Support our school and join the excitement of the Hawthorne Elementary PTA Silent Auction! Bidding opens on April 30 at 5:00 PM and closes on May 3 at 5:00 PM. This fun community event features a wide variety of items and experiences—there’s something for everyone! Every bid helps fund important programs, events, and resources that enrich our students’ learning and school experience. Don’t miss your chance to score something special while supporting Hawthorne! Click here for the link.

Dear Hawthorne Families,

Online registration for the 2026-27 school year is now open for all returning students.

To get started, simply head to the District website and click on the <Enrollment> link in the top right corner, then select <Register Returning Student>.

A few helpful tips:
Deadline: Please complete your registration by Monday, May 11.
One-Stop Shop: If you have children in different schools and need to drop off paperwork, you only need to visit one location. Bring all paperwork to the school of your oldest child, and the documents will get to the correct buildings!

If you run into any trouble or have questions, give our front office a call at 630-682-2065. We’re happy to help!

Thank you,
Holly Zimmer, Principal

Hawthorne Elementary is excited to welcome spring with our first school flower sale! Brighten your home or find the perfect gift just in time for Mother’s Day. We realize the ordering process was difficult so Windy Acres attempted to fix this. Click through the PayPal link and choose to pay with credit card instead. Pickup will be conveniently held at Hawthorne on May 7 from 3:00PM-4:00PM. Don’t miss out on these beautiful blooms! Order yours here!

Hawthorne School has much to celebrate this year. Three of our outstanding staff members were nominated for the prestigious 2026 DuPage County Educator of the Year Award at the annual DuPage County Awards Banquet, a recognition of the remarkable difference our staff make in the lives of students every single day. 

Mrs. Liskovec was nominated and a finalist in the Elementary Educator category, recognized for her dedication to nurturing young learners in her second grade classroom. Mrs. Krischel and Mrs. Malcolm, a finalist, were nominated in the Educational Support category-a testament to the vital, behind-the-scenes work that speech language pathologists and school nurses provide to ensure every child can thrive.

Together, these three individuals exemplify the spirit of Hawthorne School, a community where every student is seen, supported, and set up for success. We are incredibly proud to have their contributions recognized at the county level.

Please join us in congratulating Briana, Amy, and Brooke on this well-deserved honor. Hawthorne is lucky to have you!

On behalf of our kindergarten team and students, Ms. Austin and Mrs. Hodel want to sincerely thank our generous PTA for the opportunity to make our ideas come to life through the PTA Grant Program at Hawthorne.

The PTA grant funded a dramatic play center for our kindergarten classrooms, beginning with a farmer’s market setup. This space quickly became a hub for creativity and learning. Students engaged in authentic literacy activities by making signs, writing sales flyers, and labeling different foods. They took on roles such as shoppers, market employees, and cashiers, using imagination to bring the space to life. Through play, students practiced sorting, organizing, problem solving, often working together to decide responsibilities and create materials for the center. One memorable moment was a student debate about if the market should carry donuts or not! (Yes, it should!) ML students had meaningful language opportunities with their English speaking peers. Some reluctant writers were motivated to write the names of different foods, sounding each letter out, when it was time to help the whole class get the market set up! 

This dramatic play center has had a powerful impact by blending creativity with early academic skills in a way that is both joyful and developmentally appropriate. We are looking forward to changing out the themes in the future to enhance our science and social studies units and also make meaningful connections to our literacy curriculum.

We are incredibly grateful to the PTA for making this experience possible. Your support has created a welcoming learning environment where students can explore, collaborate, and grow through play!

Sincerely,

Tracy Austin and Ginny Hodel

Big things are happening at Hawthorne this summer! We are excited to announce that construction of an additional classroom will begin in the library this summer! This addition will allow us to consistently offer two-sections of classes for each grade, while continuing to support our special education programming. 

Maintaining a consistent location for these programs offers stability for our district, reduces transitions and supports a more structured learning environment for our students. This new classroom will ensure we have the capacity and spaces to accommodate the instructional model and special education programming long term. 

This project guarantees we have the necessary capacity to support our instructional model for years to come. We look forward to sharing progress updates with you throughout the summer!

As we near the end of the 2025-26 school year and prepare for the next school year, CUSD 200 wants to remind families about upcoming fees that will be posted in PushCoin Accounts on May 4.

-Registration fees for new and returning students who have completed registration for the 2026-27 school year
-All Day Kindergarten Tuition Deposit for the 2026-27 school year
-2026-27 Senior Graduation Cap & Gown fee
-Heart Rate Strap Monitor fee for incoming 2026-27 sixth graders
-2026-27 TCD Registration fee

Please click the links below for a detailed list of fees for the 2026-27 school year:

2026-27 Fee Schedule

2026-27 High School Course Fee Schedule

We are thrilled to share that Hawthorne parent Molly Hall has been nominated for the City of Wheaton Good Citizens Award and it's easy to see why. Over the past five-plus years, Molly has poured her heart into this school community in ways that have touched every single one of us.

You know Molly. She's the one covering lunch supervision, cheering on our custodian, chatting with secretaries by name, and making every teacher feel seen before the school day even gets going. That warmth is just who she is.

Three years ago, Molly built the Hawthorne Variety Show from scratch. Today it features participation from every classroom — students performing piano, original dances, science experiments, scooter riding, and more. Every child who wants to be part of the show finds a place, whether in the spotlight or behind the scenes. Each year, Molly caps it off with a celebratory pizza party for the entire cast and crew.

Beyond the Variety Show, Molly has organized memorable assemblies including the Dancing Drum experience, a reptile show, and a poetry night- bringing wonder and creativity into our students' days.

Not a single hour of this work has been paid. Molly does it because she loves children and believes Wheaton is a better place when its youngest residents feel celebrated. We couldn't agree more.

Molly's nomination will be recognized at the Wheaton City Council meeting on Monday, May 18, 2026. We hope you'll join us in celebrating her!

Students at Hawthorne Elementary School are always learning and growing. One of the things we pride ourselves on at Hawthorne is the work we do to ensure students understand, demonstrate, and reinforce schoolwide expectations. At Hawthorne, students learn about the Hawthorne Way during the first week of school with Mrs. Zimmer. During the year, we work to reinforce the things we learn about the Hawthorne Way.

The Happy Heart Award is a recognition ticket given to students who go above and beyond to demonstrate the Hawthorne Way during the school day. Students who earn this will receive a ticket with their name on it, the staff member who recognized them, and the reason they were recognized. The recognition portion will go home to celebrate with family.

Congratulations to this week's Happy Heart Award drawing winners!