EFMP Latest Update

Close to 200 residents who attended a special Hawthorn Board of Education meeting this week were presented with two options to help address enrollment capacity issues in District 73’s schools and provide upgraded facilities for the future of education at Hawthorn.

Both options call for constructing a kindergarten center onto the Sullivan Center, bringing the early childhood program back to the Hawthorn campus, purchasing 11 acres of land across from Elementary School South, and building facilities so students can explore the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

The Hawthorn Core Team, which spent thousands of hours researching solutions to space constraints, recommends an option that would include the construction of a new elementary school, adding additions to all the schools for STEM, building a wing onto the Sullivan Center for kindergarten, and building additions to schools where additional space is needed for PE classes, music and art programs.

According to Consulting Demographer John D. Kasarda, Ph.D., Hawthorn shows an increased enrollment by as much as 500 students in the next five years. Hawthorn has been experiencing space capacity challenges in its school buildings for several years resulting in specials programs being taught in mobile classrooms, on a movable cart, and in the cafeteria and hallways.

At 7 p.m. Monday, December 12, District Office, 841 West End Ct, Vernon Hills, the Board is expected to discuss the options further and anticipates making a decision on one of the options.

Detailed renderings of the facilities options can be found on the Educational Facilities Master Plan website page. En Español