School News: District 73 2013-14 Calendar Approved; Teacher Earns Board Certification

Jennifer Harris Earns National Board Certification

Congratulations to Jennifer Harris, an 8th grade science teacher at Hawthorn Middle North, for earning National Board Certification. Ms. Harris underwent a rigorous certification process, which included compiling detailed portfolios of classroom activities as well as completing a variety of detailed examinations. Congratulations on achieving this prestigious certification!

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2013-14 Calendar Approved

The Hawthorn Board of Education has approved the 2013-14 school calendar. The first day of attendance will be Wednesday, Aug. 21. The tentative last day of school (if no snow/emergency days are used) will be Tuesday, June 3. Winter Break is scheduled to begin December 23 and run through January 3. Next year’s Spring Break is planned for the week of March 24, 2014.

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Hawthorn Students Shine (Again) at Lake County Attendance Awards

The Hawthorn community is fortunate that our families make school attendance a priority. Proof of that is evident during each year’s Lake County Attendance Week Awards, sponsored by the Regional Office of Education’s Attendance & Truancy Division. To make the attendance award determination, Lake County reviews attendance data for a particular week in October. This year, six of our schools chose to participate—and all placed in the top ten for their school size. In fact, Hawthorn schools routinely average 97 percent (or higher) attendance rates, all without special incentives beyond teacher expectations that if students are healthy, they should be in school.

Hawthorn was represented by the following schools for the Jan.11 luncheon at the College of Lake County: School of Dual Language (8th place for small elementary schools), Townline (5th place for medium elementary schools), Middle South (6th place for medium elementary schools), Middle North (7th place for medium elementary schools), Aspen (10th place for medium elementary schools, and Elementary South (3rd place for large elementary schools). Thank you to our community for continuing to put high importance on education!

—Hawthorn District 73 provided this information.