Thank you to the honest reviewer below
To the person waaayyy down at the bottom of this page: Thank you so much for posting that honest review of Hawthorn. I went to this school and had the exact same experience as you. Reading your review actually brought up a lot of painful memories for me. So many girls in my class were suicidal, depressed, angry, confused, and this was really upsetting to see.
The parent/volunteer commented that Hawthorn does not force their students to go to confession and mass, but they certainly did when I went there. We also were forced to go to meditation. The priest at the time would tell us things like, "each time you sin, you are nailing Jesus further to the cross and pushing his thorn crown into his head." This kind of stuff gave me nightmares for months. As a result of this "personal development" agenda, most of the girls I went to Hawthorn with came in Catholic but graduated confused and afraid.
I think you are absolutely accurate in describing the...
To the person waaayyy down at the bottom of this page: Thank you so much for posting that honest review of Hawthorn. I went to this school and had the exact same experience as you. Reading your review actually brought up a lot of painful memories for me. So many girls in my class were suicidal, depressed, angry, confused, and this was really upsetting to see.
The parent/volunteer commented that Hawthorn does not force their students to go to confession and mass, but they certainly did when I went there. We also were forced to go to meditation. The priest at the time would tell us things like, "each time you sin, you are nailing Jesus further to the cross and pushing his thorn crown into his head." This kind of stuff gave me nightmares for months. As a result of this "personal development" agenda, most of the girls I went to Hawthorn with came in Catholic but graduated confused and afraid.
I think you are absolutely accurate in describing the students as zombies. There was no joy at this school.
The administration chose favourites and if you weren't on that list, you certainly felt very aware of it. Except of course at fundraisers with your parents - then it was all smiles and warmth.
I had one teacher dislike me so much that she hid my assignments and told my parents I wasn't completing my work. This was in the year before going to university and my GPA sank as a result of this crazy teacher. This is serious stuff. I had been at this school for 6 years at the time, my parents had done everything to support and help the school, and the principal (also crazy) sided with the emotionally unstable teacher who had been there for 6 months.
As a parent, I can't imagine sending my child to a school where these sorts of things were considered the norm. I have no idea why this cult-school is still running. I tell everyone I know, that it was against all odds I succeed in University and in my career, because I had the worst middle & high school experience one could imagine.
I have a good idea that most of the positive reviews on this site are from children of the administration who either work at this school or who are part of the cult. It was nothing short of brainwashing that produced those positive sentiments about this dangerous institution.
Comments
Certainly, a school providing a Catholic education will teach the Catholic faith and describe sin as something that goes against the efforts of Jesus dying on the cross. This does not make Hawthorn School a cult. The public Catholic schools teach the same thing.
It is important to distinguish a dislike for the Catholic religion from Hawthorn School itself.
In fact, Hawthorn is an accredited school that is part of the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario, and our graduates have a 100% university acceptance rate - how would that be possible if this were not a great environment for learning? The school promotes structure, respect and order - which can certainly be interpreted negatively if they are not values you hold.
From Hawthorn:
"Certainly, a school providing a Catholic education will teach the Catholic faith and describe sin as something that goes against the efforts of Jesus dying on the cross. This does not make Hawthorn School a cult. The public Catholic schools teach the same thing.
It is important to distinguish a dislike for the Catholic religion from Hawthorn School itself.
In fact, Hawthorn is an accredited school that is part of the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario, and our graduates have a 100% university acceptance rate - how would that be possible if this were not a great environment for learning? The school promotes structure, respect and order - which can certainly be interpreted negatively if they are not values you hold."
It’s interesting you should assume I am not Catholic based on my review. I am a devout Catholic and have been all my life – DESPITE going to Hawthorn. I come from a long line of Catholics and thankfully I held onto my faith. Many of my friends who graduated from Hawthorn felt confused and sadly have subsequently ceased to practice. Therefore my review of the school has nothing to do with a “dislike for the Catholic religion” – nice try though.
I have many family members and friends who have worked for the Toronto Catholic School Board over the years and I feel certain that students at public Catholic schools were not made to sit in a dark chapel and given such gruesome/dark visuals regarding sin. We were 11 years old for goodness sake! Completely inappropriate. And that is just one of many warped things the school taught. We were also told it was a sin to be in a bathing suit around boys. Good thing my parents explained this was a very extreme and untrue – otherwise my summers at co-ed camp would have been pretty terrifying.
I got into one of the top universities in Canada and continued on to do a Masters and a PhD. I went to Hawthorn and hated it. Many of my friends from HSG also went to terrific universities and they had a horrible time at the school. The idea that Hawthorn has a 100% acceptance rate to universities because it's an enjoyable learning environment sadly holds no water.
It's clear you work at Hawthorn - and I'd just like to point out that your last line "The school promotes structure, respect and order - which can certainly be interpreted negatively if they are not values you hold." isn't a very Christian thing for you to say. How on earth would you know how I feel about structure, respect and order? What does that have to do with my review? It's Hawthorn's values of lies, extremism, and self-flagellation that I take issue with.