Sign-up Meeting

Next year's Freshmen (current 8th graders):

March 16, 4:30 p.m. 

Penn Staff Dining Room (Enter through Door D)
 

Tryouts:

Next year’s Freshmen (current 8th ​graders):

March 30, 31 and April 1

4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.

Penn Main Arena (upstairs balcony)

The first day for students of the 2020-2021 school year is Wednesday, August 19, 2020 and the last day for students is Wednesday, June 2, 2021.

Other important dates include:

• September 7, 2020: Recess Day – Labor Day
• October 23 & 26, 2020: Fall Recess Days
• November 3, 2020: Recess Day – General Election
• November 25-27, 2020: Thanksgiving Recess Days
• December 21-Jan. 1, 2021: Winter Break
• January 18, 2021: Recess Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 15, 2021: Recess Day – Presidents’ Day
• April 2, 2021: Recess Day
• April 5-9, 2021: Spring Break
• May 31, 2021: Recess Day – Memorial Day

Click here for a one-page pdf copy of the 2020-2021 school year calendar.

For the 2019-2020 school year and activity calendar, please click here.

Since 2009, PHM students from all three middle schools have participated in the China Excursion, the most recent trip occurring in the spring of 2019.

This nine day trip planned for the summer of 2021 departs June 28 and returns July 6 (tentative dates). Students will tour historic sites in the cities of Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai, China. You can view some of the places explored in this slideshow. This experience will allow students to explore the ancient culture of China and also witness firsthand the country’s rapid development. The trip to China is aligned to seventh grade social studies standards that focus on imperial China, the Mongol Empire, European colonization, types of government, and trade. 

The China Excursion is open to any students currently enrolled in 6th or 7th grade at Discovery, Grissom, or Schmucker. If you are interested in learning more about this experience and itinerary, please plan on attending informational meeting …

Friday, January 17

7:30 a.m.

Discovery Middle School LGI

*Please park in the west staff parking lot, between Discovery and Horizon.

If you have any questions, please contact James Howard at jhoward@phm.k12.in.us or Lavon Dean-Null at ldean-null@phm.k12.in.us. 

Click here to register for eighth-grade summer PE.

Summer PE is both sessions – Approximate dates for 2020 are June 8-26 (Session I) and July 6-24 (Session II). 

4 Hours in the morning, exact times still to be determined. (Summer 2019 times were 8:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.).

Eligibility to Register for Summer PE:
Students MUST be a current 8th grade student attending a P-H-M Middle School; 
Or 
Be enrolled as a Penn High School student for the 2020-21 school year. 
 

Students must attend all days of both sessions.

Please see below for the timeline:

• Summer PE Registration Form will be released on the Penn website Monday, Feb. 3, 2020  at 9:00 a.m.

• Feb. 3 – Feb. 14, 2020: Fill out the online registration form AND make the $50 payment in the Penn High School Bookstore to secure a spot.

• 200 Spots Available. First Come, First Serve! A student does not secure a spot until both the online Registration Form is filled out & $50 Fee is paid to the PHS Bookstore. Students on the Free/Reduced Lunch Program do not pay the fee, but will be required to confirm  their interest in order to secure a spot.

• Feb. 14 @ 3:00 PM: 8th Grade Summer PE registration and payment acceptance CLOSES!

• A confirmation letter will be immediately provided from the Bookstore after payment is received and student spot is guaranteed.

• After all available spots are filled, students will be placed on a wait list. Refunds will be issued for any student still on the waitlist on May 15, 2020. 

• Summer PE transportation is provided for students residing within the P-H-M District. 

*Fees must be paid by check, cash or money order. No credit cards, over-the- phone, or online payments can be processed. No Refunds will be given after May 15, 2020!

Questions? Please contact:

Shannan Lindzy, Summer School Coordinator

slindzy@phm.k12.in.us

(574) 258-9506

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.