| Liberty High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 16655 SE 136th St Renton, WA 98059 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1977 |
| Principal | Mike Deletis |
| Enrollment | 1,237 (As of 2009[update]) |
| Color(s) | Silver, Green and Royal Blue |
| Mascot | Patriots |
| Information | (425)837-4906 |
| Awards | National Blue Ribbon School Award |
| Website | www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu |
Liberty High School, also known as Liberty Senior High School or LHS, is a secondary school located in the East Renton Highlands in King County, Washington. Founded in 1977, Liberty anchors the southern region of the Issaquah School District which includes the areas of Mirrormont, Issaquah, Four Creeks, May Valley, East Renton Plateau, East Lakemont and the city of Newcastle. The school was named Liberty because of the bi-centennial celebration in 1976. After being named Liberty, the bell from the research ship USS Liberty was acquired and is currently on display at the school. [1]
Liberty works congruently with the University of Washington's "College in the High School" program in Psychology, Spanish, and French, which allows students to earn both high school and college credits through a different means than AP courses.[2]
According to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, Liberty ranks 20th of 346 public and private high schools in the State of Washington. Rankings are published by the Fraser Institute, which compares test scores, curriculum, and graduation rates.[3]
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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 State of Washington to emulate the outstanding example and national recognition achieved by our National Blue Ribbon School." See the Resolution
Technology: Liberty 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 The Issaquah Miracle for more information.
Performing Arts: The Patriot Players Drama Club is very active at Liberty High, typically performing four major productions per year: two plays, a musical, and Liberty's own Student-Directed One Acts Festival. Liberty's Drama Department received top honors in 2006, as one of the best schools for theater productions in the state. 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."[4] 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 Design. 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. More recently, the Patriot Players received ten nominations and two honorable mentions for their Spring 2010 production of "Into the Woods.".[5]
Culinary Arts: Liberty was also named the top culinary art school in the State of Washington during the 2004-2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007 and 2009-2010 school year. Liberty's culinary program 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 championship. 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. See the Liberty Culinary School at state
Patriot Press: 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, 06-07 and 07-08 school years. 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.
Liberty Band: In February 2009 the Liberty High School Marching Band competed in the KZOK and Rock Wood Fired Pizza sponsored Battle of the High School Bands, featured on the Bob Rivers Show. With over 40 other schools in the puget sound area competing, their music video entry won the Grand Prize of $10,000. Bob Rivers referred to the Liberty Band as "One of the top, elite band programs in the state".
Parents Choice School: In 2009, Businessweek and Greatschools.org recognized Liberty as the #1 "parents choice" high school in the state of Washington. Parents write reviews and give ratings for schools on greatschools.org. For this award, a school is chosen with the highest average parent rating that also had at least 10 parent reviews.[6]
Alma Mater:
Four years together in our school with all our hearts abide,
by graduation torn apart we are scattered far and wide.
Yet, still when two or three shall meet, the memories will hold true.
We'll sing about the PAT-RI-OTS in silver, green and blue.
Fight Song:
Come on and fight for Liberty High, honor and glory we'll never die!
Pat-ri-ot pride will shine through while cheering our teams on from our school.
Give it your all and fight till the end, patriot spirit we will defend!
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for Liberty and lead us to VICTORY!
Liberty High School is a member of the 3A Kingco Athletic Conference and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Liberty's traditional rivals are Bellevue, Issaquah and Skyline. Hazen High School has also been a traditional rival due to its close proximity to Liberty. Liberty's most recent state title came in both 2007 and 2011 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. In 2003 the Patriot's were also state champions when Liberty's baseball team beat West Valley High School of Yakima.[7] Liberty's most recent individual state champion was Kara Bennett in 2005 for triple jump.[8] In all, the Liberty Athletic program holds 6 state titles in Footall, Baseball, Soccer, Track and Softball.
Football: For the better part of the last decade, the Liberty football team has competed in the upper tier of the 3A Division. In 2009 the Liberty football team went 12-2 with a second place finish in the 3A state championship. Additionally, Liberty defeated cross-town rival and defending 4A State Champion Skyline on September 3, 2010.[9] The football team's last 3A state title came on December 3, 1988 where they defeated Cheney 30-0. [1]
Track & Field: Liberty's Track & Field team has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. Most recently the 2011 Liberty T & F team placed 2nd in state, most notably as a result of a 1st place finish in both the Men's 4x400 Relay as well as the Long Jump. In 2010 the Men's team placed 1st in the District, and in 2011, the Women's Team placed 1st in Kingco. Liberty has consistently outperformed many nearby 4A teams, and has continued to be a powerhouse in Track & Field in recent years.
Baseball: Liberty's Baseball has seen success in recent years with a state title in 2003. The team's most recognized alumnus, Tim Lincecum, was the 2008 and 2009 Cy Young Award recipient as the top Major League pitcher in the National League. He currently plays for the San Francisco Giants.
Softball: The Liberty softball program has a long storied tradition of attending the state championships. The Softball team holds a record for state championship appearances at 12 years in a row, the most out of any sport of any school in the states history. Liberty holds the 1993 state title in softball where they beat longtime-rival Hazen 13-1.
Mens Soccer: In 1999, the Liberty mens soccer team was ranked 12th in the nation by CBS Sports. Though the team only came in 2nd in state that year, they have won a state title in 1986 where they defeated Fife 3-2. [2]
Liberty opened in 1977 with grades 10 through 12 (although without a senior class the first year), transitioning to a four-year high school with grade 9 through 12 in 1984. The school was completely renovated in 1999. The school color's of silver, green and blue, were chosen to replicate those used by the Seattle Seahawks, whose founding was in 1977, the same year Liberty opened. The colors were decided over Red, White and Blue by a vote from the student body. The school is also home to the Ray Reeves Gymnasium.
Beginning in the summer of 2011, a $70 million dollar multi-phase renovation project will begin and will take 3 years to complete. Phase I includes a $20–$25 million dollar addition and modernization project which passed the February 7, 2006 ballot measure for the Issaquah School District. See construction projects. The master plan for the campus is designed to have a series of buildings set around four exterior courts. By the fall of 2012, Liberty will have 2 new classroom wings, 2 new science classrooms, an additional auxiliary gym, new weight room, new tennis courts, expansion of the core facilities, new and expanded cafeteria with a kitchen, new administration and counseling wings, a new entry courtyard/lobby and a new 600 seat state of the art performing arts center that includes a 100 seat black box, music, band and orchestra rooms. Most of phase I construction will take place on the southern portion of the campus. As of November 2011, construction of the performing ats center (phase I) has begun with completion in late 2012. As part of the master campus plan, it is proposed that a $45 Million dollar phase II will demolish most of the northern portion of the campus (includes the library, 500 and 600 wing, art and technology wing) and replace them with two new wings with an open exterior court. See Phase I and II in the current plans LHS Schematic Plans as of April 2010 prepared by the architects for the expansion, Bassetti Architects.
In addition to the complete school remodel, the football stadium will have a new home-side facility with 2,000 seats, a covered roof, team meeting rooms, a press box, restrooms and concessions. It is proposed that the existing home-side stands will become the visitor side and the new stands will be built on the hillside to the west. Total seating for the stadium facility will reach 3,100 spectators at a cost of $5 million dollars. See the football Stadium Plans as of May 2011
The Liberty Baseball field underwent renovations in the summer of 2011. The existing infield sand was replaced with turf while the surrounding stadium also received renovations.
As part of the school renovation project, the sports teams will gain a new Auxiliary Gym as well as a state of the art two story training and conditioning facility.
On May 4, 2010, science teacher Mark Buchli introduced Liberty High’s new solar panel to an audience that included state legislators, Puget Sound Energy and Issaquah Schools Foundation officials and school board members. In addition to providing the school clean energy, the solar panel will allow classrooms to conduct hands-on experiments and demonstrations—and perhaps inspire a new generation of scientists to better harness the vast energy potential of the sun. The grants to Liberty will provide an opportunity for students to compare the efficiency of tracking solar arrays, which have the ability to turn and follow the sun. The panel was funded by a grant from Puget Sound Energy with additional funding for the revolving pedestal from the Issaquah Schools Foundation. See PSE's News Release
As part of the currently-planned renovation, Liberty's new facilities will include features like reusable water from green/planted roofs, geothermal heating, usable fans in all classrooms, composting, and light shelves on the building's exterior windows.
Within the past 5 years, the Liberty attendance area has seen a tremendous amount of growth, most notably in the Newcastle area. Recently, the Issaquah School Board purchased the Winterbrook Farm site in the May Valley area near Sunset Valley Farms for $3.33 Million. See land purchases. With expansive growth, a new middle and elementary school are planned for the site.
Secondary Schools:
Elementary Schools: