Month: February 2026
Lesson Structure Study sharpening teaching at LES
Liberty Elementary teachers are deepening collaboration and improving student learning through Lesson Structure Study.
LSS is a collaborative lesson building process created by Assistant Principal Paul Voigtland, piloted last year by the math department, that allows teachers to examine how lessons are taught and adjust them to better meet the needs of students.
“While there has always been a culture of collaboration in this building, this process is focused and intentional,” Mr. Voigtland said.
Identifying a need for change
At Liberty, math facilitators and administrators identified a valuable opportunity to evolve classroom dynamics from teacher-led instruction toward more hands-on, student-centered learning.
That is what led to the implementation of LSS.
“I wanted to help my grade level find a way to work through the curriculum in a meaningful and effective way,” said fourth-grade teacher Nicolina Shormis
A five-step process
LSS is modeled after an Action Research Iterative Cycle, which has five steps:
- Set goals
- Plan a lesson;
- Teach and observe the lesson while collecting data
- Debrief with discussion, revise and refine
- Reteach.
The focus isn’t on the materials of the lesson, but its structure, Mr. Voigtland said, which will ultimately give teachers strategies that can be repurposed to other topics or subjects.
The cycle is done three times. At the end of the third cycle, the teacher team will make any final changes and prepare to share their findings with their colleagues, through staff meeting presentations or classroom visits.
Shifting the focusing to students
A feature of LSS is that observations center on the students, not the teachers.. Each observer is assigned one student to see how the student engages with the lesson then interviews the student to get feedback. Those observations and interviews guide revisions during the debrief.
“It gives me a better understanding of different aspects of the curriculum and I value the feedback from students to make changes based on the interviews,” said Math AIS teacher Analey Stratton.
Collaboration and empowerment
Collaborating as equals is key.
“When teachers meet to plan or debrief, one of the protocols is that they are all equals regardless of status or years of teaching” Mr. Voigtland said. “So even when there are administrators in the meeting or teachers who have been teaching for 20 years vs. one year, they all are on equal footing. This creates a safe space for collaboration and the best ideas to come forward.”
Much of the work is completed during common planning time and during Professional Learning Community meetings.
“If teachers are given the time, space, structure and latitude to collaborate they will come up with effective ways to enhance student achievement,” Mr. Voigtland said
A culture of trial, error and growth
LSS is a complement to traditional workshops and professional development days by creating a space to experiment. Sometimes ideas that teachers think will work on paper, don’t work in practice.
“It’s OK if it doesn’t work, but it will help us work it out in the end,” Math AIS teacher Alicia Houghtaling said.
“It gives us space to fail forward,” Mr. Voigtland added.
Expanding LSS at Liberty Elementary
This year, LSS has expanded to three cohorts. While administration still helps facilitate, the long-term goal is for the process to be fully teacher-led and teacher-driven..
Teachers choose the topics they want to study because they know where improvement is most needed.
Echoing Habit 7 of the Leader in Me Program—“Sharpen the Saw”— Mr. Voigtland said LSS is helping teachers grow and take ownership of their professional learning
Students, too, feel more ownership.
“When students are given the opportunity, they are capable and able to be in charge of their own learning,” Math AIS teacher Jennifer Eisenberg said.
Early impact and teacher response
While LSS is still new at Liberty Elementary, teachers are already seeing a positive impact.
“Students are more engaged in the learning,” fourth-grade teacher Jenna Genco said. “They are more open to talk during the Spark your Learning section of math and help each other.”
Several teachers who are not in the cohorts have also implemented some of the practices discovered during LSS into their instruction.
“We are continuing to try to improve,” Mr. Voigtland said. “It’s only going to lead to improvement in the long run.”
Sports schedule, and results, for the week of Feb. 9-15, 2026
Our athletics schedule is quite busy this week, with alpine skiing, basketball, indoor track and field and wrestling scheduled.
Here are the schedule and results, if available. Livestream links are included where available.
The schedule is subject to change. Check the Liberty schedule on the Section IX website for the latest.
Monday, Feb. 9
5 p.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Fallsburg at Fallsburg Junior/Senior High School
Tuesday, Feb. 10
All events canceled.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
4 p.m.: Boys Modified Basketball vs. Eldred at Eldred High School
5:30 p.m.: Girls Modified Basketball vs. Eldred at Eldred High School
Thursday, Feb. 12
9 a.m.: Boys Varsity Alpine Skiing: Sectionals vs. multiple schools at Hunter Mountain
4:15 p.m.: Boys Modified Wrestling Multi-Matches vs. multiple schools at Monhagen Middle School
5 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. Chester Academy at Chester Academy
6:30 p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Chester Academy at Chester Academy
Friday, Feb. 13
5 p.m.: Girls JV Basketball vs. Chester Academy at Liberty High School
6:30 p.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Chester Academy at Liberty High School
Saturday, Feb. 14
No events scheduled.
Sunday, Feb. 15
10:30 a.m.: Boys Varsity Wrestling Sectionals vs. Multiple Schools at Mount Stain Mary College
Result: All earned spots on the podium at the Section 9 D2 Championships! Liberty finished 9th in the team race and officially closes out the season. Full Results:
- Misael Juarez Perez, 6th, 144lbs
- Miguel Guzman 5th 157lbs
- Tarek Benadim 3rd 190lbs
- Shawn Bickham 4th 190lbs
- Elmer Son Vicente 3rd 215lbs
LMS honors students as leaders
Liberty Middle School hosts regular leadership celebrations to highlight the ways students demonstrate leadership and live out the Leader in Me seven habits:
Leader of the Month is generally awarded to two students per grade level per month. Recipients consistently demonstrate the seven habits, work hard and be persistent to the best of their ability, be proactive and display initiative, honesty, respect, responsibility, compassion and optimism, set a positive example for their peers, maintain good attendance, and have no referrals. At the end of the year, Leaders of the Month are invited to a special dinner celebrating their leadership.
Good News Notes can be given to any student, at any time, and there is no limit to how many a student can receive. Good News Notes are a way to recognize both big and small acts of leadership—whether it’s holding the door, helping a classmate, or going above and beyond in class.
The honorees for November and December are as follows:
Leader of the Month
November
- Eighth grade: Americus Newhall and Brycen Smith
- Seventh grade: Paul Odior 2nd
- Sixth grade: Isabella Puente
- Fifth grade: Romina Morales Romerol and Jayden Thomas
December
- Eighth grade: Montgomery Allen and Valeria Ponce Vazquez
- Seventh grade: Scarlett Ratner and Subhan Zeeshan
- Sixth grade: Ana Hernandez and Axel Malaga Lopez
- Fifth grade: Amelia Gerwer and Elizabeth Klein
Good News Notes
November
Eighth grade: Montgomery Allen, Mya Davis, Claire Ferguson, Randall Guncay Encalada, Luna Hulse, Corrine Lake, Harper Matuszak, Pricilla Matute, Zalaina Nash, Valeria Ponce Vazquez, Greyson Torres and Meily Valencia Bamac
Seventh grade: Elisa Barragan, Owen Brust, Genesis Harrison, Savannah Kandic, Robert MacGhee, Lorelai McCarthy, Denali Owens, Sherlene Romero, Caleb Rusin, Sophie Zayas and Raegan Wagner
Sixth grade: Chase Blume, Joseph Geoghan, Parker Gissentaner, Savannah Jones, Caleb McNett, Anthony Philippe, Camila Reyes Cortez and Henry Vogler
Fifth grade: Mac Alvarez, Christiana Allen, Brody Beach, Blake Beseth, Avi Bustillo, Eduardo Caiza Chango, Yahir Cortes, Michael (MJ) Davis Jr., Viviana Fraiser, Amelia Gerwer, Jailyn Greaves, Amelia Greeno, Rylin Henry, Alex Ines Leon, Elizabeth Klein, Camden Lake, Lennox Lyons, Romina Morales Romero, Aarit Patel, Aarohi Patel, Eliab Torres Garcia and Lisa Vanwagner
December
Eighth grade: Hailey Conkling, Khloe Erceg, Oakley Kelder, Adrianna Lassends, Noel Leonardo Valerio, Adner Mejia Aguilar, Americus Newhall and Aaliyah Walker
Seventh grade: Dylan Reyes Garcia
Sixth grade: Annabella Buryiak, Ailani Chavis, Parker Gissentaner, Damaris Jadan Pangolo, Savannah Jones, Anastasia Kelly and Jackson Tramontano
Fifth grade: Armend Ala, Zaynab Benadim, Jewelacie Castro, Riley Edwards, Henry Krum, Abigail McDermott, Aarohi Patel and Joshua Tejaga Servellon
Liberty earns two sectional indoor track and field titles
The boys and girls varsity indoor track and field competed at the Section 9 Sectional meet at West Point on Friday, Jan. 30.
Two Liberty Redhawks are Section 9 champions.
Sydania Foster placed first in the 300m and Brooke Bull was first in the pole vault.
Other girls who placed in their events were Starriah Harris who was fourth overall in the 55m hurdles, Sydania Foster who came in fourth overall in the 55m, and the 4x200m relay team of Victoria Henry, Starriah Harris, Brooke Bull and Sydania Foster took third place overall. The girls team placed seventh overall out of 21 teams.
On the boys’ side, Dylan Romero was third overall in the 600m, Colten Allen was fourth overall in the 600m, and the 4x200m relay team of Samuel Blandón, Colten Allen, Dylan Romero and Joe Sarney placed fourth overall.
Next up is the County Championships at SUNY Sullivan at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 4. The public is welcome to attend and cheer on our Redhawks!
Walkway to be closed during construction
Work is expected to begin on the maintenance building in early March. Contracts were approved in December, with the work expected to go into the fall.
Once construction begins, the walkway behind the district office from Winthrop Avenue to the high school will be closed.
The softball field will not be impacted by the work. However, the Winthrop Avenue parking lot will also be closed during construction. Spectators should park in the parking lot between the high school and district office.
More details will be provided once the date for the start of construction is set.
Sports schedule, and results, for the week of Feb. 2-8, 2026
Our athletics schedule is quite busy this week, with alpine skiing, basketball, indoor track and field and wrestling scheduled.
Here are the schedule and results, if available. Livestream links are included where available.
The schedule is subject to change. Check the Liberty schedule on the Section IX website for the latest.
Monday, Feb. 2
10 a.m.: Boys and Girls Varsity Skiing: Giant Slalom vs. multiple schools at Belleayre Mountain Ski Area
3:15 p.m.: Boys and Girls Varsity Indoor Track and Field Exhibition vs. multiple schools at SUNY Sullivan
5 p.m.: Girls JV Basketball vs. Tri-Valley at Tri-Valley Central School at Tri-Valley Central School
5 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. Fallsburg at Liberty High School
5 p.m.: Girls Varsity Wrestling multi-matches vs. multiple schools at Onteora High School
6:30 p.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Tri-Valley at Tri-Valley Central School at Tri-Valley Central School
6:30 p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Fallsburg at Liberty High School
Tuesday, Feb. 3
4 p.m.: Girls Modified Basketball vs. Fallsburg at Fallsburg Junior/Senior High School
4:15 p.m.: Boys Modified Wrestling vs. multiple schools at Port Jervis Middle School
4:45 p.m.: Boys Varsity Alpine Skiing: Slalom vs. multiple schools at Mt. Peter Ski Resort
5 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. Eldred at Liberty High School
5:30 p.m.: Boys Modified Basketball vs. Fallsburg at Fallsburg Junior/Senior High School
6 p.m.: Girls Varsity Wrestling Multi-Matches vs. multiple schools at Saugerties High School
6:30 p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Eldred at Liberty High School
Wednesday, Feb. 4
3:15 p.m.: Boys and Girls Varsity Indoor Track and Field Invitational vs. multiple schools at SUNY Sullivan
4 p.m.: Boys Modified Basketball vs. Rockland Central School District at Rockland MS/HS
4:45 p.m.: Girls Varsity Alpine Skiing vs. multiple schools at Holiday Mountain
5:30 p.m.: Girls Modified Basketball vs. Rockland Central School District at Rockland MS/HS
6 p.m.: Boys Varsity Wrestling vs. Rondout Valley Central at Rondout Valley Central School
Thursday, Feb. 5
4:15 p.m.: Boys Modified Wrestling vs. multiple schools at Warwick Valley
4:30 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. Monticello at Monticello High School Main Gym
4:45 p.m.: Boys Varsity Alpine Skiing: Slalom vs. multiple schools at Holiday Mountain
4:45 p.m.: Girls Varsity Alpine Skiing: Giant Slalom and Slalom vs. multiple schools at Holiday Mountain
5 p.m.: Girls JV Basketball vs. James I. O’Neill at Liberty High School
6:30 p.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. James I. O’Neill at Liberty High School
Friday, Feb. 6
All events postponed or canceled.
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7-8
No events scheduled.