Hawthorne Elementary School

Hawthorne Elementary School is a PK–5 neighborhood school in Lorain, Ohio, serving 218 students — the smallest enrollment among the six Lorain City elementary schools in this comparison set — and it operates inside a district that ranks near the bottom of Ohio's 773 districts.

Two things stand out positively. First, attendance: Hawthorne's chronic absenteeism rate is 40.6%, the third-lowest of eleven comparison schools and far below the district average of 56.5%. The school has cut that rate by 16.3 points since 2021-22, more than double the district's own improvement, and now beats the district by 15.9 points. Second, early academics: 75% of third graders were proficient in English language arts in 2025-26 — the highest third-grade ELA result of any school in the comparison set and nearly 12 points above the state average. Third-grade math (45.8%) is likewise the best among the Lorain City peers and more than double the district rate. For context, Stevan Dohanos Elementary School has better attendance but a lower statewide ranking, while Toni Wofford Morrison Elementary School ranks higher academically despite much larger classes.

The weaknesses are just as specific. Fifth-grade math proficiency is 7.4% against a 59.1% state average — the widest gap in the dataset — and it has stayed low for four straight years. Results also fade within the building: 75% in third-grade ELA falls to 33.3% in fourth and 48.1% in fifth. Statewide, Hawthorne ranks 1,242nd of 1,560 elementary schools (20th percentile) in 2025-26, its best showing in five years but still in the bottom third. Because grade cohorts are small — roughly 25–35 tested students — year-to-year swings of 10–20 points can come down to just a few students, so any single year's results deserve caution.