Liberty Preparatory School provides individualized learning

Liberty Preparatory School, a nonprofit in Smithville, was founded as an option for area students who do not thrive in a larger school.

“The need for a school like Liberty Prep was realized in 2014, with the goal of increasing student attendance and providing additional, more personalized supports for students to meet both credit and graduation requirements,” Principal Joseph Weisend said.

Weisend said Smithville serves as a centralized location in Wayne County. Additionally, the close proximity to the Wayne County Schools Career Center allows for easy bus transportation from students’ home districts.

“The mission of the school is dedicated to offering students of Wayne County and surrounding communities an individualized education option,” Weisend said. “Liberty Prep encourages a positive environment that allows students the opportunity to achieve their graduation goals and instills a sense of accomplishment that allows them to succeed during their educational years, as well as find success into adulthood.”

The school serves students in ninth grade through 12th grade and is a tuition-free charter school. As such, it can accept students not only from Wayne County, but also from surrounding counties. Within the county, busing is provided by a student’s home district.

What is the enrollment process for Liberty Prep? Generally, a student, along with their family or guardian, will come to the school to meet staff, tour the building and ask questions. The next step is to receive an enrollment packet, which is the same for enrolling in any public school. After returning the packet and other necessary documents, a start date is coordinated.

Enrollment is currently at around 60 students and growing. New students are accepted at any time throughout the year. Instruction is provided for all the core classes, and there is an intervention specialist, a Rise-Up instructor (Career Pathway instruction), and a social and emotional learning coordinator.

Weisend explained the most common reasons a student might make the switch to Liberty Prep.

“The two main reasons,” he said, “are social-emotional and academic. With the social-emotional aspect, a student has the opportunity to take advantage of smaller class sizes, counseling through Anazao Community Partners, and our in-house social and emotional learning coordinator. In the case of academics, students benefit from the aforementioned services, and we also provide additional opportunities for more personalized instruction and credit recovery if needed. In either case students are generally not thriving at their home school, and the switch to Liberty Prep is a positive experience and a benefit to the student.”

The school partners with several area nonprofits and guest teachers to provide a variety of activities and programs. Wayne Center for the Arts comes to Liberty Prep twice each week with a focus on arts activities such as painting, drawing and ceramics. They also incorporate art history and theory.

WooShakes, a youth Shakespeare theater company based in Wooster, is a new program for the school this year. After being introduced to the Shakespearean theater group, a Liberty Prep student participated in a recent WooShakes production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Guest teachers include the Ruling Our Experiences program, a girls group aimed at providing positive social support. There also is a guest teacher for Rise-Up, which is a career technical course aimed at retail and customer service. By the end of the course, Liberty Prep’s juniors and seniors will be awarded an industry credential and a certificate in both of those areas.

Liberty Prep is currently looking for a volunteer for an Esports coordinator. Anyone interested is invited to call or email Weisend at 330-669-0055 or jweisend@edempowerment.com.

For more information find the school online at www.libertyprepedu.org, on Instagram at liberty_prep and Facebook at www.facebook.com/libertyprep.

Weisend extended his gratitude to the Liberty Prep Board and the treasurer.

“They volunteer their time to make sure that we can provide the best possible experience for our students,” he said.