LIBERTY COMMON SCHOOL—FOUNDING AND HISTORY
In the early 1990s, true educational choice was non-existent in northern Colorado’s Poudre School District. Parents without resources for private school options could only send their children to neighborhood schools. Nebulous curricula were largely determined by individual classroom teachers, leading to gaps and repetition in student learning. Dissatisfied, small groups of parents began to read, research, and meet throughout PSD in search of better options.
Former Liberty Common School headmaster, Russ Spicer (left) kindergarten teacher Tina Shockley, and founding parent Dr. Randy Everett (right) receive an academic Award of Excellence from the Colorado Department of Education.
Dr. Randy Everett and his wife Ruth Ann were young parents with an insatiable interest in education issues. After months of research, they identified several fundamental elements they believed most parents desired in their children’s schooling:
Parental choice in education
A core curriculum of specific content knowledge
Solid, content-driven skill instruction
Teaching the values of a democratic society
School-based management
The Everetts led a small group of like-minded parents in pursuit of this vision. Their mission began with reading every book they could find on educational philosophy and curricula. Akin to a book club, these parents would gather to share newly acquired knowledge and strategize the next steps to deliver excellence in education for their children.
From this unelaborate beginning, Liberty Common School’s indefatigable founders proceeded to overcome challenges many others would have deemed insurmountable, including securing a facility, hiring administrators and classroom instructors, and rebuffing a lawsuit filed against them by the Poudre School District.
For a complete, memorialized account of the LCS founding, CLICK HERE to read an article penned by one of the school’s founding parents, Dr. Maureen Schaffer.