Liberty Commons High School

Our Brazilian exchange student is going to Liberty Commons High School.  It was the only school left with room for an exchange student, and I'm glad he was able to get a spot.  It seems like a reasonable fit for him, and it gives me a change to get to know  a high school I was interested in for Bit Boy, but didn't get a chance to see.

Liberty Commons High School (commonly called "Liberty") is a parent run public charter school.  It has  420 students, grades 7-12.  It grew from the Liberty Commons Elementary school.  Although they share the same campus, the 7th and 8th graders have a different lunch than the 9-12th grades.    I was amused to learn that Liberty has "houses" for the 9-12th grades (and "orders" for the 7-8).  Each house has it's own name (using the cardinal virtues), motto, and student president. The houses and orders are a bit like "home room" or "advising" period in other schools, allowing the students to have a smaller group of individuals to become familiar with and work with across grades.

Liberty is billed as a classical education with a common core foundation, but has a growing reputation as a good engineering prep school.  My first exposure to Liberty was when Firelord came home from volunteering at High School Days at our local university, where high school students are introduced to basic engineering concepts and given application opportunities.  He was most impressed with the Liberty students.  As a whole their diligence, insight, and demeanor set them well above the other students.  A friend who works in the Engineering College at CSU told me that department is actively recruiting from Liberty Commons High School because their  admitted students have been outstanding.

LCHS has some drawbacks.  The first thing most parents and students notice is the dress code.  Our exchange student had to go shopping in his first days here because his standard teenage wardrobe of t-shirts and jeans was not acceptable.  The most important thing families should know going in is that the course work and homework load are considerable.  Our student is exceptional academically and has been quite capable of getting his work done (despite working in his second language), however it leaves little time for other activities.   It was refreshing, if telling, when the soccer coach told us directly "We know Liberty has a lot of homework.  If you need to miss practice to keep up with school, just send us an email or give us a call to let us know."

LCHS is not for every family.  The majority of families and teachers there seem to be fundamentalist Christians, something that was demonstrated in the fall soccer banquet when the head coach repeatedly commented on "God's plan for this young man".   There are a few liberal families there, but they keep their heads down and their mouths shut.  If, like me, you have out spoken tie-dye wearing hippie kids, they're probably not going to feel at home here.  Also, LCHS's budget is well above that allocated by the state so their fund raising is non stop.  If regular requests for donations of time and money are going to get your goat, this probably isn't the place for you.  There is a strong expectation of volunteering and financial contribution at this school.

If you have a diligent student who is wanted an academically  rigorous high school experience, and you are willing to give up the time it takes to support that student and this school, then Liberty might be an excellent fit for you.  If you have a student who is more interested in the arts, outside projects, or just isn't willing or able to keep up with the difficult course load, you might want to keep looking.

Colorado fieldtrips

Yesterday's visit to the Colorado State legislature has totally got me psyched about doing more field trips. Also, we've realized we've only got 3 more months with our exchange student, and we really haven't shown him enough (read "any") of Colorado beyond Fort Collins.

I've got a list of ideas, but I'm sure I'm missing some things. Can you make suggestions in the comment section of this post? And how to prioritize? Since he has to go to school, there's not enough time to get it all in!

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park


Denver:
Butterfly Pavilion
Hammond's Candy tour
Capitol Building tours
U.S. Mint tour
Downtown Aquarium
Denver Zoo (we did the zoo lights, but a lot of the animals were asleep!)
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver Art Museum (we did the King Tut exhibit, but didn't have time to explore much)
Denver Botanic Gardens
16th Street Mall/Larimer Square/Tabor Center

Boulder:
Celestial Seasonings tour
Pearl Street Mall

Colorado Springs:
Cave of the Winds
Garden of the Gods
Air Force Academy Tour

Too far/wrong season, so we probably won't make it there with our exchange student but we'd still like to take the kids some year soonish:

Dinosaur National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park
Yellowstone National Park

Hmm... now I see part of the problem. We have our student for the school year. The weather, combined with his busy fall tennis season and regular school, just didn't give us as many options as we have in the summer and homeschooling year around.

What we did this Presidents Day

Having an exchange student has opened some doors for us. Today I mean that literally.

Upon meeting our exchange student, our local state senator offered to host us for a day during the regular legislative session. This, being a day off school, and the Colorado State legislature being in session, was the day.

Anyone can go to the public galleries and watch the legislative session. I can not recommend the experience highly enough. We got the special treat of being hosted by a senator. It felt like a huge honor to be allowed onto the Senate floor sitting just behind our senator. He and his aid were generously on hand to explain what was happening. Other guests lined the cavernous room as we listened to 3rd and 2nd readings of today's bills. We also sat in on a committee meeting, joining other citizens while 6 senators discussed SB11-079 and heard public testimony. Although I'm sure I missed a lot of what was happening, especially on the floor, what I saw was fascinating. You can read about the legislative process, and you can even watch it on T.V. But there is absolutely nothing like being there.

I know my husband and I learned a lot today, but I don't know how much the kids will understand and retain. Certainly our exchange student couldn't catch everything that was said, since even my Colorado-born-and-raised ears were challenged. This was such a positive experience that I want to repeat it as the kids get older. Maybe every year on Presidents Day? :-)

So, for those who want more practical details:

We drove for an hour to get to the Colorado State Capitol Building, listening to "The History of US" on the way. That certainly helped put us in the right state of mind. There was paid parking close by, so we had an easy walk to the building.

Upon entering we went through security, just like at an airport, except we got to keep our shoes on. After we found the public restrooms (did I mention that drive?), we went to the senate floor where a Sergeant at Arms had our names and took us in to our senator. We got there at 10am, and listened until 11:15am. At that point the 6yo was pretty much done, so we left for lunch. The senators usually go until ~12pm, break for lunch and then head to committee at 1:30.

We had enough time to walk to the 16th Street Mall and catch the free bus to take us close to the Wyncoop Brewery, and still make it back in time to get to the committee meetings.

Doing this made us want more. There are 3 different tours offered of the Capitol building. Hopefully we'll get to take a couple before our exchange student leaves. Maybe we could add a tour of the Denver Mint while we're there!

We're all new here

Having an exchange student has been a learning experience for me. I've had to think about how we do things and why. It has been helpful to me as a parent to realize that all our children deserve to be treated as if they are exchange students.

With an exchange student I have to assume that when he does something "wrong" that it's not because of ill intent, but because he doesn't know better, and that it's my job to explain to him how we do it here. There are so many things I just assumed that he'd know, but he didn't. I've also had to decide what issues are worth the effort and which aren't. So while I will always explain to him my expectations, and the reason for them, if he then doesn't choose to comply I have a decision to make. Is this important enough to work on together or is it something we can live with as is? The factors that play into it have to do with who it affects, how many people it affects, what the cultural expectation are outside of our home (and how the world will deal with him if he violates those expectations), health, safety, etc... Then we talk again about all those issues and move on as best we can.

As a minority, RBers are kind of like exchange students. In fact, all our children are new here. They don't automatically know what to expect and what to do. What a freeing way to think about teaching these things to our kids! It really helps clarify what is important and why.

A kid in school

We're going to have an high school exchange student with us for the entire school year. I'm excited to have another member of the family and to have the opportunity to see our world through his eyes. What I hadn't expected was to get a whole new view of our community just because, for this year, I'm the parent of a schooled kid.

I just came from a new parent meeting at the high school our exchange student will be attending. It's hard to explain what they talked about. For me it was like listening to another language, our paradigms are so different, I really couldn't even understand everything that was said.

Shudder. I truly hope our own children will never want to go to high school.

The whole process is so artificial. Most of the "adjustment" to high school doesn't seem to revolve around academic learning. Rather, it seems to revolve around learning their system. It is astonishing to me how much cognitive dissonance one must accept to see through the world view of a high school. It felt Orwellian to listen to.

Some examples:

The principal made an effort to tell us parents how important we are. She talked about "School Nation" and "The School Way" (phrase has been changed to protect the guilty) "We can talk about the Way, but you've got to be teaching it at home for this to work." So, we're important - not because we're the parents who have a responsibility to raise our children. We're important because the kids can't learn the "School Way" with us telling them about it at home. Now the school is telling us what values and expectations we should be teaching our children.

A counselor quoting from "Nurture Shock" that high school age teens need 9+ hrs of sleep a day, superimposed with the Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Dean, telling us that the more involved students get the better it is. Involved means being in clubs, sports, going to dances, buying an activity card to get into the games for "free" (after paying for a $30 activity card) etc, many of which have activities that last until 8-11pm. AND that same counselor telling us to expect 4-6 hrs of homework a day for our students. So these kids get to school at 7:30am (!), which means waking up around 6:30 +/- depending on how far from school they live (our student will be bussed in and so have to be up earlier), getting off school just after 3pm, going to a team practice from 3:30-5pm, or going to a game which could run even longer, going home to eat and do 4-6 hrs of homework, and STILL getting to bed in time to get 9+ hrs of sleep? That would mean getting to bed around 9:30. Even a public schooler can do the math. Something's got to give there.

Or how about how the counselors who kept saying that parents should stay involved and in contact with the school, but that the students should be the one to contact the counselors if they had concerns "because we want the kids to start learning to take some responsibility for themselves." Which is a great idea. Yet, the kids are in each class for 51 minutes, with a 9 minute passing period in between, a 3 minute "warning bell" 6 minutes into that 9minutes passing period, before doing it all over again. They have to have a student handbook/schedule book with them at all times, in which is a place to have a signature from an authority if they need to be out of class during the class period. So, they want the kids to take on more "responsibility" but don't trust them to take a leak with out express permission, or to get to class with out being told by bells what time it is?

Here's the athletic director telling us of the many advantages to joining a team sport - learning sportsmanship, team work, resilience... all good things. He's encouraging the kids to get on a team and the parents to support their student athletes. Followed directly by the same Athletic Director explaining the grade requirements to stay on a team. "If a student has 2 or more Fs on a weekly basis they may not participate for the following week." So essentially, it's ok for an athlete to be failing 1 class at any given time? Join athletics, it's ok to fail 1 class, we expect that?!?

There's a full time "Community Resource Officer" assigned to this school. We were warned about the dangers of "sexting" - random, but probably good advice. She got up to talk proudly how good the safety procedures were for the school (all but one exterior door locked to keep people out during class time, kids regulated to the proper blocks...), and how "We don't have any more drugs than any other school." (Oh, yea for that.) There's another police officer assigned to the school as well. So, with two active duty police officers, this school is glad to say they aren't any worse than any other place.

Most of us have read that kids that eat dinner regularly with their families have better grades and do better in general than those who don't. A kid in high school who does any of the recommended extra curricular activities has a schedule which precludes a reasonable and/or regular time for a family dinner. The school obviously expects families to arrange their lives around the school schedule. Yet there are often conflicting school schedules should you have kids in different schools. Goodness help you should you have an elementary, middle school and high school student.

This is insane. I'll be getting a new world view from having this exchange high school student, but so far, it has little to do with "exchange" and more to do with "high school student".