Catherine M. Thompson

Catherine M. Thompson

Catherine M. Thompson, EdS, is the principal of Marco Forster Middle School, located in San Juan Capistrano, California. She specializes in the implementation of professional learning communities (PLC) and is a passionate advocate for meeting the diverse learning needs of every student. Catherine has been a part of leading two schools to Model PLC at Work® status. With a wealth of experience as a science teacher, instructional coach, and secondary school principal, she has the ability to ignite a drive for learning, leadership, and continuous improvement among the teams she serves.

At the heart of Catherine’s mission is her dedication to cultivating professional learning communities that drive educational excellence for all students. She has successfully led the PLC process at multiple schools as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in both northern and southern California. She has also served as a site administrator at two schools recognized as Model PLC at Work institutions, most recently as principal of Marco Forster Middle School, Spanish dual-immersion and Title 1, in the Capistrano Unified School District. She is a strategic thinker, adept at developing systems that enhance faculty effectiveness, ultimately leading to elevated levels of student learning.

Catherine specializes in building site leadership capacity and ensuring learning for all through the implementation of the PLC process. Her hands-on instructional approach includes working with teachers and administrators to create a guaranteed and viable curriculum, develop and refine common formative assessments, establish systems for analyzing data to evaluate instructional practices, and respond to student learning. She is especially passionate about conducting this work in schools targeted for improvement.

Catherine earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in science education, a master’s degree in leadership and educational administration, and an education specialist certification in leadership and educational administration.

PLC at Work^®

PLC at Work® experts have proven success in leading the PLC at Work process in a school or district. Work with them to implement a focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and create a results orientation that leads to sustained, substantive school improvement.

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Presentations by Catherine M. Thompson

• PLC at Work® Overview
• Understanding and Living the Four Critical Questions
• Leadership and PLC at Work®
• Developing a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
• Create, Refine, and Update Common Formative Assessments
• Data Organization and Analysis
• Using Data to Improve Instruction
• Responding When Some Students Don’t Learn