Durango Herald.

Friday, May 18, 9:30 AM:

• Educator Roy Lyon will share his Havasupai PowerPoint Presentation with students.

• Family Camping Trip.  Join us for the weekend, or part of the weekend for fun and nature.  Famed naturalist Scott Atchison will explain everything you ever wanted to know!

May 21-25: Parent Conferences.  You will be contacted next week to schedule a time.

May 25 6-7:30 PM:  Graduation at Grace Church (1440 Florida Rd).  Please join us to celebrate our first class of 8^th grade Graduates!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012:  Deposits are due for the 2012-2013 school year.  To lock in this year’s tuition rate, the amount due is $2,975 or 25% of reduced amount if a scholarship has been awarded.

Tuition for next year is set at $12,400.  In order to hold your student’s spot for next year please return your Admission Packet with a deposit of $1000 as soon as possible.

• Thursday, May 17, 2012. Public Open House. 9-12 AM and 6-7:30 PM.  The flyer is attached and copies are in the office.  Please help us post them around town and help spread the word.  Parents interested in helping out in the evening please call Bill.

• Friday to Sunday, May 18-20.  Family Camping Trip.  Please join us for all or part of this fun weekend at House Creek Campground at McPhee Reservoir.

• May 21-25. Parent Conferences.  Conferences will be scheduled the previous week.

• Tuesday, May 22, 2012.  History Expo 5:30 to 7 PM.  Class and individual presentations of student work and projects.  Plan to learn and enjoy.  Relatives and Friends are welcome.

• Friday, May 25^th 5:30-7:30 PM. GRADUATION.  Parents and students are invited to come and celebrate Keely, Kristen, Dawson and Evie’s 8^th grade Graduation. Our first class of Middle School Graduates wanted to celebrate as a full class so we moved the date so all can be present.  More details to follow.

• Friday, June 1, 2012 Awards Assembly and Potluck Luncheon 10AM to 1 PM.  All families are invited.

Testing:

• We had a good week of testing and will need to continue through at least Tuesday the 8^th.  Please continue to bring your child to school rested and well nourished.

Reminders:

• Scholarship Applications and a copy of your signed 1040 for 2011 are due in the office by NOON on Wednesday, May 9^th.

• The Deposit Due Date is May 30, 2012.  You can lock in this year’s $11,900 tuition rate by making a $2975 deposit (25%) OR 25% after a scholarship award.

Special Events:

• Rainey Scott and her sister Alexis will be taking part in a Dance Recital at the Community Concert Hall this Saturday, May 5^th at 3PM.  Please come and watch to encourage Rainey.

Website: The Liberty School website has been updated.  www.thelibertyschool.org

• Updated Admission and Scholarship forms can be printed or uploaded as needed
• Friday Newsletters will now be on-line
• Events & Programs from the year have been added & will be updated soon with pictures.
• I am working on getting the Parent Volunteer link up as well to keep track of hours.
• Some AHS students, thanks to Kate North are working on a TLS video.  We will let you know when to look for it on the website.

Spelling Dee to support our sister school in Darfur, Sudan – February 2012

Annie’s Orphans dog food drive – March 2012

Adapative Sports bench painting & skiing with Special Olympics kids – February 2012

If your student is sick please let us know as soon as possible.  Feel free to use my cell (610)416-9253 in addition to the school number, if needed.

Kudos to everyone for a “fabulous” film festival at Grace Church last night.  Our filmmakers, actors, videographers really rose to the occasion.  They celebrated today with Executive Producers Mr. C and Ms. Katie at D.Q.

Hope you enjoyed the creativity and talents of our amazing community.

Next Week:

Monday 4/23: Video-shoot II, Zach Marqua, a student videographer will continue to shoot footage that will result in a video for our website.  Please respond, if you haven’t already done so, to the separate e-mail video permission sheet. Select students will be working after school on their films.

Tuesday 4/24:  Our three eighth grade girls will attend a “girls to women” conference at the La Plata Fairgrounds.

Wednesday 4/25: Final edited films must be submitted for the Film Festival by 3:00 PM.

Thursday 4/26: The second Annual Liberty School Film Festival will take place at Grace Church (1440 Florida Road).

All entrants should be onsite and dressed by 5:15 PM

Press and Paparazzi should be in place by 5:20 PM

Parents, Dignitaries and general public may be seated at 5:25 PM

Friday 4/27: Scavenger Hunt and Field Trip 10:45 to noon.  All students will walk to the Crossland Museum at the Durango Downtown Mall on Main Street.  This trip was planned by Ms. Pam’s Social Studies class (Kai, David, Jackson and Dermarr)

The rest of the year:

I wanted to give parents an idea of what the next six weeks will entail in general terms.  We will update and fine tune specific times and/or modifications weekly until our June 1 graduation.

Please note on your calendars:

April 30 to May 4: Testing Week (both math and language) Please make sure your student is rested, nourished and on-time.

May 17: Open House 12:15 PM to 3:00 PM for students and families interested in the Liberty School

Student Expo 4-6 PM Student and class projects will be presented for Parents and guests.

May 18-20: Spring Family Camping Trip is coming together thanks to Scott Atchison.  We are zeroing in on House Creek Campground, at McPhee Reservoir outside Dolores.  We will get more details to you soon.

May 22-25: Spring parent conferences.  We will contact parents the week before to schedule.

May 25:  12:00 Summer Birthday Celebrations

May 28:  Memorial Day- NO SCHOOL

May 31; Volunteer Recognition Reception 3:00 to 3:30 PM in the multi-purpose room.

June 1: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. We will have an Awards assembly and graduation followed by a Potluck luncheon.  Students arrive at 8:00 AM.  Our exact schedule for that day will be shared in the next few weeks. Our day should conclude by 1-1:30 PM.

June 4-7: Teacher Planning Week

NO SCHOOL until Monday April 16^th

When we come back:

• planning for the May 19-20 camping trip will speed up
• our film festival will be held April 26^th at 6 PM
• Enrollment/re-enrollment packets will be distributed

Again, have a wonderful and restful Spring Break!