NORTH ANDOVER — There is a lot riding on the outcome, yet school leaders will not learn whether the Thomson School has met its latest round of MCAS improvement goals until the last week of August — a week before school starts.
If the underperforming elementary school does not make its adequate yearly progress (AYP) for the 2007-2008 year, parents will have the choice of sending their children to another school in town.
J.C. Considine, spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said districts will be notified of whether they met their improvement goals around Aug. 26.
"We don't know how we did or when we'll find out," Superintendent James Marini said. "We hope we met the goals. ... We're just waiting for the information to come forward so we can inform parents."
Marini said whether the school did well or not, new Principal Greg Gilligan has curriculum changes in the works for the building that sits on Waverly Road.
"We already have a plan for the Thomson School for the next year," he said. "We're not waiting on that."
The School Committee will meet tomorrow night at 7 at North Andover High School, where Marini and other officials will discuss what steps are being made to improve scores at Thomson.
Thomson has had the lowest MCAS scores of the town's five elementary schools.
The school did not meet its improvement goals for the 2006-2007 year in English language arts. Under the No Child Left Behind law, if a school receiving Title 1 funding does not meet its improvement goals for two years in a row, the district must select at least two other schools where students can choose to go.
Officials say they don't expect students to leave en masse if school choice is offered. If that did happen, it could lead to a last minute shuffling of bus schedules and classes, with the risk of overcrowding in other schools.
Hear about Thomson School improvements
What: North Andover School Committee
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: North Andover High School, 430 Osgood St.
