Staying Focused on the Main Goal

 

The LCS faculty spent the last week before school intensively preparing for the year.  We conducted training, reviewed policies, and counseled together about how best to serve students and families.  As we did so, we stayed firmly focused on the main goal, defined in our mission statement, “to provide excellence and fairness in education.”  One of the key resources utilized in our training was the Teach Like a Champion series on classroom methods written by Doug Lemov.  This series includes practical strategies which can be immediately applied in the classroom.  One of many reasons we rely on Lemov is he shares an important key assumption with us, which is—the purpose of classroom management and other skills of pedagogy is to eliminate distractions and allow the maximum focus on meaningful content.  

 

One of the key insights of the LCS founders and the Core Knowledge Curriculum they chose to adopt is the central importance of focusing on rich content knowledge.  Starting instead with a focus on critical thinking skills or communication skills or any other set of skills without first focusing on content tends to lead to failure in both skills and knowledge.  As Lemov writes, “You need to know a lot about pretty much anything to think deeply about it.  This is one of the undervalued truths about learning.”  This is why, when we hire faculty, there is a premium placed on hiring genuine content experts who can speak with detail and accuracy about their content areas and who can make a subject come alive for students through exceptional teaching.

 

In addition to a strong curriculum, character education is an integral part of who we are.  Students will learn knowledge and simultaneously develop the wisdom to apply it with fortitude, temperance, justice, prudence, gratitude, and patriotism.  

 

The outstanding existing faculty and staff have been joined this year by wonderful new additions.  Liberty parent Angie Shoemaker teaches 7th-grade English.  Kelly Moran assists Mrs. Campbell in the College Center.  Megan Kincaid, an LCHS graduate, works at the front desk.  Mike Crane serves as the school psychologist for all campuses and as the high-school 504 coordinator.  Finally, Liberty parent Connie Pallansch has joined the team in academic support.  

 

We are grateful you have chosen Liberty Common High School as a partner and resource as you guide the education and upbringing of your children.  FIRMITAS FACIT FAMILIAM!