Liberty students have many options to find their “people” through a variety of clubs at the middle and high school levels.

From arts to academics or chess to yearbook, students get together throughout the school year.

“It’s important to offer a variety of extra-curricular activities,” High School Principal Stephen Matuszak said. “They help students gain new skills, find their voices and build camaraderie.”

Two of the newest clubs are FFA and esports.

Through agricultural education, FFA (formerly known as Future Farmers of America) gives students the opportunity to develop leadership skills, personal growth and career success. In only its second year, the story of the club’s founding will be featured at the state conference this month.

At the other end of the spectrum are the esports teams, which started in January. About a dozen students gather daily from January to April to play popular online games against others in the state in the Empire State Scholastic Esports Federation (ESSEF). The teams had strong starts to the year, with multiple victories. Students made playoff appearances in three games: Super Smash Bros solo as well as Marvel Rivals and Rocket League Teams.

Musical, visual and performing arts are thriving at all levels in Liberty.

“Beyond being a creative outlet, the arts are vital to a well-rounded education,” Middle School Principal Heather Cheh said. “Numerous studies have linked strong arts programs to better academic outcomes for students.”

For seven years in a row, Liberty has been named one of the Best Communities for Music Education, highlighting the array of musical opportunities for students, from starting musical instrument lessons in fourth grade to honors ensembles at the high school level. Each year, the students’ musical talents are highlighted during winter and spring concerts, as well as special events including the annual Jazz Festival, parades and the Liberty Music and Community Festival. This year, Liberty was honored to host the annual All-County Music Festival.

Liberty student visual artists showcase their work annually at the PK-12 countywide art show and districtwide show. And high schoolers’ literary works, including poetry, creative work and literary arts, are highlighted in the annual Allusions magazine and during the Allusions Cafe. This year, high school student photographers earned a record-breaking number of awards (65 total) during the Mid-Hudson Regional Scholastic competition.

The district is also seeing more student thespians, starting at a younger age. A few years ago, Liberty High School’s Liberty Performing Arts (LPA) invited middle and elementary students to participate in their shows, which helped spark the formation of drama clubs at each of those buildings last year. Now the Liberty community can enjoy shows four times each year, with musicals by the elementary and middle school clubs and two shows per year by LPA.

Last year, Liberty Central School District Athletic Department instituted its Champion Plan, which aims to bring championships back to Liberty and cultivate athletes who thrive on and off the field.

The department has built upon existing programs, including Athletes Helping Athletes and youth sports, to help foster opportunities, offer mentorships and build skills to improve the sports culture across the district.

Earlier this year, Liberty hosted Coach Kevin Metcalf, a longtime teacher and coach at North Rockland now at St. Joseph Regional, for Coaching the Coaches sessions. The goal was to offer professional development for Redhawk coaches at all levels through sharing thought processes and approaches and to provide coaches with a place to collaborate and share experiences.

Additionally, the district is expanding opportunities for older athletes to interact with and help younger students through team-to-team skills development, assisting youth sports teams, and, most recently, the institution of intramurals at the elementary level.

“Interest in sports at Liberty is growing,” Athletic Director Thomas Zehner said, citing an increase in participation at all levels across seasons. “I look forward to what the future holds.”

And the teams are seeing success, highlighted by alpine skiing and girls indoor track and field athletes competing in states this year, as well as multiple league and sectional play off appearances and all star honors for the Redhawk athletes.

Collaboration is key when it comes to learning at Liberty.

Whether it is in the classroom or across departments, buildings or even institutions, students tend to learn better when they and their educators work together, the district has found.

“Collaboration fosters growth, innovation, problem-solving skills, trust and so much more,” Liberty Elementary Principal Robert England said.

Examples of that collaboration can be seen throughout the district.

Building and subject-level Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) were
instituted several years ago, allowing teachers to examine data and learn from
one another.

The elementary school has built upon the PLCs with Lesson Structure Study, which allows teachers to examine how lessons are taught and adjust them to better meet the needs of students. The lesson-building process was created by Liberty Elementary School Assistant Principal Paul Voigtland and piloted last year in the math department. More details on Lesson Structure Study can be found here.

Collaboration is common at the middle school and can often be seen across classes. One example is a project that brought together fifth and sixth grade social studies and math students with lessons centered on the 2026 Winter Olympics. In their math classes, students made predictions and charted medal counts, and in social studies, they learned about different countries and cultures while also earning authentic Olympic pins.

At the high school level, the variety of classes offered to students has grown
thanks to the district’s long-standing partnerships with Sullivan BOCES for Career and Technical Education and SUNY Sullivan for college-level and credit-bearing classes. The options have grown in recent years with  the addition of Syracuse University Project Advance science courses (which will be expanded this year) and last year’s introduction of a Siena College computer science course.

Partnerships with the community are also important, as can be seen with numerous clubs volunteering in the community, the annual All Things Liberty Winterfest as well as district-sponsored activities at community events.

The bleachers, pressbox, lights and scoreboard are up. The turf is down. Work on the track is expected to be completed this spring. The athletic field is getting close to completion.

But work at the athletic field is just one part of the capital projects that were approved by voters in 2024 and 2025. The projects, which total approximately $50 million, address safety, efficiency and meeting the needs of today’s learners and are not expected to have any additional tax impact on district taxpayers.

Work has also begun on construction of the new maintenance building. The building will allow the current maintenance department space in the high school to be converted into the High School Innovation Lab, which is part of the next phase of the capital project.

“We are excited about the work that has been completed so far,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sullivan said. “There is still more work to
be done to provide our students and community with the safe, productive and modern spaces they need to succeed.”

The second phase of the projects will include work at the middle and high school buildings.

Besides the Innovation Lab, the work at the high school includes asbestos abatement and renovations in the 300 wing and cafeteria, a generator replacement, stair removal, and upgrades to the HVAC controls, carbon monoxide alarm system and code-mandated items.

The work at the middle school includes site drainage improvements, replacement of the electrical main distribution panel and some internal doors, upgrades to the HVAC controls and carbon monoxide alarm system and a new
emergency generator.

The final phase is expected to begin next year with all projects expected to be completed by fall 2027. That work includes carbon monoxide alarm system upgrades and generator replacement at the district office and significant work at the elementary school, most notably upgrades to the HVAC system for more efficient heating and added cooling to comply with new state temperature regulations. There will also be roofing repairs and upgrades, asbestos flooring abatement and replacement, wood flooring replacement, new compliant railing on the interior bleachers in the gym, and carbon monoxide alarm system and gym ventilation upgrades.

Liberty Central School District is now in its fourth year of its five-year strategic plan.

In that time, the district has instituted or refined several programs with a goal of meeting its mission to empower each student to contribute and thrive in a diverse community by pursuing their potential.

“We have seen significant progress,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sullivan said.

Liberty students’ reading scores are improving, with a 6% increase year-over-year in state testing scores last year. This is thanks in part to the alignment of its reading curriculum through the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Into Reading and Into Literature programs.

The support for all students is growing with the refinement of the district’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, which provide targeted academic, behavioral and social-emotional support to all students.

Leading in Me and the related Lighthouse Teams across the district are helping students gain personal growth and hone their leadership skills.

The emphasis on hands-on learning in STEM (science, technology engineering and math) is preparing Liberty students for future careers. The REAL Lab at the elementary school builds the foundation, by introducing students to STEM concepts.

Students move to the Invention Land Innovation Lab at the middle school. The High School Innovation Lab, expected to launch next year, will continue that growth.

“Although the five-year plan ends next year, the strategic approach to ensuring students have the best possible opportunity to succeed will continue,” Dr. Sullivan said.

The district is reviewing options for a new plan starting in fall of 2027 that will build upon what has been learned and the accomplishments made so far.

For more information, visit the district’s strategic plan page.

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:

1. Set goals
2. Plan a lesson;
3. Teach and observe the lesson while collecting data
4. Debrief with discussion, revise and refine
5. 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.”

On Nov. 16, student leaders, Interact Club members, Liberty Rotarians, the Liberty Middle School Building Leadership Team, the LMS Lighthouse Team, and community volunteers partnered to host a community pancake breakfast fundraiser at the Liberty Firehouse. The event raised funds for a new book vending machine that will promote literacy, reward positive behavior and inspire a love of reading among Liberty Middle School students.

Adults—including Liberty Rotarians, LMS staff, and parent volunteers—worked closely with students throughout the event. Adults prepared the food and worked in the kitchen, while students served food and drinks, greeted guests and cleared tables. LMS students also performed during the breakfast, creating a warm and welcoming ambience for guests. This collaboration provided students with meaningful leadership and performance opportunities while contributing to a successful community event. The LMS BLT and Lighthouse Team also played a key role in planning, organizing communications, and coordinating schoolwide support for the project.

Local business partnerships and donations

Local businesses and community members generously supported the event through sponsorships and donations. Donors included:

• ShopRite of Liberty
• Stewart’s of Fallsburg
• Newburg Egg Processing
• Muthig Farm
• McDonald’s of Liberty
• Star Bar & Grill
• Liberty Rotarians

In return, sponsors received public recognition through school communications and at the future vending machine location. The community response was outstanding:

• 16 Literacy Leader Sponsors – $150
• 12 Chapter Champion Sponsors – $100
• 10 Page Turner Sponsors – $50

Event Participation

The breakfast saw strong community engagement:

• 252 community guests attended
• 35 student volunteers
• 34 adult volunteers

Thanks to the combined efforts of students, staff, Liberty Rotarians, community volunteers, the BLT, and the Lighthouse Team, the fundraiser was a tremendous success and moved us significantly closer to bringing a book vending machine to Liberty Middle School.