Leadership interview with Irian Flores, Hawthorn School

What I love about my job at Hawthorn School is knowing that I am serving students and families, and knowing that I'm able to bring something into the life of others and into their education that will be in them forever. I'm passionate about working in education, meeting other people and developing relationships, and then seeing the students flourish as adults.

A typical day for me at Hawthorn School starts early in the morning, getting ready to greet families at the side door, welcoming the students, and greeting my teachers. That's a great way to start. Then we go into scheduling the day, which is usually based on whatever events we have at the school already on the calendar. At Hawthorn School, we celebrate many things, so for sure, every week, there's something. There's a ‘BYOC,’ so ‘bring your own coffee’ session that I guide every month. We try to do it early in the morning so that parents can join us and listen to the talk and parents can talk too.

A current Grade 11 student at Hawthorn School mentioned she is very much in awe of all the things that we do, the programs, the curriculum, the academics, and the character development component that has made her solid, and given her the foundational knowledge and skills to face life with a better perspective.

Hawthorn School is a very special place, and our turnover is minimal. Some of our teachers have been here for over 20 years.

I entered single-sex education twelve years ago, and I have to be honest, in the beginning, there were many things that I did not understand. As I started studying the benefits of single-sex education, I have come to appreciate and understand and know how good it is and how beneficial it is for the development of the students. We can all agree that we all are individual people, we learn at different paces, and girls and boys are different. That fact has made me understand the scientific foundation of single-sex education and its benefits in helping the students develop even more when they graduate from high school.

Students that exemplify Hawthorn School values are good examples, they care for others, and they are of service, bringing their will and spirit into that service to better serve the community and the world. Those are great examples of how our girls live those Hawthorn School virtues and values. I can say that many of our alumni have been able to help wherever they are in many different ways.

We have a few alumni students that have brought their children to Hawthorn School. It's few, because they're still younger, but a few of them have stayed close to the school, and would do whatever it takes to bring them back to Hawthorn School.

Hawthorn School is not just about the students but also the family. At Hawthorn School, we don't accept a student; we accept a family. That's key because one of our foundational components of Hawthorn School recognizes parents as primary educators of their children.

Families that are drawn to Hawthorn School are families that value and care for the holistic education of their children, but most importantly, their character development. A strong aspect of our education is providing our families with their children's skills to not be afraid to speak the truth, to change the world, and stand for what they believe in

Hawthorn School students are assigned a mentor that will guide them into setting goals as they grow to determine how they can improve. They are assigned a mentor in Kindergarten, but at that age, the mentor is not speaking with the student, but with the parents.

The parents have to be part of their children's education. Children spend most of their time with their parents. School is ten months in the year, but most of their time is spent with their parents. The parents who come to Hawthorn School know that they will have an important role in their children's education and that we have to work together in bringing them up.

I don't think there would be a student that wouldn't excel at Hawthorn School, and I will tell you why. At Hawthorn School, we are very much into each person. We know that each person has talents, and we try to work with them so that they can make good use of their talents and overcome any challenges.

Hawthorn School has a culture of caring and loving nature. We have a very tight community, and we try to bring a family atmosphere to the school. The second you walk into Hawthorn School, you feel like you're part of a family. Very often, people who visit the school feel like they are at home, and when they say that, we are like, ‘we nailed it. We've done our job to make that comfortable atmosphere at the school and that service culture. Our culture at Hawthorn School is one where everyone knows that we're here to serve and help each other grow, and live by it.

Hawthorn School staff have been there for so long. They remain at Hawthorn School because they feel they're part of a community that will do its best to work with them and provide that nurturing atmosphere that we need to help children grow.

The relationship between Hawthorn School, parents, and administration is close one. We know communication is key to developing relationships. Parents feel very comfortable reaching out to the school either for help, or to give constructive feedback. Any comments are welcome. At Hawthorn School, we do have open-door communication At Hawthorn, communication is very open, and we do try to nurture communication among the parents, the teachers, and the administration. We try our best to provide the information that parents require.

A key aspect of the Hawthorn School education is the character development. To help our students overcome their conflicts, we try to talk to them and make them realize the importance of overcoming their differences and agreeing to disagree. We do not all have to think the same way, but we have to respect each other. In our character development component, whenever there's a conflict among the students, we try to approach it from the mentor perspective. The mentor will bring the students away to help them realize that the first thing there has to be is respect for the other student, and then if necessary, they need to apologize for whatever difference there was. If it's escalating to other things, we have to communicate and work it out with the parents. We would for sure inform the parents and make them part of the decision regarding what is happening, and we will ask them to speak with their children to determine the next steps into whatever the conflict has brought.

If Hawthorn School was personified, she would be a loving and joyful person who cares for others. She would always be respectful and try to listen first so that she can try to educate others or share the truth.

Hawthorn School plays a service role, and we get along very well with the city. One of the service projects on our calendar is visits to senior residences. For example, our students will go visit them once a month and bring some music or cards and some joy to them Another way we serve in our relationship with the city is to care for our environment and surroundings If there's a trip to the outside, we make sure it's clean, we're not polluting, and leave the space nicer than before.

Some of Hawthorn School’s upper school students go and cook for the homeless, and over the year, we have four main generosity projects. Our students collect food for the food banks. We have a mother-baby generosity project that collects goods for institutions that protect mothers and their babies who might not have enough resources to provide for them. Additionally, we have another project at Hawthorn School called ‘Footprints in the Snow,’ which is a project in which we help our students collect goods such as coats, socks, and warm food to bring to the homeless during the wintertime. At times, we also collect things to send abroad to schools in dire need of school supplies. We collect paper, pencils, and money to buy all the supplies and ship them to schools in countries like Venezuela and Africa by Christmas time.