Students, teachers, and even administrators are always comparing Liberty High School to other high schools (especially Issaquah and Skyline) in things such as test scores, sports, and even the overall quality of the school. This needs to stop. Why do we always have to say, “Well, at Issaquah and Skyline…,” instead of being happy with the way Liberty is, and the accomplishments we have made? We need to stop feeling second to Issaquah and Skyline, and feeling like they are better than us, because in reality, they are not.

One of the biggest comparisons is made over test scores. People say Issaquah and Skyline always score much higher than Liberty, but that is not true. We score very close to both schools on many things. For example, according to usnews.com, at Issaquah High School 96% of the students are proficient in reading, compared to 95% at Liberty. Liberty even has a higher College Readiness Index than Skyline, with 43.6% compared to 33.5%.

While Skyline might be able to beat us at football and Issaquah at Track and Field, Liberty is an extremely successful school overall in athletics. In the last few years alone, we have had many Patriots place at the State level, and sometimes win, individually and as a team in sports like Boys’ Swim and Dive, Girls’ Swim and Dive, Wrestling, Cross Country, Track and Field and even Girls’ Soccer.

Issaquah and Skyline are both considered overall nicer schools then Liberty, but that is not necessarily true. Liberty has a better student to teacher ratio than both Issaquah and Skyline with a 24:1 compared to 25:1 for both other schools. With Liberty’s (almost complete) remodel, the school is looking better than ever and in my opinion looks nicer then Skyline. It is not far behind Issaquah (which looks like a college-campus) either.

While Issaquah and Skyline might offer more Advanced Placement courses, students are not even able to take as many classes as Liberty students can at one time. Liberty also offers more electives than the other two schools. Due to Liberty’s block schedule system, students can actually take advantage of the larger selection of classes and electives. Plus, with less periods per day, periods are longer, allowing for more work to be done per class than at Issaquah or Skyline.

While Issaquah and Skyline are better than us at some things, we are right up there with them for most. Let’s stop trying to be like them, and start focusing on all of the accomplishments Liberty has made, academically and athletically.