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Fantastic First Quarter

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 card
  • A beautiful new band trailer was purchased, with a full decorative wrap split between the band boosters and the district
  • Liberty-Benton hosted approximately 600 teachers for a county wide professional development day October 14, 2024
  • A POW/MIA stadium chair was dedicated at our Military Appreciation Night at our football game vs. Arcadia on October 15, 2024
  • The elementary and middle school were host to approximately 1,200 very special guests for Grandparents’ Day October 21, 2024
  • The Board of Education recognized and celebrated with 22 students that scored a perfect 100% on their state achievement tests October 23, 2024
  • Liberty-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, 2024
  • High School English teacher Amy Teders, and Kindergarten teacher Heagan Sparling , were recognized as Rotary Golden Apple finalists
  • Our 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:
    1. BVC Champions: Football
    2. BVC Champions: Boys Cross Country-Team State Qualifier
    3. NCOSA Champions: Girls Soccer
    4. NCOSA Champions: Boys Soccer-still in post season competition at districts
We’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 pm
November 25, Noon-8 pm
November 26, 8 am-noon
 
Fly Higher!
 
Bruce Otley
Superintendent
Liberty-Benton Local Schools

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Posted Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Liberty-Benton Earns a Five-Star Rating

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 tests

Progress: A measurement of growth students are making based on past performance on state achievement tests

Gap Closing: Measures the reduction on educational gaps for students in subgroups

Graduation: Measures the four- and five-year graduation rate of our students

Early Literacy: Measures reading improvement and proficiency in grade 3

You can view the district report card here: Liberty-Benton District Report Card

I 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 Character
  • Critical Thinking
  • Resilience
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Leadership
  • Service
Moving 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 Otley
Superintendent  
 
 
 

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Posted Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Welcome Back!

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 21
  • Holiday/Break August 27-Spetember 3
  • School Resumes September 3

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

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Posted Monday, August 5, 2024

May Update

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

  • We 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 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 Otley
Superintendent

 

 

 

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Posted Tuesday, May 7, 2024

April Message

The trees are budding with new leaves, the grass has begun to grow, and the tulips and crocuses are
blooming. 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 thumb
bent to make the number 4, as a reminder to persevere, execute the game plan, implement the half
time adjustments, and finish the game strong. With three quarters of school in the rear view, we need
to commit to a strong finish.

In February and March, a committee of students, parents, teachers, board member, and administrators
met with our consultant with The Impact Group for our Portrait of an Eagle project, which is in support
of our Strategic Plan. Our work was to identify and define the character traits we feel every student
should possess by the time they graduate from Liberty-Benton. These character traits help define our
culture, and will be a k-12 point of focus as we nurture, grow, and educate our students. I’ll be sharing
the end result of our “Portrait of an Eagle” project in its entirety with everyone soon, but since we’re
officially in the fourth quarter, I thought I’d share a sneak peak of one of the character traits our
committee felt every eagle should possess before graduating.

Resilience: We are motivated to persevere through challenges with grit and determination.  We are
willing to embrace and overcome setbacks as a necessary step toward growth.  We know that hard work
creates 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 students
pursue excellence by overcoming challenges in the classroom, through musical and theatrical
performances and the arts, on the court, mat, course, and field of athletics. As we enter the fourth
quarter, be resilient and finish the year strong!

Fly Higher!

Bruce Otley
Superintendent

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Posted Tuesday, April 9, 2024

March Madness

March is music in our schools Month, and our students are poised for another successful high school
musical, 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 2:00
p.m.

We will again be showcasing the talent of our middle and high school vocal music programs at the Music
in Our Schools (MIOSM) concert on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and our high school band will be
performing on Thursday March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the performing arts center. Our second graders will
also 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 a
keepsake from our beloved old building to have one. Bricks from the original 1921 building can now be
obtained in the front parking lot of the original elementary school.  There will be plenty of bricks, and
our demolition company will continue to make bricks available to our pubic as long as there is a demand
for 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. Otley
Superintendent
Liberty-Benton Local Schools

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Posted Friday, March 1, 2024

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