special education teacher

nurse coordinator

residential manager

residence manager

occupational therapist

Hawthorne Foundation Inc.

Hawthorne Foundation Inc. has feckless executive leadership that continue to ignore staff pleas for much-needed improvements. The Hawthorne campus resides within a county that has one of the highest costs of living yet the executives refuse to offer competitive salaries or even offset these costs with cost of living adjustments.

The school operates under the guise of a non-profit designed to help special needs students with 'a behavioral approach' to learning. Nothing can be further from the truth! Executive managers have no interaction with the students or staff and willfully remain ignorant of all the challenges the campus faces. 90% turnover rates, lack of resources such as books and technology, crumbling infrastructure, and a toxic work culture.

Staff has no incentive to perform at a high level. New hires are paid within the exact same salary structure as long-time teacher assistants and thus, fosters division and resentment of management. The local Home Depot pays similar wages but with far less educational and in-house requirements. How sad teachers and education support staff are treated these days! The executive team operates under the guise of a non-profit for special needs students but contribute nothing on a daily basis.

Hawthorne is dangerously out of state compliance and continues operating without proper teacher to student ratios despite IEP's clearly outlining expectations and standards. The school has been audited but not properly because issues persist and the home districts of the students do a poor job with oversight and ensure the students needs are being met. The school has also recently hired special service providers without proper state licenses. 

The school cannot attract or retain talent is reliant on hiring unqualified staff to work with children. Management routinely ignores staff seeking assistance with issues and the school cannot handle routine, daily tasks without incident. 

The executive team has no leadership qualities and therefor, no proactive, long-term outlook. Other schools within the same model continue to outperform Hawthorne while directors continue 'earning' hefty salaries with no performance benchmarks being met. What is their criteria for success? How can they say their successfully meeting challenges with such a high turnover rate, no marked student improvement, crumbling infrastructure and a toxic culture?

Majority of the staff who have been there for years come and go as they please. They hire anyone even people who fall asleep or have never changed a diaper before. When they interview people they only show them classes with children who are higher functioning and then your first day you are put in a room with kids who bite or throw things at you. Certain policies only apply to certain people. If they don’t like you, watch your back they will be on you for every little thing. You never get a raise. You’re overworked and they are always understaffed. Most of the TA are not certified at all they just keep saying they are going to get their certification and that seems to be ok with administration. All supervisors, senior staff and therapists and the girl in the front desk will cover for each other when things go wrong and sell their staff down the river. If you want things for your classroom get ready to spend your own money or wait a while. If you say too little or too much to parents you are the problem. Staff talk about everyone and anyone and think people don’t notice or hear them. Place is drama. Lucky if you get a lunch break which is only 30min. People call out all the time due to the horrible work environment so it’s always a scramble to see who is being switched here and there and If you will get a break that day. It’s an ABA school but you will hardly get trained in how to do any of that but then be expected to do it all after two weeks. It’s poorly run by people who do what they want. 

As a third year teacher, I really appreciate all the training (especially in ABA and classroom behavior) that I have at HCDS.  The Senior Teachers and other administrators are always willing to help me and I never feel like I am flying solo.  It is very hard work because the kids have a lot of behaviors and have autism but they are really great kids.  My classroom needed a lot of supplies and materials and I got them pretty quickly after requesting what I needed.  There are still vacancies for TAs and 1:1s at the school, like at my previous school, so it's not so different than anywhere else these days.  Lately, the administration has been trying really hard to do things for staff for morale, other than the annual raises we have been getting and that is nice.

It is with great disappointment that I write this terrible review for Hawthorne Foundation that has demonstrated a consistent trend of favoritism and has created deplorable working conditions. There are no lunch breaks provided because management does not like helping out and we are understaffed. You do NOT get raises often. Supervisors stick to their own clique and only one teacher is part of their group. If you even get interviewed for a position ask yourself “did I get a chance to talk?” 

I currently work here and it’s not that great. I think they’re one of the lowest paying agencies. Working in the houses are a dream, the clients are wonderful and it’s rarely ever all that stressful. Now the day hab? Is a mad house... severely understaffed so you’re over worked. If anything goes wrong, you’re thrown under the bus. Changes are made by people with fancy degrees but they’re never in the thick of it. Your opinion isn’t really acknowledged. The place is great for a person who is just starting in this field. I’d get some experience and get out of there.

Certain teachers and supervisors who LOOOOVE drama. You think you are working with grown mature women, in fact you are not. You want to talk about how unfair the work place is or how you do most work? They won’t help and will tell everyone your business. Those that work hard aren’t recognized and those who barely work are praised. The people who think they are above another like to make nasty jokes in front of kids and also like to put their lives out there. Unprofessional. Don’t get me wrong you meet few great people and learn if you have the right teacher, but other than that lots of good luck to you if you go forward to work here. 

Terrible overall hawthorne foundation support. The main day school had nothing to do with us, they never acknowledged any good or bad situations. They literally take any violent clients. Under staffed constantly, lack of supplies, no actual learning takes place. The pay was terrible even with a college degree. Raises were only 25 cents. The counselors were the only redeeming thing about this job they showed patience and genuinely cared. But this place is a money grab and offers zero career development. Unless you absolutely can not find a job do not work here. 

a typical day at Hawthorne is that i get a chance to interact with my guys that i truly have learned to love. instead of me teaching them about life i am being taught about life. how to remain calm is stressful situations and to even laugh at situations when there isnt much that i can do at that time. the hardest part of my job is that at times it because stressful when you feel like your the only one pulling your weight around the house. the most enjoyable part of my job is putting a smile on the individuals faces and seeing the achieve their goals they have set forth.

Do not waste your time here. The supervisors are very picky and choosy with who they let slide with things and don't. They terminated me for something simple as my phone when I poured my time, energy and money into the bonds with my kids there. They do not care about your opinions, feelings or personal situations and you are disposable to them. The program coordinator is hypocritical, biased and protects staff that have done heinous things yet will throw you out over less. Save yourself the displeasure of working at any campus for this company!

Productivity during every aspect of everyone’s day is number one. But it has to follow within their unwritten policies: staying in your assigned classroom when children are not in the room, no expressing that demands are too much even if your physical and mental well being are at risk (you’ll get punished for it), and that the administration is barred from following these and other policies with no consequences. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Special education teacher 1 salary reported	$77,373 per year
Nurse coordinator 1 salary reported	$95,027 per year
Residential manager 1 salary reported	$19.50 per hour
Residence manager 3 salaries reported	$64,500 per year
Occupational therapist 2 salaries reported	$80,500 per year

Working at Hawthorne Foundation Inc.: Company Overview and Reviews

Hawthorne Foundation Inc.

Hawthorne Foundation Inc. Ratings

Popular jobs at Hawthorne Foundation Inc.

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected