Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year! Cooler mornings, moderate afternoons, and the beautiful foliage on the trees mean we are well into the 24-25 school year. As we reach the completion of the first grading period, much has already been accomplished! Below are just a few of the highlights.As a district, we celebrated a 5 Star Rating on the 2023-2024 state report cardA beautiful new band trailer was purchased, with a full decorative wrap split between the band boosters and the districtLiberty-Benton hosted approximately 600 teachers for a county wide professional development day October 14, 2024A POW/MIA stadium chair was dedicated at our Military Appreciation Night at our football game vs. Arcadia on October 15, 2024The elementary and middle school were host to approximately 1,200 very special guests for Grandparents’ Day October 21, 2024The Board of Education recognized and celebrated with 22 students that scored a perfect 100% on their state achievement tests October 23, 2024Liberty-Benton High School was again named a Purple Star school, and received special recognition at the Ohio School Board Association Northwest Regional Meeting on October 24, 2024High School English teacher Amy Teders, and Kindergarten teacher Heagan Sparling , were recognized as Rotary Golden Apple finalistsOur softball diamond underwent major renovations in another successful joint district/Athletics Capital Campaign project. The entire diamond was shifted to the south to allow for the addition of a high-tension netting system and for better fan viewing. The entire field was resurfaced with field turf. All new fencing and new concrete work will complete the project and the diamond will be ready for play in the spring.The new transportation/maintenance garage project is well under way. All site work is completed including pouring footers, and setting foundation walls. The heavy steel superstructure has been erected. In Athletics:BVC Champions: FootballBVC Champions: Boys Cross Country-Team State QualifierNCOSA Champions: Girls SoccerNCOSA Champions: Boys Soccer-still in post season competition at districtsWe’ve had a fantastic, memory filled first quarter, and I anticipate our students will continue to achieve great things as the school year unfolds. Looking ahead, parent/teacher conferences are just around the corner and are scheduled for:November 21, 5-8 pmNovember 25, Noon-8 pmNovember 26, 8 am-noon Fly Higher! Bruce OtleySuperintendentLiberty-Benton Local Schools
Posted Wednesday, October 30, 2024
I am pleased to share Liberty-Benton Local Schools earned the highest rating, a five-star rating, on the 2023-2024 state report card. This means as a district, Liberty-Benton significantly exceeds the standards set forth by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Only 68 of 606 school districts in the state of Ohio earned a 5-star rating for the 23-24 school year, placing Liberty-Benton Local Schools in the top 11% of all school districts in the state of Ohio. The grade card is comprised of 5 areas:Achievement: A measurement of student academic achievement on the state achievement testsProgress: A measurement of growth students are making based on past performance on state achievement testsGap Closing: Measures the reduction on educational gaps for students in subgroupsGraduation: Measures the four- and five-year graduation rate of our studentsEarly Literacy: Measures reading improvement and proficiency in grade 3You can view the district report card here: Liberty-Benton District Report CardI would like to congratulate our students, parents, teachers, and administrative team for an outstanding effort in accomplishing another excellent report card. These results do not happen by accident. As a Leader in Me school, we begin with the end in mind and deliver instruction with a focus on developing:Positive CharacterCritical ThinkingResilienceEmotional IntelligenceLeadershipServiceMoving forward with the 2024-2025 school year, we believe continual improvement is a process and will be looking for the little things that make big differences.Congratulations again! Let’s fly even higher in 2024-2025! Sincerely, Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Dear LB Community,Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful, and fun filled summer vacation so you’ll be ready for new experiences, new challenges, and new opportunities this school year. Our maintenance and custodial crews have been working hard to make sure our facilities are ready for you. It has been great seeing our students and staff matriculating back for athletic camps and practices, summer reading, and getting classrooms ready. As we approach a new school year, here are a few important upcoming dates:High School schedule and laptop pickup/cookout Wednesday, August 14, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.High School New Student and Freshman Orientation Wednesday, August 14, 7:30 p.m.Prek-8 Meet the Teacher Night Monday, August 19, 5-7 p.m.First Day of School Wednesday, August 21Holiday/Break August 27-Spetember 3School Resumes September 3Enjoy your final days of summer vacation. We’ll see you all for the first day of school August 21st!Fly Higher! Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Dear LB Community,
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful, and fun filled summer vacation so you’ll be ready for new experiences, new challenges, and new opportunities this school year. Our maintenance and custodial crews have been working hard to make sure our facilities are ready for you. It has been great seeing our students and staff matriculating back for athletic camps and practices, summer reading, and getting classrooms ready.
As we approach a new school year, here are a few important upcoming dates:
Enjoy your final days of summer vacation. We’ll see you all for the first day of school August 21st!
Fly Higher!
Bruce Otley
Superintendent
Posted Monday, August 5, 2024
Back in 1986 the rock band Europe released their hit song “The Final Countdown”, which is a fitting way to look at the month of May in public schools. For our seniors, May is a time for reflection regarding the many things they’ve accomplished during their years at LB, as well as a time of looking forward to graduation, summer vacation, and the next chapter in life.During our Portrait of an Eagle Project, we identified critical thinkers as an essential skillset all students should possess by the time they graduate from LB. We defined this as:Critical ThinkersWe are able to analyze information, make informed decisions, and sort information to discern truth.We can evaluate evidence, consider different perspectives, and solve problems. The world our graduates must be prepared for, is a world that has become more difficult to sift through mainstream media spin, and web-based resources to arrive at truth. Analyzing information, evaluating evidence, and considering different perspectives, to discern truth is an essential skill for success in life. As we look at closing out another school year, It has been a blessing to serve you alongside of our amazing LB teaching staff. I’m looking forward to seeing you at these remaining school events.May 8 District Wide Arts Festival 6-8 pmMay 14 High School Spring Band/Choir Concert 7:30 pmMay 20 High School Senior Awards Night 7 pmMay 21 Middle School Spring Band/Choir Concert 6:30 pmMay 22 Last Day for Graduating SeniorsMay 30 Last Day of School 2 Hour Early DismissalJune 2 High School Graduation 2 pm Fly Higher!Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Back in 1986 the rock band Europe released their hit song “The Final Countdown”, which is a fitting way to look at the month of May in public schools. For our seniors, May is a time for reflection regarding the many things they’ve accomplished during their years at LB, as well as a time of looking forward to graduation, summer vacation, and the next chapter in life.
During our Portrait of an Eagle Project, we identified critical thinkers as an essential skillset all students should possess by the time they graduate from LB. We defined this as:
Critical Thinkers
The world our graduates must be prepared for, is a world that has become more difficult to sift through mainstream media spin, and web-based resources to arrive at truth. Analyzing information, evaluating evidence, and considering different perspectives, to discern truth is an essential skill for success in life.
As we look at closing out another school year, It has been a blessing to serve you alongside of our amazing LB teaching staff. I’m looking forward to seeing you at these remaining school events.
May 8 District Wide Arts Festival 6-8 pm
May 14 High School Spring Band/Choir Concert 7:30 pm
May 20 High School Senior Awards Night 7 pm
May 21 Middle School Spring Band/Choir Concert 6:30 pm
May 22 Last Day for Graduating Seniors
May 30 Last Day of School 2 Hour Early Dismissal
June 2 High School Graduation 2 pm
Fly Higher!Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Tuesday, May 7, 2024
The trees are budding with new leaves, the grass has begun to grow, and the tulips and crocuses areblooming. Spring has sprung, and we are officially in the fourth quarter of the 2023-2024 school year!When I was a football coach, often times our players would raise their hands in the air with their thumbbent to make the number 4, as a reminder to persevere, execute the game plan, implement the halftime adjustments, and finish the game strong. With three quarters of school in the rear view, we needto commit to a strong finish.In February and March, a committee of students, parents, teachers, board member, and administratorsmet with our consultant with The Impact Group for our Portrait of an Eagle project, which is in supportof our Strategic Plan. Our work was to identify and define the character traits we feel every studentshould possess by the time they graduate from Liberty-Benton. These character traits help define ourculture, and will be a k-12 point of focus as we nurture, grow, and educate our students. I’ll be sharingthe end result of our “Portrait of an Eagle” project in its entirety with everyone soon, but since we’reofficially in the fourth quarter, I thought I’d share a sneak peak of one of the character traits ourcommittee felt every eagle should possess before graduating.Resilience: We are motivated to persevere through challenges with grit and determination. We arewilling to embrace and overcome setbacks as a necessary step toward growth. We know that hard workcreates opportunities to adapt, grow and be successful in our changing world. I love that our group identified resilience as a point of focus, and used terms like “grit”, “hard work”. and“determination” as the remedy to overcome setbacks to achieve growth. I love watching our studentspursue excellence by overcoming challenges in the classroom, through musical and theatricalperformances and the arts, on the court, mat, course, and field of athletics. As we enter the fourthquarter, be resilient and finish the year strong!Fly Higher!Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Tuesday, April 9, 2024
March is music in our schools Month, and our students are poised for another successful high schoolmusical, The Sound of Music, in our beautiful new performing arts center. Opening night will be Friday,March 1, at 7:30 p.m. Encore performances will be held Saturday March 2, and Sunday March 3, at 2:00p.m.We will again be showcasing the talent of our middle and high school vocal music programs at the Musicin Our Schools (MIOSM) concert on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and our high school band will beperforming on Thursday March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the performing arts center. Our second graders willalso be performing on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m.March is also the month for high school basketball tournaments, and the beginning of our track,baseball, and softball seasons. Good luck to all of our athletes!The demolition of our old prek-8 building is well under way and we would like anyone who would like akeepsake from our beloved old building to have one. Bricks from the original 1921 building can now beobtained in the front parking lot of the original elementary school. There will be plenty of bricks, andour demolition company will continue to make bricks available to our pubic as long as there is a demandfor them so please feel free to preserve a piece of our district’s heritage and “pick a brick”.Friendly reminder we will be off for Spring Break Friday March 29-Monday April 1.Bruce A. OtleySuperintendentLiberty-Benton Local Schools
Posted Friday, March 1, 2024