Once again Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation schools, in all grade levels tested, scored above Indiana’s averages. The variance between P-H-M’s pass rate over the state is at least 10% or higher across all grade levels and subjects.

For grade 10, 75.6% of P-H-M students passed the ELA test and 58.4% passed the Math portion. The district’s overall pass rate for grade 10 was 56.4%.

For grades 3-8, 78.0% of P-H-M students passed the ELA test and 74.8% passed the Math test. P-H-M’s overall district pass rate for grades 3-8 was 68.3%.

For grade 10, P-H-M ranks in the Top 5% out of 291 public school corporations. In grades 3-8, P-H-M is in the Top 6% of public school districts out of 294 public school corporations.

When reviewing the Corporation’s performance on the last round of ISTEP+ (grades 3-8) test results, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker commented “P-H-M teachers and administrators are incredibly committed to our vision of excellence and offer the best education in the Michiana area. I am very proud of the fact that P-H-M is one of the state’s top performing school districts. The credit goes to our outstanding teachers, students and parents.”

Students in Grades 3-8 and students enrolled in Biology at Penn will take ILEARN Indiana’s, new computer-adaptive standardized test, this spring (April 22 – May 17) replacing the state’s previous test, ISTEP+. To see what subjects students will be tested per their grade level, please click to visit the IDOE website. 

To help parents better understand how their children will be tested and to help them prepare their students for the test, the IDOE has put together a quick one page guide. Click here to download the pdf copy.

The ISTEP+ Grade 10 assessment will be administered during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. Click here for more information on the transition from the ISTEP+ Grade10 assessment to the College Entrance Exam.

IREAD-3 for Grade 3 will continue as is. Click for more details.

Starting this spring, the Indiana Department of Education will also transition to a new test to assess students with significant cognitive disabilities in Grades 3-8 and 10. IAM is the new summative accountability assessment. Click here for more details on IAM.

Click to view all the testing dates on the P-H-M Corporate Calendar or reference the 2018-19 P-H-M District Activities Wall Calendar.

​This year Penn Harris Madison Schools is giving parents access to their student's online activities through Securly. 

Securly is a program parents can use to view student Chromebook use and to have control over what students have access to at home with their school issued Chromebook.  Soon parents will receive an email from Securly on how to get started with the program; then parents will start receiving a weekly email from Securly that will show parents a preview of your student’s online activity while using their P-H-M issued Chromebook. For more information please click the Securly Parent Portal. 

Click here for a full Parents’ Guide to  P-H-M Technology, from Skyward to Chromebook online safety measures.

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

Grissom is welcoming 8 new teachers that range in subject areas from Choir to Science.

Click to get more details on P-H-M’s Penn's New Teacher Class of 2018.

Campers will have the opportunity to learn from Kingsmen and University of Notre Dame alum Austin Torres at the upcoming Kingsmen Basektball Day Camp!  

After a great career at Notre Dame, Austin is giving back to Penn High School and Penn-Harris-Madison Schools by passing on his knowledge to younger players. Austin will be will be a lead instructor at the Kingsmen Day Camp June 11th -15th.

The camp is for boys currently in grades 4-8th grade. Registrations are still being accepted up until the first day of camp.  Click here to register online or to download and print a pdf flier.

Click to check out the full list of other Kingsmen Athletic Camps being offered this summer.

Penn High School was proud to have 17 students earn valedictorian honors and two students earn salutatorian honors for the Class of 2018 during Commencement held on Friday, May 25, 2018

Of those 17 Valedictorians, three of them, Kendra Laidig, Christopher Mazurek and Matthew Rach, all attended Grissom Middle School. 

Click to read more points of pride from the Class of 2018.

Caregivers of dependents with special needs are invited to attend a special workshop, sponsored by Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company, on how to make your child’s future more secure.

See the information in the flier posted below …

If you will be an incoming freshman student-athlete next year, Penn High School and St. Joseph Health Systems is offering 2018-19 Athletic Physicals on Tuesday, May 22, from 3:17-5 p.m. in Penn’s Arena Gym. The cost is $25. Checks must be made payable to Penn High School. Penn will also accept cash and credit card payment at the door. Credit card payment is subject to a $1 processing fee. This is open to all Penn High School students and incoming freshmen.

You can opt to have your physical done by your personal physician at their office. However,

please remember that the IHSAA requires physicals be completed AFTER April 1, 2018, in order to be valid for the 2018-19 school year. Click here to download a copy of the IHSAA Pre-Participation Physical Form to have your doctor complete. 

Student-athletes attending the Penn/St. Joseph Health Systems Physicals should have their physical forms COMPLETELY FILLED OUT, INCLUDING PARENT SIGNATURE, before the physical is completed.

We also ask all parents of Penn student-athletes to register their athlete using the “Register My Athlete” website. Click here for instructions.

Article written by Melinda O’Malley, Director of P-H-M DVT & Planetarium

On the morning of Wednesday, January 31st, Michiana and all of North America will see its first Super Blue Blood Moon in more than 150 years!

P-H-M families will want to rise early and try to find a nice open viewing area to see as much of  this beautiful “lunar trifecta” as possible. On the morning of Jan. 31^st, the moon will be low on the western horizon–opposite the rising sun when the eclipse begins. Around 5:51 a.m., the left side of the moon will begin to take on a slightly pink color as it moves into the outer edge, the penumbra, of the Earth’s shadow. The moon will continue to move deeper into the Earth’s shadow as it slowly sets.  By 6:48 a.m., viewers in our area will begin to see the Moon’s color changing to a deep red as the Moon moves into the center, the umbra, of the Earth’s shadow. 

Now here’s an explanation of the Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse is why it is so special …

A supermoon is when a full moon occurs during perigee, its closest distance to Earth within its orbit. This makes the moon appear bigger and brighter than normal.

A “blue” moon, despite the name, actually has nothing to do with the color. Instead, it signifies the second full moon within a single calendar month. The expression “once in a Blue Moon” implies something rare. Blue Moons typically happen every two to three years, but double Blue Moons only happen three to five times per century and 2018 we will experience double Blue Moons in January and March! 

Finally, a Blood Moon is often the name given to a total lunar eclipse because the moon appears a reddish color when it enters the Earth’s shadow. The red coloration is caused by sunlight that is refracted, or bent, as it passes through the earth’s atmosphere.

Just as the entire lunar surface is bathed in a “blood red” tint totality begins and the Moon will start to disappear below the horizon. So, make sure to wake up early to beat the rising sun and witness a once in a lifetime “lunar trifecta!”

P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was recognized last night (Thursday, Nov. 30) as Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents (IAPSS) 2017 Outstanding Educator of the Year!

This is the second time Dr. Thacker has received this prestigious honor from his IAPSS peers; the first time was in 2013. He was also named Indiana Superintendent of the Year in 2012 and received the Sagamore of the Wabash in 2014—Indiana’s highest award—from then Governor Mike Pence. He has also been recognized as Alumnus of the Year from both IUSB and Bethel College.

Dr. Thacker began his career in education in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation as a 6th grade teacher at Madison Elementary School. Having filled a variety of leadership roles at districts across Indiana and Michigan, in July 2006 he returned to the P-H-M schools to serve as superintendent. Under Dr. Thacker’s leadership, the Indiana Department of Education has consistently named P-H-M an “A” Rated School District. The School Corporation now ranks in the state’s top 4% of public school districts with nine Four Star Schools.