I attended the Thomson AYP meeting last night at Thomson and I was impressed with how it went. About 100 parents attended the meeting along with Superintendent Dr. James Marini, Assistent Superintendent Kevin Hutchinson, Thomson Principal Gregg Gilligan, and School Committee members Christine Allen, Chris Nobile and Barbara Whidden.

The purpose of the night was to answer questions from the community and Dr. Marini and Mr. Hutchinson did a great job. The tenor of the meeting was good. There were no emotional outbursts... it was a very constructive gathering. I have a great impression of the new Principal Gregg Gilligan.

The major points that I got out of the meeting (and others who attended may comment) are:

1. A huge effort to bring 'consistency of programming' across the schools. I think this was the main theme of the night... to have a 'North Andover elementary school' education mean the same thing no matter what elementary school the students attend.


2. More cross-school communication and analysis... to have better metrics on how things are going across the district.


3. The new social worker had two major roles:
   - Work with students 'not ready to learn' when they get to school to help them change that situation
   - Work with teachers for better classroom management... how to allow teachers to be as effective as they can be


4. Tutoring and assistance will be provided (math and English are focus) to students desiring it including some volunteer retired teachers coming in


5. A major emphasis on communications, using the web site more or whatever makes sense


6. Implementing "differentiated instruction" to make sure that all students are challenged at all levels. This was a major theme of Principal Gregg Gilligan when addressing a concern that the focus may be on students having academic difficulties and not on those students who are thriving.

The emphasis was more on improving the overall district rather than 'how can we fix Thomson'. The administration seems to have the 'big picture' in mind and is looking to work with the School Committee to put things in place to make sure accountability exists and progress will be made.

Again, I was impressed with the quality of the meeting and with the administration that attended. I was also impressed with the continued strong community spirit at Thomson where people have a 'how can we help' attitude that makes me proud to have my children at that school.