The local school was ranked as one of the top 25 in the country in the recent edition of Today's Parent magazine, placing in the 'all-round cool schools' category.

"It's exciting," said Hawthorne school principal Grant Clatworthy. "The most satisfying part is it indicates parents are satisfied with the school."

The article says, "While it's not technically an arts school, Hawthorne weaves the arts into traditional curriculum areas daily and co-curriculars are crammed into every possible time slot -- whether it's basketball at 8 a.m., Lego robotics at 10:55 a.m. or clay class at 3:30 p.m."

It also goes on to note, "Many of the school's language classes integrate drama or visual arts, helping kids to express their comprehension of material they've read."

The story highlights the Arts Beats assemblies the school holds once a month. Clatworthy explained the assemblies give students a chance to present something they've been working on, such as poetry, a drama presentation or even a musical/dance number on recycling.

"It's designed to provide an opportunity for kids to showcase the learning they've done through the arts," he said. "And the kids have become really appreciative of each other's presentations. They show a lot of respect."

The magazine highlights the school's "creative and industrious" teachers, "encouraging" principal and the estimated 200 parent volunteers that help make things happen.

Clatworthy emphasized that his staff works extremely hard from day to day.

"It's really a big team effort," he noted.

The school opened its doors in September 2005 on Bennett Boulevard with a vision of rejuvenating the arts in students' lives. It made a point of bringing on staff members who have backgrounds in the arts.

Even the school's design helped contribute to the arts focus, such as the specially designed music room with vaulted ceilings to allow sound to escape.

Burlington's Alexander's Public School also made the top 25 this year in the 'overcoming a challenge' category, since it had to deal with a construction delay by operating in three different schools.

Today's Parent readers nominate the schools for consideration on the list.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com.