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We applied widely across CPS last fall. Since December, we moved to a district with a strong neighborhood school that we are excited to attend. We surprisingly received an offer to Hawthorne last week, and are touring tomorrow. I hear wonderful things about the school, and I have no doubt it’s a great community, but I am struggling to see what they offer over our neighborhood school (pros – more diversity, cons – not walkable to school/friends). Also, it seems their classes are very large. 60-65 kids per grade (so 30+ kids per class). Can any Hawthorne parents share their experience? Has anyone chosen Hawthorne over a great neighborhood school? Why?
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@MP We chose a neighborhood school over the parochial school we were previously attending, and then Hawthorne over the neighborhood school, and are now moving to an area with an even stronger neighborhood school so these are issues our family has thought about for awhile.
The teachers at Hawthorne are exceptional and the educational programs are very strong for a non-selective elementary school.
The class sizes are large (~62 kids) but are also frequently split into 3 groups of 20 for instruction. In practice this works very well with the middle grades and above, but at the Kindergarten and 1st grade level we definitely wondered if smaller class sizes would be better.
You are right to highlight one of the main drawbacks of the whole CPS lottery / testing process though. Not being able to walk to/from school and fluidly coordinate with other neighborhood kids is a drawback of the magnet and selective enrollment schools. We’ve developed friendships and connections at Hawthorne pretty well but during the brief period at our neighborhood school those connections came very quickly and naturally. We’re happy with our decision to be at Hawthorne for the last few years and next decade but if I were in-neighborhood for, say, Coonley or Alcott, I don’t know that I would make the same choice. I wouldn’t want to dissuade your from attending Hawthorne because it is a great school and I’m sure we’d love to have you in the community, but I hope that helps.
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Thank you for your response! I did the tour yesterday and wanted to provide my feedback for any other parents who might be debating their offers.
I was really impressed with the school. There are two K homerooms of 31 students each, but each has a FT aid, and they share another FT aid, so they said five adults to 62 students in K. First-second grade have three homerooms of ~22 students. Grades 3-5 is two homerooms of 30+ students, but 3.5 hours per day are breakout math / reading with groups of ~20. They seem incredibility well staffed for a school of their size. The current principal and AP are very dynamic. They described the school as “academically rigorous.” They said early grades have an age appropriate amount of homework, but that middle school, they do not shy away from it.
The drawbacks for us continue to be that it is not walkable (about two miles away). Also, the hours are challenging. They are 8:45-3:45, and they said only 30 students across the entire school participate in after-care. We both work, and I just don’t see the logistics of Hawthorne working out for us.
I ended up liking the school much more than I expected going into the tour. It seems like a very special place. I suspect we will end up choosing our strong neighborhood option, but it will not be an easy decision.
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