MacArthur Middle School

700 North Schoenbeck Road * Prospect Heights, Illinois 60070
Phone (847) 870-3679 Fax (847) 870-3881

The students and staff of MacArthur Middle School are a warm and caring family.  We all work hard to provide a safe, trusting environment where children come first.  Through the formation of a partnership with students, staff, parents and the community, we know we have created an environment that recognizes the uniqueness of early adolescents and fosters a climate that expects success for everyone.  Our excellence is reflected in our staff's teaching and learning, our students' progress and achievements, student pride in their school, and the support of strong learning communities.  All students succeed and all students grow.

MacArthur's strong academic core program includes mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, and reading.  Although academic rigor is a primary function at MacArthur, we realize the importance of the middle level student’s developmental, social/emotional and physical needs.  To this end an exploratory program augments the core program to promote a well-rounded educational experience that includes physical education, health, art, music, home arts, foreign language, computer education, multi-cultural, life skills, and industrial technology.  In addition, elective courses such as vocal and instrumental music, drama, history through the arts, computer animation, healthy living, mythology, careers in arts, and many other classes, offer our students the opportunity to discover potential interests and talents all based and supportive of our academic core curriculum.

To support our philosophy that “ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN”, special support services such as Reading Lab, LEP (Limited English Proficiency), TPI (Transitional Program of Instruction), gifted/talented, and special education ensure that each child has the opportunity to perform to his/her highest potential.  Our Response to Intervention (RtI) Program helps to ensure that students who may be at risk do not fall through the cracks.

Our students' and staffs’ hard work is recognized with results that are above the national and state averages on standardized tests scores.  MacArthur is proud of it’s Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) status as indicated on our state report card for our Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) results which means at least 85 percent of our students meet or exceed state standards in all areas tested.

MacArthur also offers a wide variety of co-curricular activities to enhance the students' total school experience.  We offer five interscholastic sports in cross-country, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and track.  Students are also able to enjoy twelve intramural sports.  In addition, we offer several musical performance groups, student senate, yearbook, and many more club activities.  Having many choices of clubs and activities encourages our students to be involved.  Students are encouraged to “be a part, by taking part”.  In fact, over 90% of our student body participates in at least one school related activity. Many of our students also take part in local park district programs, local athletic/community organizations, scouting and religious based organizations.

At MacArthur, mutual respect among teachers, students, staff, and the community foster a positive school climate.  Pride in the building is exemplified by the care students give and feel for the physical environment.  Walking through the building, one can see first hand that students work cooperatively and enthusiastically. Numerous community groups use our facilities, and parental and community involvement in the school is extensive. 

New students, staff, and visitors are welcomed into a safe, comfortable, and supportive environment.  Through our communication and cooperation with parents, our parent representative groups and community organizations, our school discipline policies are reviewed and implemented to help ensure the caring, safe and positive learning environment that is created for all students to grow and learn.  Our MacArthur family currently includes 520 students in grades 6-8 who reside in the portions of Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights, Wheeling, and Mount Prospect.  Approximately 45 percent of the pupils live in Arlington Heights with the balance residing in the other three villages, encompassing an area of approximately 7.5 square miles in Wheeling Township within northern Cook County.  Three elementary schools and MacArthur Middle School, which make up District #23, serve a community of more than 6,000 families.

Though we serve an 85% Caucasian population, the additional 15% crosses over many ethnic groups, making the student population rich with diversity.  The annual bilingual census indicates a student population that represents over 30 different language backgrounds.  The demographics show a low mobility rate (5%) and an even more minimal low-income group (3%).  We boast a consistent 97% teacher attendance rate, a 94% student attendance rate and a non-existent truancy rate.  Our school has traditionally been characterized as a comfortable, safe, and a warm place to be, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, religion, or previous school experiences.  All students are an integral part of the MacArthur family and have access to a comprehensive educational program.

Students graduating from MacArthur enroll in either John Hersey or Wheeling High School, both of which are in High School District 214.  William Rainey Harper Community College also serves citizens in District 23.

At the end of each year, we at MacArthur look at our children with pride and a sense of accomplishment.  We have given our students responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges.  In spite of a rapidly changing and sometimes chaotic world in which we live, we are confident that all our students are equipped with a good foundation of skills and values to help them find happiness and success in the future.

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Our curriculum maps reflect the district mission of promoting excellence in its teaching and its instructional programs.  We provide a quality education that requires a continual process of development and renewal.  The planning process model in District #23 has four basic components: curriculum development, in-service training, program evaluation and communication

1. Teaching, the Illinois Learning Standards and Curriculum Development

School District #23 made a major commitment several years ago to investigate all curricular content areas.  Committees for each of the disciplines made sure that our goals and objectives were aligned with those of the state.  In addition, we reviewed our local assessments to make sure we were reliably and validly measuring our students.

Our learning community focuses on state and local learning standards as a foundation for curriculum and instruction.  Committees are convened, and they completed their tasks by reviewing all basic curricular content areas and scrutinize them relative to the Illinois Learning Standards.  Curriculum review is an ongoing function in District #23 as our staff maps out the curriculum on a regular basis and articulates it within each grade, across grade levels and across the district.  The standards are looked at relative to their more global goals.  We then look at our content and match our goals with state goals and our objectives with the learning standards.  We make modifications as needed, create benchmarks, and are beginning to encourage the use of rubrics to measure the achievement of standards.  Local assessments are reviewed for utility and functionality.  The overall process affords us the opportunity to evaluate all facets of our programs and to make positive plans for the future.

2. Staff Development

Part of our school improvement plan and our curriculum-planning model reflects the need for continual growth of educators.  We feel that learning on the part of staff is one of the greatest resources we can provide.  In order to meet the goals of the plan, teacher competency and growth is expected and directed.  Towards this end, we have instituted the position of “staff developer” at each school.  Their functions include keeping abreast of current practices and sharing them with our staff.  These techniques and curricula are reflections of the State of Illinois Learning Standards and what is considered “best practice”.

Staff Developers routinely meet with administrators and curriculum personnel to guarantee that the practices we espouse are current and relevant to our population.  Curriculum committees consistently meet with this group as well.  In addition, our MacArthur administrators periodically meet with administrators from other local schools.  This keeps our practices in perspective, allows us to seek input and advice from other professionals, assures that we are in line with what our neighbors are accomplishing, and allows us to further showcase our best practices to an even larger community area.

District 23 supports its staff by providing opportunities for collaboration.  Two daily class periods of common planning time, release time for committees, cross-district meetings, and institute days allow for meetings among grade level teams, subject matter teams, mentoring and peer coaching.

Teacher articulation facilitates smooth transitions for students.  Sixth grade teachers meet with fifth grade teachers to ease the move from elementary to middle school.  Fifth grade students become familiar with middle school by attending a variety of introductory programs.  Eighth grade teachers meet with key high school staff to determine individual student placement.

MacArthur Middle School strongly encourages its staff members to pursue “life-long” learning.  All certified staff continually participate in seminars, workshops, and in-service training.  More than half of our teachers have advanced degrees and several have received or are actively working on doctorates.  We encourage further education and demonstrate this through a reimbursement program.  Also, community members are often invited into the school to support our learning activities.  They are also invited to seminars on various topics relevant to the middle school child, such as parenting, homework and motivation.  Teachers incorporate collaborative teaching and learning practices within the school day.  Cooperative learning and study groups are important components of the classroom. 

3. Program Evaluation

The third component of our curriculum-planning model is program evaluation.  Student data is another valuable resource that we make available to staff.  Our focus is on determining whether our children are learning.  Pupil assessments and program evaluations are used for the ultimate purposes of improvement of all instruction and all student learning.  Using this data is one component that drives our curricular decisions.

Members of MacArthur's staff routinely look at data generated by the district relative to student performance.  District personnel, as well as our building administrators and counselors, scrutinize the data, not only as reflections of our successes but as a tool to further improve instruction.  In addition to ISAT’s, our district access individual student growth through Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests and our local high school placement tests.  All test information is looked at, not only for overall performance comparisons, but also as diagnostic tools to direct any changes in educational practices.  Finally, overall student performance is reviewed quarterly.  Any student found in need of support will receive assistance from our vast array of support services through our school’s related services programs, Problem Solving Teams and RtI program.

4. Communication

Another important component of teaching and learning is communication.  By keeping staff, parents and community informed of our “best practices” as well as our concerns, positive growth and change can take place.  Each grade level and the exploratory staff have team facilitators who meet regularly to share information among teams.  The forum also serves as a mechanism of professional growth.  In addition, we meet as a total staff on a regular basis, a minimum of two times a month for staff development information and/or training.  Quarterly, cross-district meetings allow us to articulate with the elementary staff.  We share with parents’ bi-monthly, with our school publication of Mac Memos.  (Located on our web site)  This gives parents information about upcoming school activities while highlighting student accomplishments.  We have a district newsletter and periodic district newspapers.  We promote ongoing communication through our Homework On-Line, MacArthur Information Line and our MacArthur Web Site.  Parents now have access to their child’s grades and attendance, in real time, 24/7, via our Parent Access Portal.

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At MacArthur Middle School we are current with regard to the infusion of technology into the classroom.  Our commitment to this goal is evidenced by the fact that we not only have a district Technology Coordinator, but each school, including MacArthur, has a building expert on staff.  In addition, each grade level has a staff person designated as the “go to” person when it comes to technology questions.  This is all in addition to the technology education teaching staff and curricula.  This includes the computer teacher and the technology instructors.  We recently have added the position of Technology Facilitator, who helps bring innovative technology to MacArthur, provides in-service as needed and helps to trouble-shoot when necessary.  We teach Technology Education at each grade level in a variety of settings, both though direct instruction and as a tool and strategy in the educational process.

Each classroom is equipped with a television set, a VCR and at least one computer.  Technology drops are available for future student stations.  All rooms are connected to the Internet either through “hard wire” or “wirelessly” and are internally connected for communication purposes. 

We, in addition to our instructional computer lab, have two more computer labs for adjunct teaching stations and student use within our Media Center.  Finally, each grade level has access to a mobile wireless computer cart housing about 25 computers.  All students, therefore, are computer literate and have accessibility to computer technology as a resource.  Teachers, as a routine part of their annual goals are encouraged to enhance their computer literacy and use technology within their lessons.  This further demonstrates our commitment to solidifying the use of technology in the classroom.

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All staff has been trained in a variety of teaching and learning strategies.  These strategies support student learning by addressing the cognitive, social/emotional and physical developmental needs of our students.  Cooperative learning elements and engaged learning strategies are used to promote student learning.  Middle school students are regularly engaged in “hands-on” learning activities.  It is not the mere acquisition of knowledge that is important but the application of knowledge so students can develop and use the skills they have learned long after they leave MacArthur.

Though the curriculum is well established and as we move students from the elementary school mode to the high school mode, the staff are given adequate freedom to deliver the content within a wide parameter of acceptability.  Teachers are directed to expand their instructional methodology with supplemental materials and a range of teaching strategies that reflect the needs of all children and their individual teaching styles.  This allows for enough curricular latitude to allow staff to bring their own interests, skills, and experiences into the classroom.  Further, staff routinely allow for student input into the process.  This takes into account the various interests, talents, learning styles, and needs of the student population.  As stated above, engaged and cooperative learning allow the student to chart the direction of inquiry.  Socratic teaching methods in class are frequently questioning the students as to impact and relevance of the information at hand.  We at MacArthur firmly believe that if students see the curriculum as “real life” and of significance, they are more receptive and successful learners. 

All students have other avenues of input into the learning process and environment.  We have an active student senate and students routinely present concerns to teachers and administration.  As a recent example, sixth grade students were surveyed as to drug use and safety in the schools.  The results are being used to modify existing drug and violence education programs at our school.  Another group of eighth graders were assembled to provide input to a visitation team in our school, to assess our overall drug and safe schools programs.

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Developmental Needs

MacArthur Middle School is a learning organization that establishes high expectations and demonstrates that all learners can succeed.  As expressed by our Mission Statement:

MacArthur Middle School recognizes the uniqueness of early adolescents and is dedicated to providing a supportive and caring environment that meets their intellectual, physical, social and emotional needs through a partnership of the students, staff, parents, and community.

We are aware that students at this age are going through some major developmental transitions and growth.  Change is a “constant” factor.  We must, therefore, address the ongoing developmental issues as well as the transition times.  We invoke all resources and all community constituencies in our efforts of meeting the students' needs at this time.  Classes such as Advisory, and Health address the “growing up” issues as well as provide vital information on drugs and violence.  We teach to the social, physical and emotional needs of all the students.

Advisories are an important part of MacArthur's vision and promote the middle school philosophy and culture.  It is a home base where it is comfortable to talk about friendship, values, current events and personal problems.  Advisories, consisting of a teacher and approximately 15 students, meet on a daily basis.  Advisories reflect and develop the school's mission. 

Through our Advisory classes service projects foster individual and community involvement as students realize we have a duty to serve others; that service is a life-long commitment by everyone to everyone, and that the students are valuable resources to their community and fellow man.  Students have participated in the following service projects over the years: Math-A-Thon for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Charitable Cheers for Make-A-Wish Foundation, Bear Necessities, Giving Tree and Warming Tree for Salvation Army and WINGS, Tall Friends, tutoring for the local community, Preservation Partners to restore Lake County forest preserves, Jump Rope for Heart for the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society “Relay for Life”, pop tabs collections to save the rain forest, Canned Food Drive for the Prospect Heights Food Pantry, and Tapes for Tots/Toys for Tots, story and music tapes for children in local hospitals. All this adds to our caring environment and setting the example that as individuals we can make a difference in our world.

Fifth to sixth grade transition is aided by the inclusion of fifth graders in many important end of the year events at MacArthur such as the viewing our play, and the art and music shows.  We invite the 5th grade over to MacArthur near the end of the school year, for a tour and question and answer session with key personnel and our current 6th grade students.  In addition, time is provided for fifth and sixth grade teachers to articulate about individual students.  Special education students receive guided and personalized tours of the building and meet staff before school is out.  This practice allays fears that tend to grow over the summer for them.

Grade levels are arranged in clusters.  Sixth, seventh and eight graders have all their classes together in adjoining wings of the building.  Currently, sixth and seventh grade have two separate teams.  This allows for more unity and cohesiveness among the students as they progress through the year.  In this format, a student may have as few as two basic teachers and no more than four.  Advisories and thematic units are geared to allow students to easily transition to middle school and begin to sense a feeling of belonging and security.  Eighth grade has a single team and stress more independence and planning for the high school and beyond.

High school transition is further assisted in a variety of ways.  Students have career opportunities within the school and at the local high schools and the community college.  Guest speakers are brought in from the community and the high school to provide vital information to all students.  Counselors from the high school meet with students and with teachers to plan for the following year.  Every effort is made to assist students at critical times of their lives using sound developmentally based research results.

Extensions of the Core Academic Program

MacArthur Middle School has a wide variety of content experiences in the core academic classes, elective activities, exploratory experiences and/or co-curricular programs for all its students. 

One of the goals of content experiences is to show relevancy to the students.  This goal is accomplished through integrated and thematic units.  These activities connect several content areas with a singular, all encompassing theme.  This multi-disciplinary approach supports the application of acquired knowledge.  As examples, the sixth grade teams engage social studies, reading, language arts, art, and physical education through the teaching of an ancient history thematic unit.  While social studies classes study the history of Greece and Rome, reading and language arts classes study mythology and write myths.  Our multi-cultural program designs Greek masks and performs Greek drama.  In addition, our art instructor leads art instruction and focuses on the artistic aspects of Greek and Roman history.  Activities culminate in a simulated Greek Olympics through advisory and physical education classes.

We constantly strive to make connections across the content areas through interdisciplinary team planning and teaching.  Seventh grade students’ may work on an interdisciplinary unit dealing with the ocean.  In language arts students research topics connected with oceans, using both conventional research materials as well as the Internet.  Students prepare a written paper and may develop a Power Point presentation.  Science and math concentrate on construction of life size models of ocean creatures, as literary circles read novels with an ocean related themes.

Eighth grade students, in conjunction with the Illinois State requirement for the United States Constitution, may read the novel “Johnny Tremain”.  Language arts classes write about the philosophies concerned with the Revolutionary War and the writing of the Declaration of Independence.  Music classes view the musical “1776”; science classes study inventions and discoveries made during the colonial time period.  As a culminating activity a guest speaker arranges “hands-on” projects dealing with colonial life and presents a living representation as one of George Washington's followers.

One of the main goals of the elective activities and classes is to provide alternate avenues for success and achievement.  This goal, we feel, is accomplished without question through the extensive variety of the offerings themselves.  The activities and experiences are all logical extensions of our curriculum and thus promote further progress toward the Illinois Learning Standards.  Elective classes encourage students to explore different facets of education, which are not readily available in the content curriculum.  Elective choices have included classes such as Shakespeare and drama, exploration of the arts, band, orchestra, chorus, newspaper writing, science fiction, astronomy, rocket science and the stock market.

Exploratory classes are offered on a rotating basis, thereby allowing students to develop interests and skills in classes such as computer education, technology, home economics, art, music, music history, multicultural class, foreign language, and life skills.  Extra-curricular activities and clubs include Ecology, Yearbook, Newspaper, Video Club, Creativity Club, Art and a wide variety of sports intramurals.  The diverse range of clubs and activities ensure success for any student, regardless of academic ability.

Other co-curricular activities promote and deliver quality competition and skill building for interested students.  Our athletic teams routinely do well locally.  In addition we have had tremendous success in our athletics program, most notably track and field and cross-country, at the state level. As a member of the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) we compete in several athletic events.  Collectively, our cross-country teams have won 20 state championships in the last two decades!  We have had countless individual champions as well.  Our wrestling team has won many regional and sectional championships and has placed several wrestlers in the IESA State Tournament.  Our performing groups, chorus, band and orchestra are well known and have won acclaim all over the state.  Our art and drama talent continues to grow and receive local and stat recognition.

Diverse Learners

MacArthur provides an environment where the children are challenged, encouraged to be creative and take “risks”, and feel successful at the same time.  Many programs are offered by the district to enable students to work to their potential. MacArthur teachers ensure that all instruction is appropriate to students of all learning styles and levels of development.

Our gifted program allows children to go beyond the classroom experience. Although the gifted experience is taught within the regular education classroom, the staff, through differentiation of instruction, can help extend the educational experience for those students in the Gifted/Talented program.  For example, students have the opportunity to participate in the Mathcounts, a national competition.

The Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) is specialized instruction for students with English as a second language.  Students are given Language Arts and Reading instruction by certified staff members until the students ability in Reading and Writing are strong enough to be supported in the regular education classroom.

Special Education classes are offered for students with behavior disorders and learning disabilities.  This program is offered within the building and at each grade level.  These students are mainstreamed into the core classrooms as teachers meet on a daily basis to discuss progress and modify curriculum when necessary.  Often times these classes are co-taught with a regular education teacher and a special education teacher working collaboratively to ensure the best educational experience for the student.

Partners Assisting Learning in Schools (PALS) is a program designed to give after-school help to those students wishing to strengthen their skills.  Each student is paired with a community volunteer.  Teachers prepare a weekly account of each student's progress and needs. 

Teachers of all subjects use a variety of activities to meet the unique and diverse needs of the adolescent learner.  Our school community ensures that all students receive assistance, whether or not they are formally identified as needing extra support.

Assessment Results

We are school that makes decisions on curriculum, programs and procedures based on data collected from several resources.  A variety of assessment programs are used to support the continuous development of all students.  These include the Illinois State Academic Testing program (ISAT’s), which affords us the opportunity to look at scores diagnostically for individuals and for the program.  Locally developed assessments are used in the areas of writing, social studies, math, science and reading.  An Accelerated Reader program is used to both assess and enhance reading development.

Diagnostic specialists through the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO) and our certified staff evaluate students’ demonstrating special needs.  Special education services are available to all diagnosed students.  Conversely, we practice mainstreaming and inclusion where appropriate.

Students at all levels of academic development have the opportunity to earn recognition for improvement and achievement.  We have a gold and a silver honor roll, which acknowledges grade point averages above a “B”. 

Our Honor Society applauds all students who have maintained the highest level of academic achievement throughout the year.  In a culminating yearly event, over 200 students are inducted into the society!  Our school is filled with opportunities to allow students to grow academically and socially and become successful.

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School Culture

Our mission statement at MacArthur Middle School emphasizes the need for a partnership of students, staff, parents and community.  This collaboration is a vital part of our school culture.  The life experiences brought about by our diverse student and staff cultures all support the school and foster a caring environment.  Student learning, school and district improvements are enhanced by including staff, students, families, business, and civic organizations in the decision making process.  It also follows that utilizing all the above in the child's learning, strengthens the moral character of the student while optimizing the learning process.  Also, MacArthur has utilized a variety of other resources in assessing the climate, culture, and needs of the school.  We use research and objective evaluation in our determination.

We are performing both informal and formal needs assessments continually.  As stated previously, each of our programs has personnel that assist the program by providing the principal with formative information on student and programmatic needs.  At the end of the school year, data is assembled and analyzed, generating new program needs and leading to program modifications as required.  In-service/staff development in subsequent years reflects needs as determined in this annual review process.

Leadership

MacArthur Middle School recognizes in its mission the uniqueness of its position in the life of a child.  It is this vision that guides us to promote learning by collaborating with family, students and community members, to identify needs and interests, and mobilize community resources to achieve our goals.  We assume a leadership role in the commission of our duties and in helping us move toward our vision and mission.

As we strive to attain our goals and move our organization towards a shared vision, we continue to implement our school improvement plan.  The learning conditions, including curriculum, instructional materials, teacher knowledge, skills and assessments are aligned in accordance with the Illinois Learning Standards.  We sustain a school culture that is conducive to student learning by having a site based staff development program, which provides the opportunity for teachers to make decisions affecting the instructional program.  We further look to assessments to direct our leadership.

Leadership trickles down to the teacher level as well.  Grade level and subject teams provide input for a variety of areas, including curriculum, scheduling, personnel and facilities.  For example, teacher teams participate in the interview process of new personnel.  Also, staff decisions have determined specific building design during construction.  Daily input through common planning time help to organize for classroom instruction and generate modifications for individual students.

Partnerships

MacArthur encourages and provides opportunities for all learning organization partners to participate in the decision making process. Business and civic organizations enhance student learning by providing speakers, awards, volunteers and resources that affect student programs.  Several groups contribute to MacArthur's success.  As an example, Prospect Heights Police Department officers teach thematic classes to students that are relevant at each age: gang awareness, substance abuse, and accountability.

Student teachers enrich our school by bringing new ideas and youthful exuberance to the classroom.  We fully support the observations, participation and student teachers from Loyola, National-Louis, Northeastern, Illinois State, Northern Illinois University and Roosevelt in recent years.

Business, community and family support enables MacArthur to provide a well-rounded, balanced program.  We firmly believe in the need for this type of joint effort.  We will continue to seek out and promote these relationships.  We are truly a partnership with a common goal: the success of our children.

Family involvement

We continually seek to identify and respond to problems in meeting learning targets and communicating in new ways with students, parents, and our community.

The staff works with families to support learning at home by communicating student progress through open house, bimonthly progress reports, mid-quarter evaluations, fall and spring parent/teacher conferences, and frequent phone calls facilitated by telephones in every classroom.  Our summer reading program is one example of how we bring together this very important home/school partnership and involve the family in the educational process.

District 23 has a School Improvement Plan (SIP) that is developed, reviewed and updated yearly.  In addition, we create yearly goals, which become part of our Five Year Plan.  As part of our SIP we have, an active parent/community group that meet monthly over lunch.  Our “Brown Bag” lunch meetings, serves as an information and sharing vehicle for all the current practices and activities at MacArthur.

Teacher/Professional Communities

Our staff works in a collaborative environment that supports teaching and learning.  Our staff works in multiple-disciplinary teams that meet regularly and share common planning periods.  We have several standing committees that assist the administration in many aspects of planning, staff development and the governance of our building.  Our school belongs to many educational organizations.  Support as provided by these professional groups is a valuable resource.  We are proud to be part of The National Middle School Organization (NMSA), the Association of Illinois Middle Schools (AIMS), Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA), and the Illinois Grade School Music Association (IGMSA).  Our administration are members of the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) and the Association for School Curriculum and Development (ASCD). 

We are members of other local, state and national organizations that represent all segments of our population, such as special education, gifted, TPI, teacher education, administration, and pupil personnel services.  In addition, staff members join their individual discipline organizations through another liberal dues paying program at the district level.  Staff members not only belong but also actively participate by presenting at state and national functions.  Staff members have received awards in the areas of athletics, music, safe schools, career education, and ecology.

Professional development is an ongoing process.  MacArthur has a wonderful blend of new and seasoned teachers.  As a result, we have the opportunity to share the best of tried and true practices with newer, more research based approaches.  Also, by encouraging the community to participate in our schools, it allows us to use them as a resource.  Finally, we have an extensive professional library consisting of classic and current books, research, and periodicals, all of which are evaluated and revised routinely.  This is accomplished in order to have our resource center become optimally beneficial to all students and staff alike.

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The primary goal and purpose of our school is to serve the needs of our students in the best possible way.  Teachers, parents, administration and the community, all play an important role in defining these needs and developing goals to meet them.  The MacArthur Middle School family has initiated and followed through with the challenges and demands of middle school.  This approach requires more time and dedication to meet the unique characteristics of the middle school child, but the benefits have far outweighed any obstacles.  Our success can be attributed to the strong commitment the staff, parents, and the community have made to each other.

The students and staff of MacArthur are cohesive.  We work hard to provide a safe, trusting environment where children come first.  Through the formation of a partnership with students, staff, parents and the community, we believe we have created an environment that recognizes the uniqueness of early adolescents and fosters a climate of success for everyone.  Our success is due to Mac's innovative teaching strategies, student directed achievement activities, and positive learning communities.