We are so excited to have everyone back at school, please view the photo gallery below to see some "First Day of School Smiles!" 

With the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, P-H-M is switching to ParentSquare, a new unified, user-friendly, communications platform designed with parents and guardians in mind. CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED.

ParentSquare provides a centralized location for families to receive communications from school principals, teachers, coaches, and front office staff on all their students, in all schools, in all classrooms! CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED. 
 

Parents/guardians receive alerts, updates, and posts on:

• important notifications, such as school closings and delays
• attendance
• principal & teacher newsletters
• school & classroom calendar of events
• volunteer & RSVP for events
• fill out permission slips & other forms
• … ALL IN ONE LOCATION!

Families chose their preferred mode of communication for non-urgent notifications– app, text, email, phone. Parents/guardians can also chose to have all communications automatically translated to their preferred first language.
 

As we approach the first day of school (Wednesday, August 21), principals and teachers will be using ParentSquare to share important "Back to School" information. Parents and guardians are asked to activate their accounts by Monday, August 12, 2024. 

PLEASE NOTE: If your child is transitioning to a new building from last school year, the information will be updated later this summer. You are still able to register for ParentSquare.

To activate parent/guardian accounts, parents need to check their email for the welcome and introductory email.

The email was sent between Thursday, July 11 and Friday, July 12, 2024 with the subject line: “Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. is now using ParentSquare.” 

The sender of the email will appear as “Penn-Harris-Madison via ParentSquare” with a donotreply @parentsquare.com email address, similar to this … donotreply+01d8d49e-b6f1-47f3-ac23-d45abf67b233@parentsquare.com

New in 2024, we have introduced a touching new tradition at the 8th grade award ceremony.

At the conclusion of the event, each 8th-grade Guardsman was presented with a rose. The students were encouraged to gift this rose to a family member, teacher, or friend who had significantly impacted their educational journey at GMS.

The gesture led to many heartfelt moments, with several teachers receiving beautiful bouquets of gratitude from their students.

This new tradition not only highlighted the strong community bonds at Grissom, but also celebrated the invaluable support and encouragement that students receive from those around them.

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week and Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker is making his rounds to surprise a couple of P-H-M's best educators with some good news.

Today, Dr. Thacker with the help of Penn High School Principal Dr. Sean Galiher and Assistant Principal Jeanie Mitchell (a former PHM Teacher of the year herself), Jeremy Starkweather was taken off guard with the news that he had won P-H-M's 2024 Secondary Teacher of the Year honor! Local TV stations were on hand to capture it all! Mr. Starkweather's wife, Ally who is also a teacher at Penn, was told ahead of time so she could participate in the surprise. Along with the students, a big group of fellow Penn teachers and PHM District Administrators were in the classroom to congratulate him. Click to watch the video below.
 

Mr. and Mrs. Starkweather are both 2013 graduates of Penn High School. Mr. Stakweather attended P-H-M’s Moran Elementary School and Grissom Middle School.

Click here to see the full photo gallery on Penn’s website.

Jeremy Starkweather is wrapping up his 7th year of teaching at P-H-M; but including his time as a student, student-teacher, and now a teacher, he’s been at Penn for a total of 12 years! He’s even still on the Speech & Debate Team just like he was while in school, except now he’s the coach! Mr. Starkweather is everywhere; he serves as the Assistant Coach for the Boys Cross Country Team, Coaching Consultant for the Education Foundation’s Running is Elementary, and Vice President of the Penn Building Trades Board of Directors.

Mr. Starkweather’s interests have carried over from his student days into his teaching career. Along with teaching English, Mr. Starkweather also teaches Debate, and has been serving as Penn’s Speech and Debate Coach since his first year of teaching. Prior to Mr. Starkweather at the helm, the team struggled to attract student participants; now Mr. Starkweather has made it cool to be on the Speech and Debate Team! The 2023-2024 school year both teams did extremely well. The Speech Team has 20 students advancing to the national tournament this summer; and the Debate Team not only won the State Championship, but a couple of the students even broke a record previously held by Coach Starkweather when he was a student!

For the first time in Penn history, the Debate Team won a State Championship. Additionally, out of all five state championship debate categories, three Penn students came in 1st place in two categories (one team and one individual) adding two more State Titles to the list. One of those wins was a student duo in the Policy category. Policy received a traveling trophy that has been around almost a century; and the last time the trophy was in Penn High School’s possession was when Jeremy and a teammate won it back in 2013 (his senior year)! How’s that for full circle? 

Until recently, Jeremy was known for his big bushy, blonde afro. However, thanks to Jeremy’s topnotch debate coaching skills, his team captains convinced him last summer, when the team was at the national competition, that if they won the State Championship, he would allow the students to shave his head. Jeremey Starkweather is a man of his word! He didn’t just allow his students to cut his hair, he let ALL the Speech & Debate students, Speech teacher Danielle Black, and Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker get in on the action. It took over an hour to cut off 9 inches of his golden locks! Now that’s showing commitment and dedication to your students! Click here to see that video and full photo gallery.

Speech and Debate has become so popular at Penn that Jeremy enlisted the help of his top students to see if they could create the same interest at the middle school level. Not only was there interest, there’s now Debate teams at all three middle schools with over 80 students. The past few summers Jeremy has also been offering Summer Debate Camp.

What is Jeremy’s secret to creating such an interest for Speech & Debate? It could be that he has the best  and rowdiest student club floats in Penn’s Homecoming parade; but it’s also because he quite simply cares about his students and they know it. There’s no “debating” it!

During the week of May 6 along with surprising the Teacher of the Year winners, Dr. Thacker will also surprise the honoree of Classified Employee of the Year. Monday, May 6 Dr. Thacker surprised 3rd grade Northpoint teacher Nichol Mondy with the news that she was the district’s Elementary Teacher of the Year. All winners will be officially recognized at P-H-M’s Employee Recognition & Retiree Dinner on Wednesday, May 22nd. Along with a plaque, the two Teachers of the Year will also receive a grant from the P-H-M Education Foundation to use in their classroom. Both TOY winners will go on to compete for Indiana’s Teacher of the Year, which will be announced in early Fall 2024 by the IDOE.

The Indiana Department of Education is awarding Grissom Middle School with an Educational Excellence Award for Excellence in Academic Gains! This prestigious award comes with a grant with up to $177,000! 

The Excellence in Academic Gains Award recognizes an individual school that has made the most progress in improving achievement for all students. One or more of the following must be demonstrated by the award recipient:

• increased academic achievement for students as indicated by ILEARN English/language arts/Mathematics assessment results
• prioritization of initiatives focused on accelerating learning
• implementation of progress monitoring and evidenced-based practices for students in need of extra support

Schools must use the grant funds as indicated by the IDOE to continue the amazing work that the school was doing to earn the recognition; or choose to spend the money on projects related to any of the Educational Excellence Awards categories.

Grissom will be recognized at the 3rd annual Educational Excellence Awards Gala in Indianapolis September 6, 2024.

This is the second time that a Penn-Harris-Madison school earned an IDOE Educational Excellence award. Fall 2023, Penn High School was recognized with the Excellence in College Readiness Award and received a $250,000 grant from the IDOE. 

Thanks to the incredible support of the Grissom Middle School PTO, we are proud to offer Disc Golf Club for the 2023-24 school year!

The PTO made sure the club was equipped with everything it needs from portable baskets (goals) to discs.

Led by 7th grade Science teacher, Mr. Black, the Disc Golf Club offers students an opportunity to engage in friendly competition, hone their skills, and enjoy the outdoors on Tuesday mornings in the Fall and Spring. 

Disc golf, a combination of Frisbee and traditional golf, provides a unique blend of athleticism, precision and fun!

It is an accessible game to students of all skill levels. If you or your student is interested in joining, contact Mr. Black today at bblack@phm.k12.in.us.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation was named among the 2024’s Best Communities for Music Education (​BCME) in the country by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for the 11^th year in a row! P-H-M is among only 17 Indiana school districts, out of about 300, that made the list.

Now in its 25th year, the 2024 Best Communities for Music Education program has recognized 583 school districts and 135 schools across the country for the outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders and their support for music education as part of a well-rounded education for all children. This recognition celebrates and recognizes K-12 music teachers in school districts who found creative ways for the “show to carry on” despite schools moving online or to in-person settings where masks were required not only for student musicians and instruments.

In P-H-M elementary schools, music class is part of the regular curriculum following state standards. Students are instructed in both vocal and instrument classes. Beginning in 6th grade, P-H-M students at our three middle schools (Discovery, Schmucker and Grissom) have the opportunity to choose choir, orchestra or band as their music elective. Students at Discovery also have the option of choosing Piano Lab. Schools from elementary all the way up to Penn High School also perform musicals.

Penn High School offers the Fine Arts & Communication Academy as part of its unique academy structure. The seven academy design provides Penn students with relevant and meaningful coursework taught in smaller, supportive environments where each student is known well by his teacher and peers. Nearly a third of Penn’s total 3,500 students are enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy with the majority being involved with music programs, either Choir, Orchestra, Band or another music program.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, P-H-M answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music.

In a series of landmark studies by scientists and researchers at Northwestern University a link was found between students in community music programs and life-long academic success, including higher high school graduation rates and college attendance. In another study from the University, it was discovered that the benefits of early exposure to music education improves how the brain processes and assimilates sounds, a trait that lasts well into adulthood. Beyond the Northwestern research, other studies have indicated that music education lays the foundation for individual excellence in group settings, creative problem solving and flexibility in work situations, as well learning how to give and receive constructive criticism to excel.

Penn High School Pom/Dance Teams will be filling positions for the JV, Varsity, and Competition teams. Tryouts are open to current 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. If you are going to be a senior for the 2024-2025 season, you must make Varsity or higher. Seniors cannot be on a Junior Varsity team.

Tryout Dates:

• Monday, April 22: 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Main Arena at Penn
• Tuesday, April 23: 6:30-8:30 p.m. –  Main Arena at Penn
• Wednesday, April 24: 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Main Arena at Penn (Competition Tryouts)
• Thursday, April 25: 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Main Arena  at Penn (JV and Varsity Tryouts)

Each candidate will be given a unique number. Results will be posted of who makes which team using the unique numbers. Competition team results will be announced on Thursday morning via Instagram. JV and Varsity team results will be announced on Friday morning via Instagram.

The Poms coaches will be looking for the following qualities during tryouts: dance ability, showmanship, and technical skills (JV/Varsity: Turns, toe touches, and leaps). 

Technical skills will be an extremely important aspect of tryouts for the Competition Team. Candidates must be able to do:

• Triple and quad pirouette
• Toe touches/pop up toe touch
• Firebird
• Turning Disc
• Calypso
• Side leap
• Saut de chat
• Fouettes/ala Seconde Turns
• Aerials (front and side)
• Switch to tilt jump; switch to arabesque; switch to second
• Preferred skills: front walkovers

   

Dates & Information Sheet

• Staff: Cindi Minegar and Alison Minegar – Competition Coach (Season runs August-March)
• Lauren Jacobs – Varsity Coach (Season runs September-February)
• Leah Olsen – JV Coach (Season runs September – February

Penn Physicals: Physicals for the 2024-2025 school year must be dated after May 1, 2024, and will be due on Register My Athlete by the first day of Boot Camp (July 29, 2024), or when the Athletic Office opens registrations.

Register My Athlete:  Upon results of tryouts, you must register on Register My Athlete (once athletic office has it set up – we will notify all team members when it is up) and get all appropriate paperwork signed and in on that website.  We do not collect paperwork. Click here for information on how to setup a Register My Athlete account.

Boot Camp: BOOT CAMP IS MANDATORY FOR EACH TEAM

*Students will be responsible for their own sack lunches Monday – Wednesday

ATHLETIC GUIDELINES FOR TEAM EVENTS:  

Financial Obligations:

• Boot Camp will be run by guest choreographers along with coaches.
  • JV and Varsity camp fees are $110.00 per person.
  • Competition Boot Camp fees are $175.00 per person. Camp money is due on the first day, July 29, 2024.
• Competition team (only) will be an additional $145 on the first day of actual season rehearsal, Monday, August 5, 2024. This money will go towards team t-shirt, hair bow, shoes, tights, rhinestones, and earrings. We will order as a group.

   

• JV and Varsity team – new members will need:
• Tan tights
• Tan jazz shoes
• Accessories

We will order as a group.

TEAM FUNDRAISER

Elementary Camp (all teams involved in fundraiser):  June 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Report time is 12:30 p.m.)

First day:  wear black tank tops, shorts, and tennis shoes. Hair should be in a pony tail.

Competition team will have additional fund raisers for their season.

PARENT/STUDENT SIGNATURE PAGE

I, _____________________________________ have read all requirements and give my student, _________________________________ permission to audition for the Penn High School Dance/Pom Team.

Parent Signature:                                                                                                      Dancer Signature:                                                                                                      Date: _______________________________________

*This form must be handed into the coaches on the first day of tryouts, or student will NOT be allowed to participate.  Any questions, please contact: Cindi Minegar at cminegar@phm.k12.in.us    OR    Alison Minegar at aminegar@phm.k12.in.us                

At Grissom Middle School, the spirit of giving was in the air during the annual “Hoops for Riley” game. Students and teachers alike laced up their sneakers and took to the court for a thrilling basketball showdown, all in the name of raising funds for Riley Children's Hospital.

The gymnasium buzzed with excitement as the teams were announced: teachers on one side, students on the other. It was a clash of generations, with the teachers boasting experience and wisdom, while the students brought energy and agility to the game.

From the tip-off, it was clear that both teams were in it to win it. The teachers utilized their size and skill to their advantage, dominating the paint with authoritative rebounds, towering blocks and big time dunks. 

As the game progressed, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause with every basket scored. Adding to the atmosphere was the incredible talents of the cheerleaders and the band.

But beyond the fierce competition, the true spirit of Hoops for Riley shone through. With every donation made and t-shirt purchased, funds poured in to support the vital work of Riley Children's Hospital. The total money raised, including t-shirt sales, is expected to surpass the $1,000 mark, a testament to the generosity and compassion of the Grissom Middle School community.

In the end, as the final buzzer sounded, it was clear that everyone emerged as a winner. The teachers may have claimed victory on the court, but the real winners were the children benefiting from the funds raised for Riley Children's Hospital.

Below are the results from the ISSMA Middle School Festival held at Penn High School the weekend of March 16:
 

• Grissom 6th Grade Orchestra – Gold Rating
• Grissom 7th/8th Grade Orchestra – Gold Rating
• Grissom 6th Grade Band – Gold Rating
• Grissom 7th Grade Band – Silver Rating
• Grissom 8th Grade Band – Gold Rating
• Grissom Treble Choir – Gold Rating
• Grissom 7th/8th Grade girls Choir – Silver Rating 
   
• DMS Choir Solo and Ensemble – 27 Gold Rating, 1 Silver Rating, 1 piano Gold Rating
• DMS String Orchestra – Gold Rating
• DMS Honors Orchestra – Gold Rating
• DMS Bands, All 4 bands –  Gold Rating
• DMS Honors Band – Gold Rating with Distinction

   

• Schmucker 6th Grade Band – Gold Rating with Distinction
• Schmucker 7th Grade Band – Gold Rating
• Schmucker 8th Grade Band – Gold Rating with Distinction
• Schmucker 6th Grade Orchestra – Gold Rating with Distinction
• Schmucker 7th Grade Orchestra – Gold Rating with Distinction
• Schmucker 8th Grade Orchestra – Gold Rating with Distinction