Below is a summary of the School Improvement Plan for 2011-2012 as presented by the McCarthy-Towne School Council.

Goal #1

Explore ways in which McT can celebrate its unique qualities in a school-choice community. We will:

Ensure that McT's values are supported and remain the foundation of the school's programs;
Enhance and continue communication of McT values and strengths to the school community, including families and students, the APS District, the Administration, and to the greater Acton community.
Underscore the critical importance of the integration of the visual arts into the classroom curriculum.

Goal #2

Focus on advancing the mathematical concepts and skills of the students at McT. The faculty will:

Continue grade level discussions and study to refine and increase the understanding of the level of student concept/skill mastery and how these are assessed.
Participate in professional development in order to improve instruction and support curriculum.
Integrate personnel and resources recently made available by the APS into mathematics instruction and curriculum.

Goal #3

To incorporate and integrate the District's Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy into McCarthy-Towne's current policy regarding behavior. We will continue to:

Take a pro-active, educational approach to creating a positive social environment that fosters respect and compassion for all.
Train the faculty and staff in the methods and philosophies of the Responsive Classroom social curriculum using peer-to-peer coaching, in-house and off-site workshops.

Goal #4

McCarthy-Towne teachers will examine literacy components across the grades and across the curriculum to develop more cohesive instructional strategies to support teaching and learning. The goal is to also encourage collaboration among and between the grade levels in the context of the Fountas & Pinnell leveled books. To this end, we will:

Use the 2011 Professional Day to further the understanding and use of formative assessment in informing instruction.
Continue to explore the use and application of a variety of benchmark literacy assessments across the grade levels.
Continue to do item analysis from MCAS results at appropriate grade levels and between sending and receiving teachers.
Expand the use of the resources provided by the greatly increased capacity of the Leveled Library to now serve the Upper Elementary grades 3-6.