Principal Named For New Hawthorn School For Young Learners

VERNON HILLS, IL —A Buffalo Grove resident has been named the new principal at the Hawthorn School for Young Learners, which is currently under construction in Vernon Hills, school officials said. Jill Martin, who is currently the principal at Hawthorn Elementary South in Vernon Hills, will take on her new role at the kindergarten building at the end of the school year, according to a news release from Hawthorn School District 73.

District 73 Superintendent Pete Hanningan said Martin built a tradition of excellence at Hawthorn Elementary South that helped it earn a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School designation.

"She has exhibited high expectations and commitment to the success of every child," Martin said. "We look forward to her bringing her extensive experience and leadership to our new kindergarten building, which will open in 2020."

Martin has served as the principal of Hawthorn Elementary South, a kindergarten to fifth grade school serving 700 students, for the past 15 years. Her focus has been on providing masterful learning activities in which students explore and deeply engage with content in a joyful and exciting manner, according to the news release.

She led the school through the year=round process of becoming a Blue Ribbon School and she also played a key role in the founding of the Key to 73. Prior to serving at Hawthorn Elementary South, she was an assistant principal at Westmore Elementary School in Villa Park School District 45.

She was also an elementary school teacher in that district.

Hawthorn School District 73 is a preschool through eight grade public school district serving more than 4,200 students. It serves all or portions of the communities of Vernon Hills, Mundelein, Libertyville, Indian Creek and unincorporated areas of Lake County.