Liberty High School (Issaquah, Washington)

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."

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.

Libertys Drama Department received top honors in 2006, as one of the best schools for theater productions in the state. The Patriot Players received numerous accolades at the 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards for their production of "Seussical." 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.

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 year's 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.

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.

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".

Robotics Club: Liberty's robotics club is a member of FIRST FRC as team 4131. The team was started in 2010 and has been to multiple competitions, including the PNW Autodesk Portland regional competition in 2013.

Academics

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Athletics

Liberty High School is a member of the 2A Kingco Athletic Conference and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Liberty's traditional rivals are Bellevue, Issaquah and Skyline. Hazen High School has also been a rival due to its close proximity to Liberty. Liberty's most recent state title came in 2016 when Liberty's Drill team took home two first-place trophies in Military and Kick routines at the state competition. Liberty's most recent individual state champion was Josh Gordon, who won the long jump title in 2012. In all, the Liberty Athletic program holds 16 state titles in Drill, Swimming, Football, Cross Country, 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. Additionally, Liberty defeated cross-town rival and three-time defending 4A State Champion Skyline on September 3, 2010. The football team's last 3A state title came on December 3, 1988 where they defeated Cheney 30-0. When Liberty joined the 2A division for the 2014 season, the team ended with a record of 6-3 leading up to the playoffs, allowing the Patriots to earn their first playoff berth in 5 years.

Women's Swim and Dive: Liberty won the 2015 and 2014 2A state titles - winning 7 of the 9 events in 2014.

Women's Cross-Country: Liberty won the 2015 2A Cross-Country state title.

Track & Field: Liberty's Track & Field team has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. Most recently the 2011 Liberty T & F team placed 2nd in state, most notably as a result of a 1st-place finish in both the Men's 4×400 Relay as well as the Long Jump. In 2010 the Men's team placed 1st in the district and second in the state, and in 2011, the Women's Team placed 1st in Kingco. Liberty has consistently outperformed many nearby 4A teams, and has continued to be a powerhouse in Track & Field in recent years.

Baseball: Liberty's Baseball has seen success in recent years with a state title in 2003. The team's most recognized alumnus, 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.

Women's Soccer: Liberty's Women's Soccer team has statistically performed above many of the Kingco teams in recent years, winning the 3A State Title in 2013. In 1998, 2000, & 2001, Liberty finished 3rd in State. Recently, in 2010, the Patriots took 1st in Kingco, going undefeated in league play. Additionally, the Lady Patriots again went undefeated in league play during the 2011 season, repeating as KingCo league champions. During the 2011 season, Liberty finished 2nd in State, marking the first time the Women's team was able to reach the State Championships- they lost 2-3 to the defending champions Seattle Prep. The team took 4th in State in 2012.

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.

Men's Soccer: In 1999, the Liberty men's 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.

Notable alumni

History and facilities

Liberty opened in 1977 as a senior high school (grades 10-12, although without a senior class the first year), and became a four-year high school (gr. 9-12) in 1984. The school was completely renovated in 1999 and was rebuilt in 2015. The school colors of silver, green, and blue were chosen to replicate those used by the Seattle Seahawks, whose first season was in 1976. The colors were selected over red, white, and blue by a vote from the student body. The school is home to the Ray Reeves Gymnasium.

2011–2015 renovation

Liberty opened a new school in the Fall of 2015 at a total cost of $86 million-dollars. The new facility, which was completed in 2015, is one of the most eco-friendly schools in the state of Washington. Green features include refillable water fountains, recycled building materials, and two live green walls. Phase I construction began in 2011, which included a $20 million addition and modernization project which passed the February 7, 2006 ballot measure for the Issaquah School District. The master plan for the campus is a series of buildings set around four exterior courts. By the fall of 2015, Liberty opened two new classroom wings, a library, two science classrooms, an additional auxiliary gym, weight room, tennis courts, expansion of the core facilities, an expanded cafeteria with a kitchen, administration and counseling wings, an entry courtyard/lobby, and a 600-seat state-of-the-art performing arts center that includes a 100-seat black box, music, band and orchestra rooms. The gym area of the school was the only portion of the original campus left intact. See Phase I, II, and III of the Schematic Plans as of April 2010 prepared by the architects for the expansion Bassetti Architects.

2015-2016 Athletic facilities renovations

In addition to the complete school remodel, the football stadium has a new home-side facility with 2,000 seats, a covered roof, team meeting rooms, press box, restrooms, new scoreboard, and concessions. The existing home-side stands became the visitor side and the new stands were built on the hillside to the west. At a cost of $5 million dollars, the new stadium capacity has doubled to 3,100 spectators. See the football Stadium Plans as of May 2011. New field turf was installed in the summer of 2015.

The Liberty baseball and softball fields also underwent renovations. The existing infield sand was replaced with artificial turf and the surrounding stadium also received renovations.

As part of the school renovation project, the sports teams also gained a new auxiliary gym, weight room, tennis courts and Athletic Training Room that overlooks the football field.

Green Technology School

On May 4, 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 have 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 pedestal from the Issaquah Schools Foundation.

As part of the completed renovation, Liberty's new facilities will include features like reusable water from green/planted roofs, geothermal heating, usable fans in all classrooms, composting, and light shelves on the building's exterior windows.

Feeder schools

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