Preparing Learners for Their Future

College, Career, and Life Readiness

It is our belief that it is never too early to prepare children for the future, so as a creative team (admin, teachers, staff and other community stakeholders), we facilitate the college, career and citizenship readiness beginning the very first day of kindergarten.  As written in our vision framework, we believe that is it essential to equip learners for their future by providing them a learning environment through a personalized education where students become collaborators, critical and creative thinkers, and communicators. Learners are invested in their own learning path. 

We believe learning goes beyond the four walls of school, into the community and that to best prepare our learners, it is important we create an educational experience to mirror the real world. We believe the development of communication skills through unique community partnerships provides students opportunities to learn transferable skills for college, career, and life readiness. Examples include first graders working with health experts to create a health calendar for the Liberty community (online), second graders creating a butterfly garden from neglected memorial garden in our community, third graders addressing the global water crisis by hosting a silent auction, fourth grader proposing design ideas for an empty building to revitalize Liberty Square, and fifth graders hosting an Empty Bowls evening to raise awareness about hunger in Clay County.

As we navigate through the 21st century, there is an incredible sense of urgency to foster a culture of leaders who will continue developing our complex world. It is our responsibility and obligation to teach students the acquisition process of developing new ideas and redesigning existing ideas. We believe it is essential to empower creativity, equip learners and engage communities. We seek to develop and sustain a dynamic innovative culture for all those part of our EPiC journey. We are preparing learners for jobs not yet created and for an unknown future. If we build on the pillars of P21 skills, we are developing transferable skills that would be helpful in any industry. If we build on the strength of learners, we can help them apply their learning in any situation as they navigate an unknown future. And as we cultivate these skills and confidence within students, they will have the foresight and thought to help transform the world.

Our success as a school is built upon the foundation of engaging key stakeholders, both in and outside the organization, and authentic processes that constructed the components of our building and learning environment. It is essential we continue to include these stakeholders in our conversations and work and share our story freely across all leaders and stakeholder groups.

 “People driven by pursuit that push them on the edges are often not on the periphery, but on the frontier, testing the limits of what it is possible to withstand and discover.” - Sarah Lewis

Equipping Students: Personalized Learning

Equip Students: EPiC provides a learning environment through a personalized education where students become collaborators, critical and creative thinkers, and communicators.

We believe students learn in different ways and at different paces. For so long, in education, we have taught whole groups, small groups, differentiated in a designated RTI time. But what if students could work at their own pace, on their own time, working towards mastery? EPiC students learn through an integrated curriculum at a personalized pace utilizing technology and dynamic teacher instruction.

As part of our vision, we have challenged ourselves to create a learning environment that personalizes the learning process for each student. Through extensive research and observations all across the country, we identified key adaptive technology programs that would support personalized learning:

• Dreambox Math
• IReady Reading and Math
• LexiaCore5 Reading
• Reflex Math

We also looked deeply at project-based learning and how to best cultivate voice and choice. So what does this mean for us as educators? How do we teach 50 different students at their level when they are ready to learn?

Using real-time data to tailor instruction across all content, letting go of teacher control, cultivating creativity and passions--watch and listen to one of our fifth grade teachers reflect on implementing personalization.

Students as Researchers

This past month, Studio 1 and Studio 2 have been busy researching as they both are in process of designing and producing something beautiful for the community. 

 Real Work:

Field research on plants and butterflies

Real Product:

Studio 1: A Plant Field Guide of plants in our Liberty community 

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Studio 2: A designed Butterfly Garden for the Memorial Student Garden 

Real Audience:

The Liberty Community

A Teacher's Perspective on Project-based Learning

Real work. Real audience. Relevant to students.

A huge part of our EPiC journey this year is to deepen our understanding in designing effective project-based learning experiences that engage, challenge, and cultivate the creativity of our students. We want to grow, learn, reflect, and share.

We sat down with our fourth grade team to hear their reflections and musings on project-based learning, technology integration, and collaboration.

Be EPiC Everyday

Google. Dropbox. Netflix. Twitter. Innovative companies that have transformed our culture. Creativity will drive the economics of the future, but where in our current educational system do we actually allow the time and space for creativity? When you walk into a classroom can you see a difference between the 1980’s and today’s classroom?  Are students “dialing down” when they enter school? And if creativity really is the driver of the economy, what skills do our students need to be successful? In the spring of 2013, Liberty Public Schools began exploring these questions and more, resulting in a 20/20 Vision Innovations Team, comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, and board members. 

As we started to seek answers to these questions, we crossed the country and visited highly successful, innovative schools. We tapped into experts, read research and investigated different school models, ultimately discovering effective environments that empowered students to learn. Real tools. Authentic audiences. Projects with meaning. Personalized learning. As our team began to assimilate what we had learned, we posed the questions, “How could we reimagine education for our students in Liberty? How could we step outside the box and incorporate our new learning to create a different kind of school?

"Every Person Inspired to Create, hence the acronym EPiC, was born. EPiC is not just a school, but rather an idea, a philosophy, a journey for every person. So what does that look like in a school? How will we infuse this idea into each and every day? We believe that children learn in different ways and at different paces. Moreover, we also believe it is essential that all our students are engaged at a deep level of learning. And we know that learning becomes real when students are able to take their learning beyond the classroom walls and engage with parents and community experts. 

So then how do we empower and equip students for the evolving, global economy and design a program that is Every Person Inspired to Create? How are we going to make sure students learn the necessary skills to prepare them for life beyond school? 

Curiosity sparks passion and creativity. EPiC re-imagines education by encouraging the in-depth exploration of topics as students participate in the adventures of learning. Our students will apply their new knowledge by creating and exhibiting their own learning to multiple audiences. Daily personalized learning will be the key--students learning at their own level, leveraging the power of quality adaptive technology platforms. Through project-based learning and dynamic teacher instruction, EPiC students will explore real challenges and create solutions and share in front of authentic audiences.  


We are excited to bring to life our vision. 

Come along with us on the journey to Be EPiC Everyday.