Parent Teacher Student Conferences will be conducted on Tuesday, October 24 from 2:30—7:00 pm and on Wednesday, October 25 from 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Teachers will be sending you an invitation on October 11 stating the day and time of your conference.  Please return a confirmation on or before October 16.  Teachers do their best to accommodate families by scheduling conferences together. We look forward to meeting with you

Conference time is communication time. It can be hard as a parent to know what to expect at a conference. First of all remember that you and your child’s teacher have the same goal—helping your child grow academically and socially. Your child’s teacher will share student progress and enlist your help. During this time you and the teacher will explore together areas they excel at and in what areas they need assistance. Together you may make an action plan to help your child. The chart below gives a checklist of things that may help you explore what is best for your child or may identify areas that could become part of the action plan. Be sure to end the conference by scheduling a way to follow up and measure progress.

Parent are key players in the PHM Triangle of Success!

Madison School enjoyed perfect fall weather for our Riley Bike-a-Thon on Saturday, October 7. But the bike-a-thon was not the only event on that day. It was also Mrs. Wisler's Birthday. Mrs. Wisler is an aide at Madison, attends student activities after school hours, co-chair of the Riley Bike-a-Thon, and an avid Notre Dame fan. She is a great role model for students of how to make your life count. Students came out Saturday with their bikes decorated, balloons, and a birthday cake all for this special lady. They will collect through October 20 for this year's contribution. Madison Students have collected over $110,000.00 through the years for Riley. Learning to care for others is really what it's all about.

Riding bikes, wearing green noses, and walking laps around the playground are a few of the fun ways Madison students learn to help others.  They also roll up their sleeves to organize canned food, pack meals, and collect quarters.  Although the kids know that participating in the fun activities somehow results in helping others, a group of 4th and 5th grade students recently took a closer look at the service projects to get a better understanding of how they serve.  Through their research, students learned about philanthropy, mission statements, and the purpose of some non-profit organizations. Kids will have even more fun knowing that by sharing their time, talent, and/or treasure, they can make a difference for the common good.  

Bike-a-thon for Riley Children’s Hospital – Riley provides kids with world-class pediatric routine and specialty healthcare.  It is one of the nation’s top-ranked children’s hospitals.  

Relay for Life – Relay is a community based fundraising event of the American Cancer Society.  The mission is to save lives, celebrate lives, and lead the fight against cancer.

Logan Nose On – Logan Center supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they may achieve their desired quality of life.

P-H-M Education Foundation – The Foundation distributes innovative teaching grants to support P-H-M teachers, staff, and students.  Since 1996, more than $520,000 has been given.

Feed My Starving Children – FMSC is  non-profit organization called to feed children, hungry in body and spirit.

Local Food Drive – The drive is to serve families in the community who are in need of help.  

The annual Superintendent’s Luncheon is coming soon! On October 17, 2017, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker will give his State of the Corporation address to parents, business, community and education leaders.

The luncheon, hosted by the  P-H-M Education Foundation, is a District fundraiser and also a chance to say thank you to all of the partners who have made grant funding possible. Those grants help make many important programs for P-H-M schools possible.

The featured speakers this year will be former Bethel men’s basketball head coach Mike Lightfoot and his wife, Jacci Lightfoot. Mike and Jacci will speak about how their new calling to lead was fueled by their passion for education and athletics.

For tickets, please click here to pay online. For more information, contact Amber Kennedy at 254-2893 (ext. 10721).

The application window for P-H-M Education Foundation’s Fall 2017 Grant Cycle is now open!

And thanks to the  success of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Gala in May 2016, an additional $10,000 is available for grants. A total of $ 33,920 is available this academic year!!!

PHMEF is seeking innovative programs that have not been previous funding through past grant cycles. Note there are funding restrictions such as not paying for substitutes, food, party supplies, etc. A complete list of restrictions can be found in the application packet. Those applications requesting non-funded expenses will not be presented to the Grants Committee.

So parents work with your student’s teacher or principal to write up a grant proposal for a program you’ve been wishing you child’s school had. PHMEF grants are eligible to any staff member who can demonstrate their program’s innovation, creativity and reflects commitment to excellence in education. Click here for a list of the unique Spring grant awardees.

The window for applications closes on Thursday, October 26. Applications are due promptly at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 26. If you are turning your applications in at the ESC, please come to 55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka. No late applications will be accepted. Note that there must be 10 copies for the traditional form.

There are two ways to apply:

• EZ Form: for grants less than $250

• Traditional Form: to be used for grants requesting $250 or more and/or a request that is comprehensive (multi-classroom, school-wide or district-wide requests)

Application and filing details can be found on the Education Foundation’s website. Click here to access the application.

The timeline for the PHMEF Fall Grant Cycle is as follows:
 

Thursday, Oct. 26 – All applications (EZ Form and Traditional Form) must be turned in by 4 p.m. No late applications will be accepted. Note there must be 10 copies for the traditional form. 
 

Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 27 – PHMEF grant committee meets to select recipients and presents grants for approval to the P-H-M Education Foundation Board of Directors.

By Nov. 30 – Recipients will be notified by email with formal letter to follow

By Dec. 8 – Checks will be sent to the recipient’s home school.

Madison Students and their parents enjoyed Parent Information Night on September 7. Parents met with teachers while students were able to “dance the night away” in the Madison Gym with DJ, Paul Chamberlin, and the Music Machine. Teachers were able to speak with parents about student procedures, parent involvement and the best team approach for their child’s success. Families finished the evening with ice cream provided by the Madison PTO outside on the west court.

Fall is not only the start of the school year, but also the start of football season!

Taking a cue from the University of Notre Dame’s iconic motivational locker room sign, Principal Kevin McMillen “kicked off” his inaugural “Read Like a Champion” program today (Friday, September 8).

As part of the yearlong reading initative, Principal McMillen is encouraging not just Madison students to read, but for their families to read together! Parents were invited to come to the school for today’s launch and read a portion of a book to a class. But this was more than just “story time.” By having parents also explain how reading and comprehension helps them in the everyday lives and on their jobs, Principal McMillen’s hopes to inspire a passion and purpose for reading in his elementary school students. To help get everyone excited about the program, parents came to school today to read to their children and classmates. Parents from all types of careers were represented: a police officer, judge, farmer, dental hygienist and even a former NFL player! Click to see the full photo gallery below. 

2003 Penn alum Bryan Mattison played as defensive end at Iowa before going pro with the Baltimore Ravens, St. Louis Rams, and the Kansas City Chiefs, and now is volunteer assistant football coach for the Kingsmen. Today he scored a big “touchdown” when he read “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” to his daughter’s kindergarten class. See the picture above.

Today’s parent reading day even scored an “extra point” when a Dad serving in the Army National Guard made a surprise video call into the school wide assembly to say Hi! to his three sons and the rest of the school’s some 120+ students! Captain Timothy O’Donnell has been deployed to Afghanistan since February and is scheduled to return home in October or November. With help of Principal McMillen and his wife, Capt. O’Donnell had wanted to surprise his third and two fourth grade sons by reading to them and participate in all the fun. Unfortunately, the video connection was not very good, but the boys did have the opportunity to see and talk to their Dad all the way from Afghanistan!

“Read Like a Champion” will continue throughout the school year with activities such as buddy reading times, challenges, more guest readers and reading surprises culminating with a school assembly in June.

With the release of the Spring 2017 ISTEP+ results, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation now ranks in the state’s top 4% of public school districts.

Based on both Math and ELA pass results of grades 3-8, P-H-M ranks 12th out of all 292 public school districts in Indiana. For grade 10, P-H-M ranks 9th out of all 292 public school corporations—the Michiana area’s only public school district to make the top 20!

P-H-M’s overall district pass rate for grades 3-8 was 70.8%, compared to Brownsburg Community School Corp. who received the highest overall pass rate of 83.1%. Penn-Harris-Madison’s pass rate for grade 10 was 59.9%, compared to Carmel Clay Schools 68.3%

“When you compare P-H-M to the state’s other top performing school districts, you can see the level of excellence that our students and teachers are achieving in the classrooms,” said P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker commenting on yesterday afternoon’s (Wednesday, September 6, 2017) testing results release by the Indiana Department of Education. “P-H-M has been able to achieve high performing test results not just by teaching the academic standards, but by empowering our teachers with ongoing professional development, equipping them with technology providing timely and efficient student assessment, while also growing our students’ academic stamina with rigor and relevant preparatory tools.”

As part of Penn-Harris-Madison’s own self-district assessment, P-H-M administration reviewed the 2017 ISTEP+ results information from across the state and also notes the following successes:
 

• Northpoint is Indiana’s #1 public elementary school!
• Discovery ranks #3 out of the state’s 205 public middle schools.
• P-H-M has four schools (Northpoint, Prairie Vista and Horizon Elementary Schools, along with Discovery Middle School) ranked among the state’s top 50 of all 1,437 public schools.
• Penn ranks #4 of large high schools (student population more than 500).
   

After analyzing the data, Dr. Thacker also noted “I am extremely proud of what our students and teachers have been able to achieve. It is with the parent and community support that they receive that P-H-M is able to achieve academic excellence at all levels. I look forward to using the data from 2017 ISTEP to build on and improve for this coming 2018 spring testing.”

Two of the highest honors for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are the Eagle Scout rank and Gold Award, respectively. Attaining these prestigious achievements not only requires dedication and hard work from the scouts, but also stresses the importance of community service through projects. 

At Penn High School, we encourage student participation in community service through project-based learning. It’s always gratifying when the students then apply these concepts in their own activities outside of school.

Last school year, nine Penn High School students (five graduates and four current students) gave back to their community on their way to achieving their Eagle Scout rank and Gold Awards.  In this latest example of #PHMExcellence, the students walk us through their community service projects at Prairie Vista and Madison Elementary Schools, and at Birch Lake in Vandalia, Michigan.

More than 10,000 Penn-Harris-Madison students in grades 1-12 headed back to school today (Wednesday, August 23, 2017) with tons of excitement for another year of #PHMExcellence!

Here’s a snapshot of the First Day from across the District … (be sure to click to view the photo gallery at the end of this story)

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and new Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher got an early start to the day doing live interviews on the early morning news programs of South Bend’s three television stations, starting at 5:00 a.m.!  With student enrollment up this year to about 10,800 students, Dr. Thacker talked with excitement about the new school year. With P-H-M’s successful 1:1 Technology Initiative for all students in the District, P-H-M is in a great position to empower teachers with new technology and software that will help them utilize student formative assessment data more efficiently, which will help create a more personalized path unique for each student. Dr. Thacker also talked about how the District has recently created teacher leadership teams in all 11 elementary schools to increase leadership capacity and promote a renewed focus on high quality instructional practices. Principal Galiher talked to the news stations about Penn High School’s 97% graduation rate, with 45% of Penn students graduating with Honors and 51% graduate with a Core 40 degree.
 

Over at P-H-M Transportation Headquarters, approximately 139 buses started rolling out about 7:00 a.m. to pick up and transport students across the District to our 15 schools (11 elementary and three middle schools, and Penn High School).

For the first three days of school, Dr. Thacker visits all 15 schools! After leaving Penn High School this morning, his first stop was Madison Elementary to speak to students during their school assembly. All the students got a kick out of hearing about Dr. Thacker’s teaching days at Madison. P-H-M Board Members Jim Garrett and Larry Beehler (a Madison student alum) joined Dr. Thacker for his school visits this morning. Kevin McMillen’s enthusiasm, Madison’s new principal, for the new year was contagious. Students were so glad to be back at school they were hugging their teachers.

Over at Horizon Elementary, Principal Tressa Decker enlisted the help of parent volunteers to join Horizon teachers and staff to give students a “Heroes Welcome.” When students arrived at school, they were greeted by parents dressed in their work uniforms and were given "Be The Hero" medal. The goal … to inspire students to be the heroes we know they can be. 

Grissom and Schmucker Middle Schools also have new principals this year. Jean Milfort and Lavon Dean-Null were there to welcome sixth through eighth graders as they exited the buses. The hallways were a flurry of activity, but Mr. Milfort managed to spot and meet Grissom’s female football player linebacker and tight end, whose looking forward to a great year of proving herself to all the naysayers! Dr. Thacker and the Board members showed up later to say hello as part of their District tour. At Schmucker, Mrs. Dean-Null was busy helping students find their way to lockers, classes and at times played the role of “traffic cop!”

Horizon students weren’t the only ones to get a surprise when they arrived at school today. Back at Penn High School, Early College Academy staff dressed in caps and gowns to welcome the Early College Academy senior Class of 2018. This spring the students will be Penn’s first graduating co-hort of the Early College Academy—graduating with both high school diplomas and college associate degrees! Quite an accomplishment and something to look forward to!

Thursday, August 24 is the first day back for kindergartners in P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools.

It’s going to be another amazing year of academic excellence in Penn-Haris0n-Madison this year! Be sure to follow #PHMExcellence to see all the amazing pictures, videos and stories throughout the year!