Let Gratitude and Virtue Lead The Way

Dear Liberty Common Plato-Campus Friends and Families,

Liberty Common students returned to school with minds prepared to be awakened and enlightened.  They have embarked on another year of joy and wonder.

The faculty and staff are well prepared to lead our young scholars with excellence on the next leg of their journeys of intellectual and moral formation.

While many were doing the important work of rest and recreation over the summer, our committed administrative staff and custodial team were hard at work ensuring a pristine facility and strong operational start to the school year.

Please join me in thanking Mr. Jay Montez, Mr. Caleb Beede, Ms. Adrianna Lazo, and Mr. Samuel Johnson (class of 2027).  Additionally, don’t miss the opportunity to extend gratitude to Mrs. Melissa Miller, Mrs. Julie Russell, Mrs. Carrie Voggesser, Andrew Harper, and Mrs. Jenna Allen.

We often fail to acknowledge our amazing operations team led by Mrs. Beverly Hanawalt, Director of Operations.  A true servant leader, Mrs. Hanawalt has been a committed school leader, parent, and now grandparent since 2001.  The operational demands of our growing school, soon to be four campuses, are unrelenting.  Our operations team takes each new challenge in stride.  Thank you to Mrs. Noelle Currell, Mrs. CJ Smith, Mrs. Julie Fishbeck, Mrs. Kristi Friensen, Mrs. Melinn Brandt, and Mrs. Beverly Hanawalt.

Finally, it is always appropriate to extend gratitude and admiration to the school’s founders for having the vision, tenacity, and grit to lead a true revolution in education in Poudre School District.  Many of our founders, including Dr. Randy and Ruth Ann Everett, David and Laurel Van Maren, Peter and Patty Kast, Phil and Sally Hutchinson, and the Hon. Bob and Dr. Maureen Schaffer, continue to be actively involved in the leadership of the school. Their legacy is far-reaching, extending to their own children, grandchildren, your children, and mine.

Although we’ve grown and developed in many ways since the school’s founding, we continue to be firmly rooted in our founding mission and principles.

Our elementary campuses started this school year with the ceremonial passing of the guidons to the next grade level.

Beginning last year, guidons were introduced and embraced at the elementary school campuses. Introducing young Liberty Common scholars to the first elements of teamwork, school culture, and rudimentary leadership.  Guidons, emblazoned with classical virtues, lead the way for each classroom of students throughout their day. 

Liberty Common scholars are carrying their class’s guidons with pride and dignity, and displaying them with prominence.  Each class of students carries their guidons throughout their elementary years, retiring them after the completion of sixth grade.

Prior to this year’s Torch Trek, the class of 2030 retired its guidons, now prominently displayed in the Plato Campus Stoa.

Let us all unite for another year around our single enduring mission, “…to provide excellence and fairness in education for school children through a common foundation by successfully teaching a contextual body of organized knowledge, the skills of learning including the Thinking Framework, and the values of a democratic society…”

Parents lead the way at Liberty Common School and we continue to stand on the principle of parental rights and the universal truth in education – it is the right and responsibility of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children.

As we embark on another remarkable year, I am exceedingly grateful to be on mission with passionate parents and committed professional teachers and staff.

Welcome back!

 Warmest regards,

Sandy Stoltzfus, Principal (Plato Campus)