Liberty High School (Washington)
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| Liberty Senior High School | |
|---|---|
| File:Liberty2.png | |
| Location | |
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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 | http://www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu Official Site |
Liberty Senior High School, also known as Liberty High School or LHS, is a secondary school located on the border of East Renton Highlands and Issaquah, Washington, USA. 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 is named after the USS Liberty research ship and displays the bell from the ship in the Commons area.[1]
Liberty works congruently with the University of Washington's "College in the High School" program in Psychology, Spanish, French, and English, which allows students to earn both high school and college credits through a different means than AP courses.[2]
National Blue Ribbon School
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
School achievements
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."[3] 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.".[4]
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.[citation needed]
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.[5]
Green Technology School
On May 4th, 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 has 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 pedistal from the Issaquah Schools Foundation. See the PSE's News Release
As part of the 2012 renovation, Liberty's new facilities will include features like reusable water from green roofs, geothermal heating, usable fans in all classrooms, composting and light shelfs on the buildings exterior windows.
History
Liberty opened in 1977 with grades 10 through 12 (although with no senior class that first year), transitioning to a four-year high school with grade 9 through 12 in 1984. School was completely renovated in 1999 and is planning a major renovation starting in 2010-2011.
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!
Athletics
Liberty High School is a member of the 3A Kingco Athletic Conference and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Traditionally their rivals have been Hazen and Issaquah, the two closest high schools. Recently, Issaquah joined the 4A Division, leaving Hazen their main rival. Liberty's most recent state title came in 2007 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.[6] Liberty's most recent individual state champion was Kara Bennett in 2005 for triple jump.[7] 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. The football team's last 3A state title came on December 3rd, 1988 where they defeated Cheney 30-0. [1]
Baseball: Liberty's Baseball has seen success in recent years with a state title in 2003. The teams most recognized alumni, 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]
Notable alumni
- Tim Lincecum — (class of 2003) The 2008 and 2009 Cy Young Award recipient as the top Major League pitcher in the National League. Current player for the San Francisco Giants. Led Liberty to the 3A State title in 2003; went on to play for the University of Washington baseball program through his junior year and was a 1st round pick in 2006 for the San Francisco Giants and tenth overall in the draft. After two good seasons at UW, he emerged as the top player in the nation, going 12-4 with a 1.94 E.R.A. 199 strikeouts in 125 2/3 innings, earning him the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is annually awarded to the best amateur baseball player in the nation.
- Mkristo Bruce — (class of 2002) Football defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars and graduate from Washington State University.
- Sean Kinney — (class of 1984) Drummer for the grunge band, Alice in Chains.
2011 Rebuild
A multi-phase renovation project that will rebuild the school over the next 3 years. 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, modernized and expanded cafeteria with a new 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 July 2010, planning for the Liberty remodel has begun with a partial completion of phase I set for fall 2011 and final completion in the fall of 2012. As part of the master campus plan, it is proposed that 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[3](as of April 2010).
Feeder schools
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:
- Maywood Middle School
Elementary Schools:
- Apollo Elementary School
- Briarwood Elementary School
- Maple Hills Elementary School
- Newcastle Elementary School
References
- ^ USS Liberty Memorial
- ^ 2008 Annual School Performance Report for Liberty
- ^ 5th Avenue Awards Nominees & Recipients 2006.
- ^ 5th Avenue Awards Nominees 2010.
- ^ http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0115_best_schools/49.htm
- ^ http://www.wiaa.com/history/tourn.aspx
- ^ http://www.jcrawford.net/3agirlstrack05.html#15
External links
- http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1999-00/house/4675-4699/4677_04221999.txt
- http://www.liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu
- http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu
- http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/schools/school.asp?school=liberty