Penn High School will once again host the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10.

Plan on coming out and enjoying the excitement of more than 40 high school FRC robotics teams from Indiana and Michigan battling it out on a basketball court-sized field with four-foot tall, 120-pound robots! Join more than 5,000 students, coaches, mentors, parents and fans during this one-of-a-kind two-day event! WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW to get a taste of all the excitement!

Cheer on Penn’s Team 135 and make sure to bring your Robotics fans to enjoy Next Gen, an area for students ages K-8, who can get hands-on engaging fun with some of Team 135’s other robots. Next Gen will be open Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The entire event is FREE ADMISSION!

It’s always exciting when a news reporter shows up with a giant check and that’s exactly what happened today (Friday, Feb. 8, 2019)! WNDU’s Tricia Sloma and Martin’s employee Chris Belakovich presented a $1,000 check as part of the “One School at a Time” program. 

One School at a time rewards schools that are seeking to find creative ways to improve learning with limited resources. Our PTO applied for the grant to support the “Family Book Club.”

With the funds received from WNDU and Martin’s the PTO will purchase 2-3 books for each family. Families will read the books together, one a month, and culminate in a celebration of reading trivia/social night.

Trivia questions will be on the content of the books. Books one and two have already been distributed. 

Watch WNDU tonight to see cheering students and our very own Kevin McMillen receive the giant check!

A big THANK YOU to our PTO for applying for the grant and making this project possible!

Grissom Instrument Selection Night

Thursday, March 7, 2019

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is nationally recognized as one of the “Best Communities for Music Education” offering choir, band and orchestra at P-H-M’s three middle schools: Schmucker, Discovery, and Grissom Middle Schools.

Every P-H-M 5th grader who will be attending a P-H-M middle school as an incoming 6th grader in the Fall 2020 has the opportunity to join an instrumental music class, which includes either band or orchestra. “Instrument Selection Night” is when students and families get to make their choice!

In order to join 6th grade band or orchestra, students must select an instrument that they will learn, practice and perform for the school year.  Click this link to sign-up for your appointment at your designated school and date. *If you have not received a letter with details about this process, please contact Glenn Northern at gnorthern@phm.k12.in.us.

At “Instrument Selection Night,” a music professional will be available to give students advice about which instrument may be best suited for them. They will be allowed to “try out” instruments from various instrument groups.

Parents, your child’s teacher is using either Google Classroom or Canvas for their curriculum assignments. (If you are unsure, please contact your child’s teacher via email ASAP). Classroom teachers are reviewing with students the process today in case they have any questions.

In either situation, you will begin by going to the primary launchpad (primary.phmschools.org) and selecting either Canvas or Google (then Google Classroom). From there, you will sign in by entering your child’s username and password. Your child should be familiar with this username/password from regular use, but if you are unsure, please contact your child’s teacher.

After logging in, you should see a class from your child’s teacher. Click to proceed and follow the prompts.

As general reminders, you are not required to print any of the assignments, but you may do so if you choose. Students will have 5 days to submit the assignments after the missed school day. Keep in mind that the computer lab will be opened, when school is back in session, as an option before or after school for students as needed. Please contact your teacher for specifics if necessary.

Also remember that your primary contact on eLearning days is your child’s teacher. They will be accessible by email and will help to answer any questions you may have.

Registration for kindergarten students for the 2019-2020 school year opened on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.

This registration opportunity is for youngsters who live within the P-H-M district and who will be five-years-old on or before September 1, 2019. 

Registration for Madison Elementary will take place during the hours of 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. A parent or guardian must appear in person to register their child. 

Click here for more registration forms and more details on P-H-M Kindergarten Registration.

Penn-Harris-Madison also operates two preschool programs: Early Learning Academy (ELA) and Penn PALS. Neither program is offered at Madison, but you can click the links below to learn more about the programs available at our other elementary school sites.

Click here to learn more about Penn PALS and download a registration form. Registration for the 2019-20 school year opens Monday, March 11, 2019.

Click here to learn more about ELA and to download a registration form. Registration for the 2019-20 school year opens Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019.

The first day for students of the 2019-2020 school year is Wednesday, August 21, 2019 and the last day for students is Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Other important dates include:

• September 2, 2019: Recess Day – Labor Day
• October 25 & 28, 2019: Fall Recess Days
• November 5, 2019: Recess Day – General Election
• November 27-29, 2019: Thanksgiving Recess Days
• December 23-Jan. 3, 2020: Winter Break
• January 20, 2020: Recess Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 17, 2020: Recess Day – Presidents’ Day
• April 6-10, 2020: Spring Break
• May 5, 2020: Recess Day – Primary Election
• May 25, 2020: Recess Day – Memorial Day

Click here for a one-page pdf copy of the 2019-2020 school year calendar.

If you need copies of the 2018-2019 school year and activity calendars, please click here.

Discovery Middle School PTO in Partnership with Discovery Middle School presents “An Evening of Vocational Options and Saving for College.” 
 

Please join us at Discovery Middle School for presentations about the College Savings 529 Plan and by Elkhart Area Career Center. The programs at the EACC are available to Penn High School students. A complete listing of classes and programs are outline in the Penn High School Program of Studies—just use the “Cntrl F” function to search for the Elkhart Area Career Center.

Monday, February 11, 2019, 7:00 p.m. at Discovery Middle School.

The St. Joseph County Police Department implemented the DARE program in 1996.  At that time the DARE program was taught in eleven schools.  Currently, our department serves eighteen schools throughout St. Joseph County.  

DARE goes far beyond the traditional drug abuse programs that emphasize drug identification and the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol.  These programs only warn children not to use substances, not how to resist the pressures to try them. DARE teaches children the skills they need to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that may lead them to experiment with drugs and alcohol, recognize responsible decision making processes and help combat bullying.  

The primary goal of DARE is the prevention of substance abuse, responsible decision making, gang affiliation, and involvement in violence among school children.

DARE accomplishes this goal by:

·         Providing accurate information about drugs and alcohol.

·         Teaching students how to say "no" while providing alternatives to drug use

·         Teaching students decision-making skills and about the consequences of their behavior

·         Building students' self-esteem and teaching them to resist peer pressure.

Madison Students participated in the DARE Graduation held on December 4th after they completed a 10-week program with Sargent Cynthia Guest to learn DARE fundamentals. Each student wrote an essay about what they are taking away from the program that will help them stay strong in the future. Officer Guest selected a winning essay from each grade which was read at the graduation. Eliana Montgomery, fifth grade and Emma Laidig, fourth grade were the winning authors. Sheriff Michael D. Grzegorek and Sgt. Cynthia Guest presented certificates to all students.

Penn Robotics Team 135 is once again holding workshops for 1^st ​- 8th grade students over two days of Winter Recess (Thurs., Dec. 27 & Friday, Dec. 28).

Creative Workshop 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Suggested Age: 1^st ​- 3^rd graders. Price: $80.00. A camp that stretches the creative mind! Students are given a design challenge to complete over the course of two days. Students will be using K’NEX to build a solution to the stated problem. They will be on teams that will design, create, and improve upon their concept. While having fun in an exciting environment, the emphasis is always on the process of design to build, while always improving on previous ideas! On Friday students will have the opportunity to test their concepts against the other teams within the workshop. Parents are also welcome to attend the Parent Show which will take place the last 15 minutes of the workshop on the December 28th. High school robotics students will be mentors during these two days of fun!

Applied Workshop 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Suggested Age: 4^th – 8^th graders. Price: $80.00. This camp is geared towards students who want to expand their knowledge in designing and manufacturing! This workshop is also geared towards students who can follow instructions and are comfortable behind computer software. Over the two days, students will be designing 3D parts on the computer that can be brought to life with many CNC Machines. Students will have the opportunity to use the 3D printer, CNC Laser Cutter, the CNC Router, and many other tools/machines in the Penn Robotics Lab! High school students will be mentoring and helping students with their 3D computer designs and machining their parts.

Click here to sign-up and pay online today!

Do you like to dance? Do you want to learn how to spin a flag? Do you like to perform?

All levels are welcome to come to the Penn Winter Guard Call-Out at Bittersweet Elementary School (next to Penn HS). The call-out will be on Tuesday, November 27^th at 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Girls and boys, grades 4-12, will be accepted. 

Come be a part of this incredible performing arts group!

Click here to download and print the flyer.