Welcome back! 🐯✨ Let’s roar, Hawthorne! 💙 #HawthorneTigers

It has been a great first two weeks at Southwest Middle School! Students selected our core values for the year, learned about our systems, and had fun catching up with old friends and started making new friends. We are looking forward to a great school year!

🎉 Our Hawthorne Tigers are off to a ROARING start this school year! 🐯💙❤️ The energy, smiles, and hard work we’ve seen already make us so proud of our students. Keep shining bright, Tigers, you are unstoppable! 🌟📚✨

📢 Reminder: There will be no school tomorrow, Friday, August 29, or Monday, September 1. Enjoy the long weekend with your families. We will see all of our Tigers back in action on Tuesday, September 2!

Hawthorne Picture Re-take Day will be Thursday, Oct. 9th! If you have already ordered pictures, they should be arriving home soon!

What a fantastic turnout for the Hawthorne Back to School Picnic!

🎉 Congratulations to our amazing first grade teacher, Mrs. Hegwood! 🎉

She was selected for the Abbott Elementary School Supply Giveaway, and today KAAL came to Halverson to celebrate her! Each of her students received a special goodie bag filled with school supplies. 🖍✏️📚

We are so proud of you, Mrs. Hegwood, and grateful for the support of our students and classrooms! 💙🐯 #TigerPride

Please note that the Back to School picnic happening Tuesday, August 26th from 5:00-6:30 is for families of Hawthorne students. Sorry for any confusion!

Back to School Picnic from 5:00-6:00 on Tuesday, August 26! Bring a lawn chair and be ready to connect, enjoy pizza, cookies, water, and fun family activities!

Students and staff had an amazing first week at Lakeview! We built community, learned how to show Lakeview C.A.R.E.S. across our school, and had a lot of fun along the way.

🎉🐯 What a tigerific First Day of School at Halverson! 🐯🎉

We kicked off the year with a special welcome from School Board member Angie Hoffman, and the excitement carried all the way through the day! 💛💙

Our students and staff jumped right in, learning expectations, building relationships, and collaborating together. The energy in our halls was incredible, and we can’t wait to see all the amazing things this year will bring! 🚀📚✨

A very generous community member surprised us with a donation of back-to-school supplies for our Halverson students!

Thank you for your incredible generosity and kindness. Our students will be so excited to start the year with the tools they need to succeed!

Custodians are hard at work cleaning classrooms and waxing floors to get everything ready. We can't wait to welcome back our amazing students and staff. It's going to be a fantastic year!

🎉 Celebrating Success at Today’s Adult Education Celebration! 🎓 Today, we honored our English Learner students as they received their Certificate of Achievement for impressive growth in English language acquisition. We also recognized our students who earned their GED—a truly remarkable milestone! There were 20 students this year that achieved their GED. We’re so proud of all our Adult Education learners for their dedication and hard work. If you or someone you know is interested in earning a GED or advancing English skills, contact Albert Lea Adult Education at 507-379-4866 to learn more about our programs and how we can help you reach your goals! https://brookside.alschools.org/adult-education

🎓✨ Today was a joyful milestone for our preschool scholars!🎓✨ We celebrated preschool graduation in the Brookside gymnasium, where the bleachers were packed with proud families and smiling friends. It was a special moment recognizing the growth and accomplishments of our Early Learning students throughout the year! 💙❤️💙Congratulations to our Early Learning students — the future is bright and this is just the beginning! ❤️💙❤️

What a night to remember at Jim Gustafson Field! The Albert Lea High School Class of 2025—our 141st graduating class—crossed the stage and stepped boldly into their futures. We are so proud of everything our graduates have achieved and the challenges they’ve overcome. Thank you to our families, staff, and community members for supporting these outstanding students. Congratulations, Class of 2025—your adventure is just beginning!

We are having a great Exploratory Day here at Southwest! These opportunities would not be possible for our students without all of their hard work fundraising and the community support as well!

Early Learning Families, We look forward to celebrating with you on our last day of school! Please let your teacher know if your child is leaving with you after the ceremony.

A big thank you to Taylor Matz, ALHS alumni and corporate jet pilot, for generously allowing a student to job shadow. Shadowing helped this student gain important insights from his valuable experience and learn more about the field of aviation as he plans for his future. #tigerpride

Miss Sauer's seventh grade art class had the opportunity to learn how to needle felt for the first time this semester. Students designed their character from multiple views before construction began. A huge thank you to the Albert Lea Education Foundation for making this new project at Southwest Middle School possible! Featured student work: Say Nay M., Ferson E., Wendy K., Kiara P., and Ser T..

Halverson's 2nd graders are stepping up! They're hard at work practicing their reading skills and building stamina as they get ready for 3rd grade. We’re so proud of their focus, growth, and love for learning!