FORT COLLINS, CO —Liberty Common School, a charter-public school in the Poudre School District, has been awarded a competitive grant under Great Schools Colorado administered by the Colorado League of Charter Schools to support continued development of its standalone junior-high facility serving grades 7–8. “Phase One” of the facility, which includes the school’s main classrooms, opened in August 2025 at 1825 Sharp Point Dr., in Fort Collins.
“Phase Two” has been under construction since then and will increase the building’s current size by approximately 200% to include a gymnasium, locker rooms, lunchroom, academic labs, special-education spaces, and physical-education rooms. All improvements will be completed by August 2026 in time for the new school year.
The grant award helps Liberty Common School continue providing Northern Colorado families, regardless of background, free access to one of Poudre School District’s highest-achieving k-12 institutions.
“Liberty students owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Steve Durham, Member of the Colorado State Board of Education, for his fierce advocacy and commitment to our school’s mission and vision. His personal advocacy was instrumental in LCS students and families obtaining these funds. The efforts resulted in a huge investment toward our Poudre School District mission of serving more families with high-quality options,” said Bob Schaffer, Headmaster of Liberty Common School.
The grant arrives at a pivotal moment in the school’s growth planning. In 2022, Liberty’s Board of Directors moved to expand elementary-classroom seats by approximately 65% by leasing a second elementary facility in southwest Fort Collins. After three years as tenants, the school purchased the property in December 2024.
To accommodate growing student enrollment generated by the second campus (LCS’s “Aristotle” campus), the school also purchased new property to house its expanding junior-high population adjacent to its first elementary campus (Plato Campus) on Sharp Point Drive.
Grant funds will be used to purchase furniture, band instruments, curriculum materials, computers, art materials, science-lab equipment, 3D printers, audio-visual equipment, IT equipment, special-education equipment, and other durable goods for the new facility.
$1,799,689 (74%) of this project is funded by the federal CSP grant passed through Great Schools Colorado with a total project cost of $2,426,852.
Liberty Common School is a tuition-free, charter-public school utilizing the Core Knowledge Curriculum in grades k-8 leading into a classically oriented, college-preparatory high school. Admission is by lottery. All children of Colorado residents are eligible to attend and there is no admissions-testing requirement. The expansion project has allowed more students in the the Poudre School District to come off the school’s lottery waiting list and enroll.
About Great Schools Colorado
Great Schools Colorado is a federally funded Charter School Program (CSP) administered by the Colorado League of Charter Schools under federal grant award S282A240003. The program provides competitive subgrants to support the growth, expansion, or replication of high-quality public-charter schools across Colorado. Learn more at www.greatschoolscolorado.org.
About Liberty Common School
Liberty Common School is a tuition-free, charter-public, classically oriented school of the Poudre School District located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Its curriculum is grounded in the Core Knowledge Sequence with a strong emphasis on character education, Liberty Common School consistently ranks among the top-performing schools in the region, state, and nation.