Liberty-Benton

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

2024-2025 Kindergarten Registration

With the start of school just around the corner, we wanted to share the new traffic flow maps to ensure a safe drop-off and pick-up of students!

MS-HS Pickup

ES Pickup

Report tips on bullying, harassment, drugs, weapons, 

thoughts of suicide, or any other concern.

LBHS Alumni Veterans/Active Duty Military and Family Member Veterans of current students
The Liberty-Benton High School Action Team "Support Our Soldiers" is looking to collect names of currently living veterans of the military or those who are actively serving in the military.

Liberty-Benton District Policy 

Liberty-Benton Elementary and Middle School have been honored as Ohio Department of Education Purple Star Schools for the 2023-2024 for their outstanding contributions to students and families in the armed service.  They join Liberty-Benton High School who already earned Purple Star honors.  Elementary Principal Brian Burkett and Middle School Principal Kyle Leatherman will be recognized by the Ohio School Board Association at the Northwest Regional Fall Conference in Fostoria, Ohio on October 26 for this honor.  Both schools can proudly display the Purple Star logo on their respective websites.

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

When it is February in Ohio, it can seem like winter will never end.  Fortunately for us, for the first time in two years, Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow so hopefully we will have an early spring.  In the meantime, there’s been lots of exciting things happening at school. For example:

The demolition process of our old prek-8 building has begun.  All of the portable classrooms have been removed.  A portion of the far west side of the 1959 has also been partially removed.   As we say goodbye to our old building, we have thoughtfully preserved our proud heritage in a number of ways.

Bricks from our beloved old school will be available for Liberty-Benton families after February 12, 2024.  The bricks will be located in the front parking lot of the 1921 building on Route 12.  

February 5-9, is Counselor Appreciation week.  We are thankful for the care and support our team of counselors provides to our students and staff.  Thank you, Mrs. Gazette, Mrs. Pickett, Mrs. Herr, and Mrs. Rath, for all you do for our students, parents, and teaching staff.

February 15^th is also Student Resource Officer Appreciation Day.  Deputy Brandon Kendrick has served as our SRO since the 20-21 school year.   Thank you Deputy Kendrick for your service to the district.

Keep your eyes peeled for the 2022-2023 Liberty-Benton Quality Profile.  The Quality Profile captures the achievements and highlights from the previous school year. These should hit mailboxes later on this month.   The winter newsletter should reach mailboxes in early March.

Friendly reminder that we have used four of our five calamity days for the school year. After our fifth calamity day, we will switch to remote learning.

Fly Higher!

 

Bruce Otley

Superintendent

 

The new year is a time for reflecting on the accomplishments of 2023, and is also a time of great excitement for what 2024 will bring. The 2023-2024 school year has certainly been special.  As a community we celebrated the opening of our new prek-8, and we will soon be saying goodbye to our old facilities on State Route 12.  To preserve the heritage of our old campus for future generations of eagles, several measures have been taken.  

I am proud of the accomplishments of our students, staff, performing arts programs, and athletic teams and can’t wait to see what future accomplishments we will achieve together in 2024!  

Happy New Year!  

Bruce Otley

Superintendent