If

If—

By Rudyard Kipling

 

 

 

 

 

Liberty Common students are familiar with the classic poem, If—. It’s no coincidence the coherent Core Knowledge Sequence perfectly times the study of this aspirational verse in sixth grade, right before students launch into the formative—indeed transformative—years of junior-high. Intrepid scholars may even endeavor to memorize all 32 lines as I’ve challenged my own children to do. To know this poem by heart, as it used to be said, offers a relationship with the ideas contained within. Ultimately, we desire our students to know—to have a relationship with—wisdom itself.  As school leaders engage in visionary conversations for Liberty’s junior-high students, this poem serves as inspiration.

 

Over the last few months, Liberty’s Board of Directors has been increasingly focused on the transitional junior-high years of 7th and 8th grades. We’ve previously announced facility plans and corresponding financing and fundraising efforts of the expansion, but every facet of the new campus is being carefully weighed and measured by a devoted and competent team of school professionals and parent volunteers.

 

Within the Academic Advisory Committee, a longstanding advisory committee to the Board, the shift to a dedicated junior-high campus has prompted evaluation of our current elective course offerings. As the school prepares to remodel buildings and hire teachers for an expanded junior-high, decisions must be made at every turn. The Board desires these decisions to be driven by our students’ best interests with respect to our founding philosophy. Therefore, we rely on the expertise of parents (including founders) as well as teachers who comprise the voting membership of the AAC.

 

The maturity levels and background knowledge of most junior-high students are distinct from high-school students. With this in mind, the new campus will offer electives targeted specifically for 7th and 8th graders. The AAC and BOD are engaged in conversation to establish the precise blend of elective course offerings. Many courses will remain the same. Others will be improved to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the shift to a standalone junior high. The school’s elective policy (Board Policy 7.8) guides us.

 

A few junior-high electives students can anticipate for next year:

 

Computer Explorations – In this new elective, 7th and 8th graders will benefit from “age-appropriate exposure to computer-science concepts to build on their acquired background knowledge in math, science, and logical reasoning,” explains  Engineering and Computer-Science Department Head Kay Lannen. Teachers will engage students using the micro:bit curriculum which teaches block-like coding (Microsoft’s MakeCode) in a beginner-friendly visual manner.

 

Studio Art 7 & 8 – In these new elective classes, instructors are eager to connect studio practice with the rich Core Knowledge curriculum already being taught in required Core Art classes in these grades. While Core Art 7 & 8 are primarily focused on art history and analysis, Studio Art 7 & 8 electives will align with the art studied in each time period of the corresponding grade, giving students hands-on practice with “an array of media to enhance their aesthetic and visual literacy as well as improve their dexterity and craftsmanship,” says Art-Department Chair Meg Salazar.

 

Robust AAC discussion is increasingly focused on helping Liberty students embody their learning. In music and physical-education classes, for example, we desire students to fully engage in making music and movement not merely in collecting information about these subjects. Assistant Principal Chris Reynolds states, “In a technologically-saturated world, with ever-growing disconnect between the body and the self, an approach recognizing the vital connection between [the two] assists students toward eudaimonia [human flourishing].” Choir, theatre, and social-dance instructor Andrew Wallace reminds us Plato considered musical performance essential to the moral rearing of a child. The practical means of implementing this vision is an ongoing conversation.

 

Though not related to junior-high, the Board also approved the addition of play production, a new high-school elective to be offered each fall semester. Music and theater instructor Rebecca Pollyea is eager to lend her extensive theatre training and experience to Liberty students and connect them to timeless stories both ancient and modern through participation in a yearly dramatic production.

 

In closing, as we near the end of 2024 and reflect on the last year, the Board of Directors desires to acknowledge and express sincere appreciation for the sustained leadership of Headmaster Bob Schaffer. The words of the opening poem bring him to mind. Headmaster Schaffer is one who truly embodies the vision Rudyard Kipling has for his son in If—. At Liberty, we understand that education is formation. In cultivating virtue within our students, the school relies not only on our robust curriculum but on the men and women who daily model temperance, fortitude, justice, prudence, gratitude, and patriotism. We are grateful for Headmaster Schaffer and the team he has assembled to lead the organization in this pursuit. As the Board’s singular employee, the Board has unique visibility of the Headmaster’s efforts, and it is one of our primary responsibilities to provide support and accountability for this important work. We are consistently encouraged by the Headmaster’s fearless, principled, and devoted leadership of our fine school. He boldly provides strategic direction and faithfully nurtures the Liberty school culture of academic excellence and fairness in education. He inspires with new initiatives, reminding and challenging us all to put Liberty students first. We’d be remiss as a Board not to publicly laud his great work. His tireless efforts are those of a man whose own grandchildren depend upon the school’s success—and they do! We are grateful for the blessing Headmaster Schaffer is to all Liberty Common students.