Hawthorn Grove Childcare to open in Bay Village Aug. 9

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio — A new childcare business is opening in Bay Village Aug. 9. Hawthorn Grove Childcare is now conducting pre-opening tours and awaiting a final inspection of the facility located at 662 Dover Center Road in Dover Commons Plaza.

Jason Kassabri and his wife, Kristina, own the business, which is licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Jason is a former teacher (seven years) with the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools and has a master’s degree in early childhood intervention from Cleveland State University. He is the executive director of the business; his assistant director is Kelly Benden.

Kristina has an MBA, also from Cleveland State, and she will be handling the business side of Hawthorn Grove.

The couple have two preschool-age children, Moses and Jasmine, who, Jason said, “will be with me every day at Hawthorn.”

The couple have a philosophy they intend to follow for all the children they will be caring for at Hawthorn Grove.

“Hawthorn Grove is a family-style childcare center,” said Jason. “By ‘family style,’ we mean that everyone under our roof, staff and students alike, are cared for like kin.”

When asked what “kin” means at Hawthorn, Jason said: “It means transparency and communication. That’s really big. We give all news to parents, good or bad, every day, that parents can access on our app, which should be up and running by opening day. It is an all-encompassing app for information, signing documents and parents can even pay in the app.”

Jason went on to give a basic description of the center.

“It’s essentially a school,” said Jason. “My experience is in ages 3-5. Staff and teachers have experience in the birth to age 3 range, as well as 3-5.”

The classrooms have a “tree” theme that corresponds to the moniker of the school, named after the hawthorn tree, which is native to Ohio.

“The youngest classroom is the ‘Seeds’ room that serves ages 6 weeks to 12 months,” said Jason. “Our ‘Sprouts’ class is 12-18 months. ‘Seedlings’ serves 18-30 months, ‘Saplings’ are 30-35 months, the Nursery is 36-48 months and the Grove is 48-60 months. Nursery and Grove look like pre-kindergarten and traditional preschool classrooms.”

Services at the school include breakfast and lunch. Jason said an age-appropriate curriculum is part of the daycare schedule. But their overall philosophy is much broader.

“At the root of all our guiding principles is a commitment to treat every child like they are one of our own,” said Jason, “and living this commitment means being in tune with each child’s individual needs and providing what they require to grow.

“It also means maintaining a culture of kindness and belonging in our school community where, no matter how much we grow, every staff member knows every student. We make sure that no one is unfamiliar. This is a community.”

Although the State of Ohio allows the center’s capacity to rise to 143, Jason said, “We will cap out ourselves at 102. We maintain child-staff ratios that are lower than state requirements in order to ensure the Hawthorn Grove experience for our students and their families.”

Technology and standards always come into play at childcare centers today and Hawthorn is no exception. Jason said he is installing interactive whiteboards, classroom student/staff microphones and each room will have iPads to ensure “five-star communication with custom lessons that are informed by Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards.”

“By relying on early-education research and relationship-based strategies, our teachers ensure that our curriculum delivery is age-appropriate and tailored to your child’s learning style. Understanding that relational development is as important as academic development in these early years, our social-emotional programming teaches our students to understand and manage their tiny, but mighty, feelings,” he said.

To contact Hawthorn Grove Childcare for a tour or more information, visit https://www.hawthorngrovechildcare.com or email hawthorngrovechildcare@gmail.com. Phone: 440-241-3738.

Read more from the West Shore Sun.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.