The message below was sent to all P-H-M parents from the Superintendent's Office the morning of Friday, Nov. 15, 2019:

Penn-Harris-Madison’s outstanding teachers are a critical component to P-H-M’s Triangle of Success providing excellent instruction to our students. In support of teachers and fair funding for public education, P-H-M has strong track record of working with State Legislators.

As momentum has grown for the “Red for Ed” action day at the State Legislature next Tuesday, Nov. 19, more Penn-Harris-Madison teachers have expressed interest to travel to Indianapolis to participate. 

We fully support their efforts. Therefore, all 15 P-H-M schools will be closed next Tuesday, Nov. 19. Administrative offices will remain open. Principals will adjust extracurricular activities as needed and will communicate any changes to their building parents and staff.

We will make up the day at the end of the school year. This will make the last day of school for P-H-M students Thursday, June 4.

Thank you for all you do as families to support our teachers.

Every Veterans Day, our Assistant Principal Chris Grossnickle works with 8^th ​grade students to plan a wonderful ceremony to honor our local veterans. Ms. Grossnickle’s father is a World War II veteran and has attended the program regularly. Click to see an interview with World War II veteran Garold Grossnickle.

The Guardsmen Orchestra (led by Ms. Vickie Marshall), Band (led by Mrs. Heather Baker) and Choir (led by Miss Alaina Williams) all performed for the veteran special guests. The veterans in attendance all had a relationships to current students or faculty. The program is terrific way for students to show their appreciation to those who gave us so much. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

Along with the veterans, Grissom Principal Mr. Jean Milfort also welcomed keynote speaker Major General Peter K. Sullivan. Major General Sullivan is the mobilization assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington D.C. The 1960 University of Notre Dame graduate has commanded two Air Force Reserve groups and four wings. He is a veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf Wars.

Major General Sullivan also spoke to the students about honor and service, explaining to the students that serving in the military is just one way to serve our country; they can also serve without joining the armed forces. Becoming a teacher, health care worker or just making a conscience decision to give back and help others is a service to society.

The program concluded with students introducing their veteran and presenting them with a flower. Eighth grade student Andrew Stutzman played taps, after a moment of silence, to honor fallen veterans.

Ms. Grossnickle’s father and World War II veteran Garold Grossnickle was recently interviewed by Penn High School Senior Jackson Kirby about his World War II experiences. The interview is below:

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!

Penn High School Counselors will be coming to Grissom on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 6;00 p.m., for an 8th grade Parent Info Night explaining the course selection and scheduling process for this year’s current Archer 8th graders, next year’s incoming Penn Freshmen Class, and  future Class of 2024.

The students will be touring Penn High School during a school day during the week of November 18.

At the upcoming Parent Info Night, Penn Counselors will cover how students and parents should fill out the Pink Course Selection Sheets and the deadline of when the sheets will be due back to the students’ Discovery Counselors.  Penn’s Counseling Center staff will also be available to answer any questions parents may have.

Parents and students are also encouraged to visit Penn together for the upcoming Penn Showcase on Monday, Dec. 9, 6 – 8:00 p.m. Click here for more details. The Showcase is designed to help incoming parents and students learn about all Penn has to offer, from Academies, to classes, and even extra-curricular activities. It also helps current 9th, 10th, and 11th graders and their parents make educated decisions about the pathways they should be following and the classes in which they should be enrolling.

ILEARN is Indiana’s standardized test. It is an online computer adaptive assessment designed to measure students’ proficiency of the Indiana Academic Standards in Grades 3–8. At the high school level, students enrolled in Biology and U.S. Government take ILEARN as End-of-Course-Assessments (ECA).

Last school year (2018-19) was the first time ILEARN was administered. This year it will be administered again to students in the spring.

What does it mean that the test is computer-adaptive? 

Every time a student answers a question, his or her response helps determine the next question presented. The difficulty of the test will adjust to each student’s skills, providing a better measure of what each student knows and can do.  For more information, click here to visit the IDOE website. 

Because the ILEARN test is online it has built in tools for students to use while testing:

• Built-in glossaries allow students to select unfamiliar words and read their definitions.
• Glossaries are available in English, Arabic, Burmese, Mandarin, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
• Students are provided with authentic tools, such as spell check, a dictionary, and a thesaurus for use when responding to the writing task.
• The Desmos calculator (provided for Mathematics Grades 6–8) is available for students to practice using free of charge at: desmos.com.
• Spanish translations (stacked over the English version) are available for Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

Online resources parents can use at home to help prepare their students

• Indiana’s Released Items Repository allows students to interact with released items and try some of the tools and features:  https://login12.cloud1.tds.airast.org/student/V367/Pages/LoginShell.aspx?c=Indiana_PT
• Indiana’s ILEARN Portal provides information and resources for understanding the assessment at: https://ilearn.portal.airast.org/
• The ILEARN for Families website answers questions about ILEARN:  https://www.doe.in.gov/assessment/ilearn-families

Student ILEARN reports

• Reports provide a scale score as an indication of overall student achievement in a grade level, as well as several subscores.
• Parents and guardians may request rescores of open-ended items through the local school. 

Questions?

Contact INassessments@doe.in.gov

On Sept. 12, students & counselors from PHM's three middle schools, Discovery, Grissom and Schmucker, attended an anti-bullying conference sponsored by St. Joseph County Medical Society. Hear from those who attended & learn what messages & lessons they're bringing back to their schools to help ensure #PHMExcellence is taking place in the way students treat each other …

Tuesday, Oct. 15
5:30 p.m.
Schmucker Middle School, 56045 N Bittersweet Rd.

Indiana law (IC 20-19-3-11) now requires that all schools provide age appropriate and research based instruction on child abuse and child sexual abuse to students in grades kindergarten through 12th. Penn-Harris-Madison has partnered with the Family Justice Center, Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County and the St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit to provide this instruction for our students.  

In November and early December, staff from the Family Justice Center, Youth Service Bureau St. Joseph County and St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit will present the materials to secondary students in grades 6-12. Each unit is age appropriate specific to the grade level.

The elementary (grades K-5) curriculum can be viewed at http://fightchildabuse.org/. The program’s main goal is to educate children about what to do when confronted with abusive behavior, safe and unsafe touches, going to a parent or another trusted adult if they are confronted in an unsafe situation, and that it is not their fault. An “Unsafe Touch” is defined as touching private parts of the body that are covered by a bathing suit. Stranger safety, Internet safety and other situations are also presented. 

For middle school, P-H-M will be utilizing the Teen Lures Prevention curriculum on a variety of safety issues. For additional information about the curriculum, please visit https://childluresprevention.com/grades7-12/.  

At the high school level, students will watch a video created by the St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit will be presented about ways youth can prevent, respond to and report all forms of child abuse, dating violence and sexual assault.  By talking openly with students about what constitutes healthy and respectful relationships, we prepare young people to better recognize and resist all forms of mistreatment.

To learn more about the new State mandated child abuse/sexual abuse prevention curriculum, all P-H-M parents are invited to attend an optional parent information night on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m., at Schmucker Middle School, 56045 N Bittersweet Rd.

Parents have the option to have their student(s) participate in the state mandated educational program.

Parents are asked to complete the online permission slip through their student(s) school website. Please click here for Grissom’s online permission slip. 

*Please note a permission form needs to be returned to your student’s school for each individual child enrolled in a Penn-Harris-Madison School. If you have a child in another school, please visit that school’s website and search for “Mandatory Curriculum Permission Slip” and fill out that online form.

Sign-up for the Kingsmen Junior Boys Basketball League on Tuesday, September 10^th from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., at Penn High School, enter Door D.

All games will be played on Sundays in the Penn Fitness Center, enter Door G.

 Grades 3 & 4 Games Times: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Grades 5 & 6 Games Times: 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

*Game times subject to change due to league size

Before each game, all players will learn a Team Concept. The 15 minute Team Concept will be led by Penn Varsity Assistant Coach Julius Smith. Team coaches will consist of approved volunteer parents and members of the community. Each team coach will assist with the team concept lesson before each game. The league will start on September 22nd with the last games being played on November 3rd.

The cost of the league will be $75 for every player, along with the additional cost of the Kingsmen reversible jersey. All players must purchase a Penn Jersey. We will have info to order your sons Jersey at the time of registration.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Assistant Boys Varsity Coach Julius Smith at jsmith5@phm.k12.in.us.

P-H-M’s annual Community Tailgate to kick off the start of the Penn Football Season will once again be held at the TCU Freed Field, South End Concession Stand Plaza.

The Tailgate is hosted by Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and the Penn Boosters Club for all P-H-M families and patrons to enjoy.

So come out early to the football game, grab a hot dog and catch up with old friends! Then stick around to cheer on the Kingsmen as they take on LaPorte in the season Home Opener!

Friday, August 30

5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

TCU Freed Field, South End Concession Stand Plaza

Tickets $4.00 (payable at the event) includes:

• Bratwurst or hot dog

• Potato Chips

• Cookie

• Drink

Today was New Teacher Orientation for Penn-Harris-Madison. 

Grissom Middle School is welcoming 7 new teachers.

Click to get more details on P-H-M’s Penn's New Teacher Class of 2019.

The purpose of each Middle School Task Force (MSTF) to provide the school constituency the opportunity to have input into the school’s decision making process, toward the achievement of school-wide goals for school improvement plans related to student safety, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Restorative Practices. 

As part of our “Triangle of Success” connecting students, teachers and parents, we invite all Penn-Harris-Madison parents/guardians of their respective middle schools (Discovery, Grissom, and Schmucker) to apply to serve as a member of the MSTF as we work to build a strong community-parent-school partnership.

MSTF members will:

• Enhance communication between the principal and school patrons.
• Serve as a sounding board for new ideas.
• Help the principal anticipate and/or identify community concerns and potential solutions to those issues.
• Assist with planning issues surrounding the implementation of change.
• Assist with developing School Improvement Plan Goals related to safety and/or behavior as well assist and support the school to reach these goals.

The MSTF will hold a minimum of one meeting every month (with some exceptions) during the 2019-2020 school year. More frequent meetings are held in September due to School Improvement Plan deadlines. Additional meetings may be scheduled as the need arises.

HOW TO APPLY

For those parents or community members interested in applying, please click here for a full description of the Middle School Task Force. 

Click here for the application packet for Grissom’s Middle School Task Force.