Hawthorne Early Learning Center

Thriving in Kindergarten Join us for strategies to help your child transition to Kindergarten.

Join us today for our community event. It will take place from 4:30 to 6:00 PM at Hawthorne School.

We will have food and shaved ice for sale. Please bring money to make purchases.

Come join the fun and say goodbye to Hawthorne!

Le invitamos a nuestro evento comunitario hoy en la escuela Hawthorne, de 4:30 a 6:00 pm. Tendremos comida y raspados disponibles para comprar. Ven con nosotros para divertirse y decir adiós a Hawthorne.

Mrs. Cara Coppens-Clark holds Tuesday and Thursday morning classes for her PALs students. With the help of Mrs. Laramie and their amazing support staff, Melissa Fairbotham and Janelle Owens, this group of students has grown tremendously throughout the school year. 💙

Mrs. Cara is looking forward to seeing her students return in August bigger, stronger, and reenergized! For now, she has one more morning session this Thursday and wishes her students a fun and exciting summer ahead! ☀️

Ms. Natalie’s PALs class meets every Thursday afternoon, where speech therapy comes to life through play, learning, and communication growth! 💙 With the help of her amazing SLPAs, Izzy and Bridget, students have made incredible progress this year.

As the 2025–2026 school year comes to a close, Ms. Natalie is sad to say goodbye but grateful for the opportunity to be both their Speech Therapist and Classroom Teacher.

Goodbye class, hello summer! ☀️

STARBUCKS ☕️ and SUNNIES 😎 DAY in Title I Preschool!

A huge thank you to Ms. Hana for treating us to Starbucks drinks and to Ms. Amy for bringing sunglasses for everyone! Our preschoolers had so much fun celebrating the last week of school refreshed and in style!

Last Wednesday, May 6th, we celebrated National Nurses Day, and this past Monday the HELC front office staff proudly honored Nurse John McClure by wearing scrubs in recognition of his many years of dedication and service. 💙

After nearly 30 years with Elkhart Community Schools, Nurse John is preparing to retire, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, hard work, laughter, and care. He began his journey with the district on August 19, 1996, and throughout the years he wore many hats, quite literally! From his unforgettable scrub and hat collections to the kindness and support he showed students and staff each day, Nurse John made a lasting impact on everyone around him.

While we will certainly miss seeing him walk the halls, sharing smiles, and brightening our days, we are so excited for him as he begins this well deserved new chapter. Now is the time for John to enjoy the fruits of all his hard work and dedication.

We just hope he does not get into too much trouble with his wife Brenda. So Brenda, if you happen to read this, just know that John has a doctor’s note stating he cannot mow the front lawn indefinitely. What he can do is watch the neighbors mow theirs and finally catch up on all of his newspaper reading. 😂

Thank you, Nurse John, for your years of service, your caring heart, and the joy you brought to HELC and Elkhart Community Schools. We wish you a retirement filled with happiness, relaxation, good health, and endless adventures. You have truly earned it!

Our Title I Pre-K students had an unforgettable visit from the Elkhart Parks & Recreation team! Our preschoolers had the opportunity to meet a frog, salamander, turtles, and even a toad up close! The excitement on their faces said it all. To make the day even more fun, some of our students dressed up in adorable animal costumes while they listened, explored, learned, and even gently petted some of the animals. The kids absolutely loved it… and so did we!!