These are my anecdotal observations of changing demographics at McCarthy-Towne.

I have been actively involved for 17 years in the McCarthy-Towne community since my eldest child entered kindergarten in 1989. Over the years I have been a parent volunteer in the classroom, PTSO vice-chair and chairperson each for two years, substitute teacher, and, since 2001, Parent Involvement and Community Outreach Coordinator. I work with families before they enter the Acton schools by coordinating the kindergarten tour season at McCarthy-Towne; while they are part of the McCarthy-Towne community as the coordinator of parent volunteering; and even sometimes, after they leave McCarthy-Towne, arranging Senior Community Service Day at the Parker Damon Building.

The demographics of McCarthy-Towne students and families have changed as Acton and America has changed. My eldest child went through seven years of elementary school when every child at his grade level was Caucasian, everyone seemed to speak English as their first language and come from a Judeo-Christian background, most families looked like traditional two-parent mother and father families, and many (though not all) mothers were home during the day.

Today, more families have both or the only parent working outside the home. This can make it more difficult for those parents to volunteer, especially during the school day. But those parents DO continue to volunteer. They volunteer in the evenings and on weekends, and often rearrange their work schedules to help in the classroom and go on field trips.

More families look different from the traditional mother and father model. There are more single parent families, more families with both parents of the same gender, more families with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins as part of the household, more blended families with step-parents and step-siblings. These families are also involved in volunteering at McCarthy-Towne.

Economically, the extremes in families’ incomes seem to be larger. Activity and supply costs can be more of a struggle for some of our families. Our school and PTSO try to remain sensitive to this, and to make all parts of the school experience equally accessible to all our families. More frequently, some families do not have a car available to a parent who would like to volunteer, or to transport a child to or from an activity outside of school hours. I have tried to connect families who can help each other with transportation to allow these activities.

McCarthy-Towne has also changed as Acton has changed culturally. More families are recent immigrants to America. Parents, and sometimes the students, come here from Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Europe. They come with their cultures, and enrich the school community by sharing them. Some parents, and also some students, have not mastered English. But we are fortunate to have members of our community staff, parents and students who have volunteered to help us communicate with families and students in Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Hindi, and Tamil.

The one thing that has not changed over the years is the most important demographic: the emphasis on the importance of education to our families. Students are at McCarthy-Towne (and all the other Acton schools) because parents choose to live in Acton sometimes at great sacrifice for the best possible education for their children. Because they value education and support the work of our school in many different ways, our community is filled with successful learners.