From the Headmaster–Summer Facilities Update

Hello Liberty Families,

The last month has been an exceptionally busy one at Liberty!  I like to say that our school is "20 years young" but has grown at a very steady pace, especially in the last 8 years. That said, we continue to adapt to the growth we've experienced. As the saying goes, with any type of growth there are often growing pains, including but not limited to expanded facility needs. A school of our size and maturity needs its own space in order to continue to be financially self-sustaining, and this is more apparent now than ever given that we are facing rising rent costs in our leased space at St. Pius. This facility expansion effort is not to promote growth for growth's sake, it is to ensure a healthy and secure future for all Liberty families, present and future.

On that note, today I am thrilled to announce that we have secured enough funds to get started on our Phase II expansion at our Hugo Campus! In addition, we have good prospects, especially through some large foundations, for additional funding in the near future. This means that if all continues to go as planned, Liberty seniors will graduate from a new facility on the Hugo Campus as soon as the class of 2026!

In addition to progress with funding, in the last few weeks, our Phase II plan has earned unanimous approval from the Hugo Planning Commission and the Hugo City Council. We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will gain approval from May Township and Brown's Creek Watershed District. We are grateful for the guidance from our builder and talented team of architects and engineers who have shepherded us through the various state and local agencies to bring us so close to breaking ground!

On another note, I want to address a question we are hearing from our Liberty community, which is, "Why the 20 million dollar price tag for Phase II is so high?" This is largely due to the fact that much of the spending in this phase goes to infrastructure on the 80+ acre property at large. Examples of this are complete site grading, drainage and storm water management, septic systems, and traffic and circulation planning which requires extensive entrance drives and parking on our property, but also turn lanes and road modifications on the surrounding roadways. All these things are very costly in the near term, but on the bright side, also give us a logistical and financial head start for future phases.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, and I look forward to keeping everyone updated on the progress of Phase II as it transpires.

Mrs. Rebekah Hagstrom, M.A.
Founder and Headmaster, Liberty Classical Academy