Liberty Ranch High School Profile
Liberty Ranch High School is located in Sacramento County, just outside the northeast boundary of Galt, California. It serves both a rural and suburban population and was built in response to overcrowding at its sister school, Galt High School, when a building boom began in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Liberty Ranch High School opened on August 18th, 2009 with an initial student population of 589 students; 345 9th graders and 244 10th graders. We curently have a student population of 877; 322 9th graders, 341 10th grders, and 214 11th graders. We anticipate approximately 1150 students will be enrolled in all four grade levels for the 2011-2012 school year. This number may fluctuate as we complete the regular Intra-District Application process and with students able to tansfer from our sister school, Galt High School, because of their Program Improvement status. The students enrolling in Liberty Ranch come from four different feeder schools from four different districts. These students come from a varied background, from living on farms and dairies, to federally subsidized housing, to homes ranging into a price range well above 500K and reflect the surrounding areas diversity. Thirty-nine percent of our students receive either a free or reduced lunch.
Until the recent downturn in the economy, Galt was a growing bedroom community with many of its population traveling to Sacramento, Lodi, or Stockton for employment. The city of Galt was founded in 1869, and while the area economy has been primarily based on agriculture, there has been increased economic expansion. During the last ten years the employment picture has been brightening with increased job opportunities in manufacturing, construction, and retail.
The campus of Liberty Ranch High School was proposed in an area of increasing home construction and rising student population. With the world-wide recession, home construction in the area halted and the school is currently surrounded on three sides with farmland. A person traveling one block to the west will enter a suburban community, while that same person heading east would encounter a rural area of crop farming and dairies. Though faced with declining enrollment, the Galt Joint Union High School made the decision to honor its promise to the community by opening Liberty Ranch High School on August 18th of 2009 with 589 students; 345 9th graders and 244 10th graders.
Students enrolling in Galt Joint Union High School District as freshmen enter from one of four feeder schools from four different districts; Arcohe, New Hope, McCaffrey, and Oak View. With the district adopted school attendance boundaries, Liberty Ranch High School draws from Arcohe, New Hope, and McCaffrey, but students from Oak View may request an instra-district transfer. The school follows a traditional school year calendar and currently serves students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades with a additional 9th grade class added until in the 2011-2012 school year when we will have all four grade levels. With the current transportation rules, the majority of our students walk or receive transportation from family and/or friends. Students who attended Arcohe and New Hope receive bus transportation.
Classes and programs are offered at Liberty Ranch High School to address the needs of our diverse student population, including but not limited to, the following:
- The Liberty Ranch High School student population includes a substantial number of Special Education students; currently 79 served are in Resource and Special Day Class settings. The majority of special education students are mainstreamed for some or all of their core and elective classes.
- Liberty Ranch High School’s student population includes 46 English Learner students, mainly Spanish speakers, who require supported curriculum and English Language Development classes.
- There are many advanced and GATE students who are offered honors and AP courses to meet their needs for a rigorous and challenging curriculum beyond the standard college-prep classes. The District also employs a GATE Coordinator to facilitate additional support for GATE students. Liberty Ranch High School also offers a variety of Visual and Performing Arts electives. LRHS is represented on the District GATE Committee to help develop programs to meet the needs of GATE students beyond AP/Honors offerings.
- Teachers have accepted the challenge of addressing the needs of students, who fall in the middle, by improving their achievement through increased attention to standards-based instruction and assessment. Liberty Ranch High School has started an AVID program to encourage students to work towards college enrollment after high school. AVID will provide tutoring, study skills practice, field trips to colleges, and encouragement for students with no family history of college enrollment.
- Students performing at a basic or below level in academic core areas have urgent needs for additional support to increase their skills and raise their level of performance. There are many support systems in place which include:
- For Special Education students: Algebra 1 two-year programs, helping the student meet the state algebra requirement (Algebra 1A and 1B), and Intensive English Support.
- Algebra 1 support classes (for incoming 9th graders and repeaters)
- English Intensive Support classes with Board Adopted intervention materials (Edges-Hampton Brown)
- English Strategic Support classes for students in the core program who require additional support (6th-8th grade level)
- After school tutoring in English and Mathematics
Liberty Ranch High School operates a modified, traditional year calendar with 180 days of instruction and a 6 period day. This year, after completing negotiations and faced with state budget a cut, the calendar was reduced by two instructional days. There is a Collaboration Early Release Day every Wednesday. The instructional minutes for school year 2010-2011 are 65,353 minutes.