[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 17, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING LIBERTY COMMON HIGH SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORY GARDNER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2014

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your attention to 
Liberty Common High School's (LCHS) outstanding performance on the ACT 
college readiness assessment. Liberty Common High School is a 
relatively new public high school located in Fort Collins, Colorado, 
and its students performed exceptionally on this year's exam. Liberty's 
achievement not only shows the intellectual strength of the Class of 
2015, but also demonstrates the overall success of the charter school's 
educational program.
  The ACT is a college readiness assessment that all Colorado high 
school students are required to take in their junior year. In both 2012 
and 2013, Liberty Common High School achieved the highest composite ACT 
score in the state of Colorado. This year, Liberty Common High School's 
composite score of 28.63 was not only the highest of all the high 
schools in Colorado, but was also the highest in the history of our 
great state. LCHS also now holds the record for every subject category 
on the ACT. These feats are particularly impressive given the fact that 
LCHS only opened in 2010 and is such a young school. It has obtained 
the highest ACT score in the state in every year that its students have 
taken the test.
  Academic achievement at this level not only shows the success of a 
charter school built on parental involvement, but also the strength of 
the curriculum taught at Liberty Common High School. The principal of 
Liberty Common High School, former Congressman Bob Schaffer said, 
``These scores are a reflection of a solid classical, college-
preparatory curriculum we've built atop the powerful Core Knowledge 
curriculum we use in grades K through eight.'' This Core Knowledge 
curriculum, along with the character education in both elementary and 
high school, is structured in a way so that students' knowledge builds 
upon what they learned in the previous year. The foundational skills 
learned in the elementary grades allow students to reach a higher level 
of education in high school.
  While in high school, LCHS students are not only challenged by their 
classes and teachers, but also by their peers. Members of Liberty 
Common High School's Class of 2015, who have just recently set the ACT 
composite score record for the state of Colorado, attribute their 
success, in part, to the class which preceded them. The Class of 2014 
not only set the bar high for the class below them, but held sessions 
that helped juniors prepare for the ACT early. They challenged the 
Class of 2015 to beat their score while helping them to do so. A 
student community like the one at Liberty allows students to invite 
others to try their best while offering help to one another in the 
process.
  This score is outstanding, but what is more outstanding is what this 
score symbolizes--a school run by parents, chosen by parents, and 
supported by parents preparing their children to achieve in college and 
in life. Successes like these should not go unnoticed, but instead 
should be highlighted as an example for what a great public education 
can achieve.

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