NORTH ANDOVER — The Thomson Elementary School has been under the watchful eye of the school district for some time because it has the lowest MCAS scores of the town's five elementary schools.
Now, the federal government is also noticing.
School officials will learn in August whether Thomson has met its improvement goals for MCAS scores for the 2007-2008 school year. If not, parents will be given a choice of sending their children to another school in town.
"I can't say at this point whether we will make it or not. We don't know," Assistant Superintendent Kevin Hutchinson said. "If we find out we did not, we have to be ready to offer choices to parents."
Thomson is one of two schools in North Andover that receive federal Title 1 funding, which is given to schools that have a certain number of low-income students. Twenty-one percent of the students at Thomson last year were considered low income. Atkinson Elementary School also receives Title 1 funding.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind act, the government decided how much each school needs to improve its state standardized math and English language arts test scores every year to have all students reach a proficient level by 2014. Schools that are performing well already have to make minor improvements, but the threshold for lower performing schools is much higher.
"If you are lower performing, you have to make so much more improvement each year," Hutchinson said.
Thomson did not meet its improvement goals for the 2006-2007 school year in English language arts. If a school receiving Title 1 funds does not meet its improvement goals two years in a row, the district must choose at least two other schools in the district where students can choose to go.
Hutchinson said it's unusual for students to leave en masse when parents are offered school choice, and he doesn't expect that too many students would leave Thomson.
School officials say some parents might want to keep their kids in the neighborhood or keep them at a school where they have grown up. And Hutchinson said because of the Title 1 funding Thomson receives, there is more support for students.
The school had a phonics word study reading program this year that went over so well that it will be extended to other elementary schools in the district. More math and reading tutors are also available at the school.
Thomson will be the only school in the district to have a six-week summer school program for 50 students whom teachers said would benefit from some extra help before entering the next grade. Teachers will also get more time for professional development, a chance to meet and look at how students are learning and what more can be done.
"Those teachers are so committed to those kids," Hutchinson said.
Thomson will also have a new principal when school reopens in the fall. With the retirement of John McAleer, Gregg Gilligan was moved to the school to serve as interim principal. He had been an assistant principal at the high school.
Gilligan said he is hopeful that Thomson's test scores do meet improvement goals, but he is working with Hutchinson to determine what else the school needs once he takes over on Tuesday. He said in addition to more math and English tutors, the school will switch the teaching model in the fifth grade so that one teacher will teach English, another math, and another social studies, similar to the way it is done at the middle school and high school.
If students do choose to leave Thomson, school officials said, the effects could include higher busing costs for students that go to a school that is more than two miles from their home and possible overcrowding, since all of the elementary schools are currently at capacity.
Parents at Thomson have to be given the choice of at least two schools their children can attend, and their children will be allowed to stay there until the end of fifth grade if they choose. The students who are the lowest-performing and from low-income families will have priority, but all students that request a transfer from Thomson will get one.
Laurie Burzlaff has a daughter at the school going into third grade and said she does not plan to move her, whether or not the school reaches its improvement goals.
Burzlaff, co-president of the Parent Teacher Organization, said MCAS scores are not the only way to judge whether students are learning. She has seen many things happening at the school that make her feel comfortable leaving her daughter there, including Gilligan coming on board as the new principal.
"I think it is a great school," she said. "I think we are moving in the right direction."
The district will find out in mid-August if the school has hit its improvement goals, giving the district two weeks to shuffle classes and bus schedules if needed. Hutchinson said parents will be notified by mail and will have a chance to ask questions at a public meeting if parents are going to be given the option of school choice.
Even if the school meets the improvement goals, administrators understand there is work to be done.
"Whether we meet the (improvement goal) or not, we are going to give additional support to Thomson," Hutchinson said.
