What would make more than 200 elementary students and dozens of Penn High School students show up at school on a Saturday? It would have to be something pretty cool, and there’s no doubt that P-H-M’s new  “Short Circuits” Sphero is cool! Click here to see the full photo gallery below.

Teams of third graders from all 11 P-H-M elementary schools and their Penn Robotics Team 135 coaches/mentors were excited to show off what they had learned about coding, programming, and robotics to their parents, grandparents and family members. 

The idea for Short Circuits came about from a discussion between longtime, now retired, Penn Robotics Team 135 Coach Jim Langfeldt and P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom.

Current Team 135 Teacher Coach Kyle Marsh worked with Michael Niemier — a Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at Notre Dame — under the umbrella of his National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) grant, which funded Mr. Marsh’s summer work to write the Short Circuits coding program. Co-developer and former P-H-M teacher Jim Langfeldt has also participated in Niemier’s RET program.

During the 4-week after school practices, the Penn students have coached and mentored 3rd grade teams at all 11 elementary schools; one or two teachers at each elementary school are also involved helping to oversee the students.

During Saturday’s celebration, the 3rd grade students will demonstrate for their parents and family members what they’ve learned, including programming the Sphero robots to maneuver through the Penn Robotics student built obstacle course.

Short Circuits is sponsored by P-H-M Education Foundation. Former longtime PHM Board Member Gary Fox, and his wife Tammy, generously committed to a $20,000 donation over four years to sponsor the program. $30,000 was raised at the PHMEF 25th Anniversary Gala to pay for Sphero kits for all the elementary schools.

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 15 Penn High School students have been awarded National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalist Designation, one of the largest groups ever to achieve the coveted academic status at Penn.

Sakina Al-Fadhl, Ryan Cheng, Tanya Datta, Noah Durand, Hadley Jessop, Eshaal Kizilbash, Gwyneth Lannon, Reagan Ludwig, Derick Shi, Grace Wang, Zichu Wang, Andrew Wolter, Allison Yu, Janet Yu and Madelyn Zavada were named Class of 2023 National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalists by the College board.

Additionally, William Chenoweth, Luke Johnson, Amelia Martin, Benjamin Marvin, Jacob Moehn, Samuel Palmer, Rudra Patel, Sydney Szklarek and Elaina Wright have been named commended scholars by the College Board.

“We are extremely proud of these students and their accomplishments,” Galiher said. “This recognition a culmination of the great efforts of these students including all the wonderful teachers they have had while attending P-H-M schools.”

In each annual National Merit Scholarship Program, about 50,000 academically talented high school students are honored, and 16,000 of them are named Semifinalists. Students who qualify as Semifinalists based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) are the only program participants who have an opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for National Merit Scholarships. About 7,250 of the outstanding Finalists will be chosen as Merit Scholarship® winners in the 2023 competition.

All Merit Scholar® designees are chosen based on their abilities, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, religious preference, or family financial circumstances. Although all students who become Finalists are outstanding, not all Finalists receive a Merit Scholarship award. Of the 15,000 Finalists in the 2023 program, about half will win an award, and no student will receive more than one scholarship offer from NMSC.

Considerations for selection as a National Merit Scholar include the academic record, the school’s recommendation of the Finalist, a student essay, extracurricular activities and scores on the PSAT/NMSQT.

The Penn-Harris-Board of School Trustees unanimously voted tonight (Monday, Oct. 10, 2022) to approve the P-H-M teachers’ contract for the 2022-2023 school year increasing teachers’ overall base salaries by 7%.

With tonight’s vote to approve the contract, P-H-M’s new salary range for teachers will now be $44,940 to $77,412. The retroactive salary increases from August 2022 through November 2022 will be paid no later than December 2022.

“With this salary increase, P-H-M has one of the highest starting salaries in the region,” said P-H-M Board of School Trustees President Chris Riley. “In a competitive market and a national teacher shortage, the P-H-M Board supports the administration’s collaborative negotiations with the P-H-M Teachers’ Association to help attract teachers to work at P-H-M.”

Additionally P-H-M teachers who instructed students during the 2021-2022 school year and received an evaluation rating of “Effective” or “Highly Effective” for last school year will also receive an evaluation stipend of $600. Athletic and Extracurricular stipends will increase from 2% to 3%.

“Teachers new to the field of education and those more experienced are attracted to work at P-H-M because of the numerous resources, professional development opportunities, and our commitment to excellence in education,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “P-H-M has a great, longstanding working relationship with PHMTA. Working together we can continue recruit and retain the brightest and best!”

Contract negotiations took place during the week of September 26 with PHMTA members overwhelmingly voted to approve the contract on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

“It is no secret that every school district in Indiana is facing a teacher shortage. P-H-M has fared better than many districts throughout this teacher shortage. PHMTA appreciates our administration and school board members who not only put our students and parents first, but also value our great teachers. This agreement will not only help in recruiting the best and brightest, it provides a very generous increase to those teachers currently serving the PHM community,” said PHMTA President Lisa Langfeldt.

Teacher’s contract is negotiated first and then negotiations with the rest of P-H-M employee groups follow. Annually the process takes place after the school year has begun, approximately September – November/December. Announcements about other P-H-M employee groups will be forthcoming.

Penn High School junior Felix Zhang talked to South Bend local news media this afternoon about earning a perfect score, not missing a single question, on the college-level Advanced Placement® (AP®) Calculus AB Exam—the only student in the world to do so!

The media coverage of Felix Zhang’s amazing accomplishment continues to roll in, including a shout-out by Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” with more than a million views …

Below is a sampling of local, state, national and international news coverage:

• ABC 57
  • ABC 57’s story was then picked up by ABC News network, along with the ABC affiliate stations in Los Angeles, and Chicago
• WSBT-TV
  • WSBT’s story was picked up by the CBS station in Kansas City, MO
• WNDU-TV
  • WNDU’s story was picked up by the Boston affiliate
• Fox News Network
• 13 WTHR-TV (Indianapolis)
• WVPE (Elkhart Public Radio)
• New York Post
• Britain’s the Daily Mail
• Click to see all the Tweets about Felix

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

The College Board, which administers the AP® exams, recently notified Penn Principal Sean Galiher that Zhang not only attained a perfect score of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5), but Zhang was the only student in the world to earn every point possible on the AP® Calculus AB exam! This means Zhang accomplished the maximum score on each portion of the exam (108 out of 108). In 2017, a student from Carmel, Indiana, was 1 of 3 people in the world to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read a story in Indy Star). In 2016, a student from California was 1 of 12 in the world  to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read the story in LA Times).

In an email sent to Principal Galiher notifying him of Zhang’s phenomenal achievement, Head of the Advanced Placement Program Trevor Packer said, “This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at Penn High School. We applaud Felix's hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”

“The teachers in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation are some of the best in the state of Indiana,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Their incredible dedication and commitment to academic excellence and making sure every single student reaches their highest potential is nothing short of extraordinary; and they do this every day across our district, in all 15 schools. Felix Zhang and teacher Mrs. Denise White are just one of the many examples of great student/teacher relationships that result in phenomenal achievements for our students. It exemplifies our ‘Triangle of Success’—connecting students, teachers and parents!”

When asked by reporters if he was surprised with his score, Zhang replied “I felt pretty confident knowing that I knew what to do on the test, but there was always a chance I would make a small error or something. So I wasn't really expecting to see a perfect score. And that was pretty surprising to me because I felt like, there's a lot of other people out there who probably perform very well on this test, and I'm pretty surprised that no one else got a perfect score.”

Zhang took the AP® Calculus AB exam last spring 2022 when he was a sophomore along with approximately 270,000 students worldwide. Approximately 20% of students who took the test in May 2022 earned a 5—the largest percentage of 5s since 2016 (click here for more data related to the 2022 AP® Calculus AB exam).

Zhang’s AP® Calculus AB teacher at Penn High School last school year was Mrs. Denise White and this year she’s teaching Zhang again in the next level AP® Calculus CB class. Mrs. White has been a teacher for 30 years and is in her fourth year of teaching AP® Calculus at Penn.

“I love the students. I think that's why I do it. I call them my kids because now I have a daughter that just graduated and she's away at college. And so they have sort of fill that gap for me,” said Mrs. White talking to reporters. “I love to like go to their sporting events. I sponsor two clubs; and I used to coach here at Penn. So just getting involved in the students’ lives is very enjoyable for me. It's not a profession that you probably can do without loving it. I don't know what I would do if I didn't teach.”

Mrs. White also told reporters that not only is she extremely proud of Zhang, but she’s also overjoyed with last year’s class overall performance sharing that 50% of her students last spring scored 5s (click here for more information about the percentage breakdown of the 2022 AP® Calculus AB scores).

“There’s a lot of strategies that teachers can put in place to help students learn. But when you have kids scoring at a five, you know that the curriculum is intentional, it's focused, the kids are engaged and there is a collaborative environment,” said Penn Principal Sean Galiher. “When you take an AP Calculus course in high school, you're essentially taking the first year of Calculus as a college student; and that's the whole reason why we we push dual credit and AP type courses here at Penn High School. We want students to feel prepared so they can succeed in college and finish college, in four years at least. So if we can expose them at the high school level and help them experience the rigor and the challenge and be successful, we know they're going to be successful when they leave our our walls.”

Information supplied by the Advanced Placement® Program states that students who succeed in AP® are not only more likely to succeed in college, but have the chance to save a significant amount of time and money by earning college credit or placement. Colleges and universities around the world receive AP® scores for college.

Penn High School is the only high school within Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, which is located in suburban South Bend, Indiana (home to the University of Notre Dame). P-H-M Corporation serves nearly 11,000 (K-12) students in 11 elementary schools and three middle schools which all feed into Penn High School. Penn has approximately 3,500 students. Zhang attended Northpoint Elementary and Discovery Middle School. With the release of the Spring 2022 ILEARN results and out of all 299 Indiana public schools that passed both ELA and Math, Northpoint Elementary is #1 is the number one public elementary school and Discovery Middle is #2 public middle school in the state. P-H-M is among Indiana’s top performing public school corporations. It in the Top 3.67%, #11 out of Indiana’s public school districts. The School Corporation has consistently received an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education since 2011.

P-H-M’s “Triangle of Success” connects students, teachers and parents for excellence in education. To learn more about academic excellence Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, please click here. To learn about the achievements of Penn students and faculty, please click here.

There is going to be a little something for everybody happening at Penn High School on September 23^rd and 24^th, so mark your calendars and be sure to bring the whole family!

Friday, September 23^rd, 2022

P-H-M Education Foundation Family Fun Zone

• Time 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Location: Behind Penn High School in the Door E Parking Lot / West of TCU Freed Field

• Inflatables

• Food Trucks

• Penn Teacher Dunk Tank
• Voting for parade costumes and floats

*All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

Saint Joseph Health System Health Fair

• Time 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Free Health Screenings PLUS interactive booths for children

Homecoming Parade

• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• Location: Behind Schmucker Middle School > Bittersweet > Ends at the P-H-M ESC
  **SEE THE MAP BELOW**
• Parade Grand Marshal P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, 2022 Penn Homecoming Court, Kingsmen Marching Band, Penn Cheerleaders, Penn student groups and clubs, local Fire trucks & Police cars

Penn Homecoming game, Kingsmen vs. Marian Knights

• Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
  • Homecoming Court Presentation at halftime
• Cost: $6
• Elementary students in grades K-5 get in FREE with a paying adult

Saturday, September 24th, 2022

Silver Mile Bubble & Color Run for Education – Sign up Here!
All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

• Late Registration & T-Shirt Pickup
  • ​Time: 7:15-8:00 a.m.
  • Location: TCU Freed Field
• Warm Up
  • ​Time: 8:15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• 1-Mile Fun Run / Walk
  • ​Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
  • Cost: $10 Per Person (4 & under free!) | T-Shirt $10
    • ​Price for Preregistration by September 22nd, 2022
    • Friday & Saturday (Day of) Registration: Cost $15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• Water and light post race snacks will be available to participants
  

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, 8:00 a.m., Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation administration and members of the Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association (PHMTA) will conduct a Public Hearing.

Please click to read the notice.

P-H-M award winning educators were recently recognized by the Indiana Department of Education. Walt Disney Principal Ryan Towner and 4^th grade Teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox were honored at the IDOE’s inaugural Educational Excellence Awards Gala held Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 in Indianapolis. P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was on hand to applaud them both as great examples of the excellent teachers we have in Penn-Harris-Madison.

Principal Towner was recognized on stage by IDOE Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner and Dr. Rebecca Estes, Senior Director of Educator Talent (see picture below). Principal Towner was Indiana’s only 2021-22 Milken Award Winner, which he learned by surprise in March 2022. Principal Towner was awarded the prestigious Milken Award for his excellence and innovation in education. 

The Gala brought together nearly 400 educators and guests from across the state. Along with Principal Ryan Towner as the Milken Award winner, the event also recognized Elsie Rogers Teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox as Indiana’s finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

The IDOE also awarded up to $4.6 million to schools across the state to celebrate their progress and achievement in supporting student excellence and growth. Click to read more.

On Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) re-endorsed Penn High School’s Early College Academy as a Level 2 program WITH DISTINCTION. The status marks the quality and effectiveness of Penn’s Early College Academy in its commitment to implementing CELL’s Eight Core Principles of an Early College program. Penn High School is the first and only Early College High School in Indiana to achieve this level of distinction. 

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation launched Penn’s Early College Academy in 2014 in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College South Bend-Elkhart and received initial endorsement in 2019. The Class of 2022 is the fifth cohort of the Early College Academy. In 2022, 105 students graduated, with 73 students receiving Associate’s Degrees from Ivy Tech while still in high school! Seventeen students graduated with the Indiana College Core Certificate, and 15 students graduated with between 15-30 transferable college credits.

This year, Penn’s Early College Academy reached a Level 2 endorsement meaning they were able to achieve higher benchmarks, especially in the area of upward trends in the number of students completing credentials, teacher incentives for attaining higher education credentials, and closing the gap between the targeted student populations in Early College and the general school population. Penn is also serving as a Mentor School in the IDOE/CELL Urban College Acceleration Network (UCAN).

“Achieving CELL Early College Endorsement is no easy feat to accomplish. Penn’s Early College Academy is, indeed, exemplary in the way it engages students in rigorous college classes, targets underrepresented student populations, and supports them along the way,” said Sandy Hillman, Director of Early College at CELL. “Through the efforts of strong leaders, engaging teachers and counselors and a committed higher education partner, Penn’s program is transformational for students and parents.  We commend them for their accomplishment of endorsement “with distinction.” 

Early College programs remove the academic and financial barriers that prevent many Hoosier students from attending post-secondary programs. While open to all students, Early College targets low-income young people, first-generation college students, English language learners, and students of color—all statistically underrepresented in higher education.

“Our program is built on the model of P-H-M’s Triangle of Success, connecting students, teachers and parents,” said P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Since its inception, Early College was created to help students who might not otherwise attend college, get the wrap around supports they needed to succeed. I’m extremely proud of what Penn’s ECA has been able to achieve eight years.”

“The Early College Academy has helped hundreds of students get a head start on life and save families thousands of dollars in college tuition and fees by establishing a rigorous, yet supportive environment for the students to earn college credit while in high school,” said Penn Principal Sean Galiher.

"The level of commitment of Penn's Early College Academy teachers is second to none! In the classroom, they develop and implement engaging lessons that are relevant to learners,” said Penn Associate Principal Rachel Fry. “Support is provided through personalized interventions, dedicated counselors, additional tutoring, and experiences beyond the school walls. Students put in the work necessary to successfully navigate high school life and college-level challenges simultaneously. In addition to all of these efforts and accomplishments, having fun and building community remain a top priority. This is a family to which I am grateful to belong!" 

"There is nothing like seeing students' dreams come alive and be fulfilled through this amazing program and the hard work of all involved in it!” said Early College Academy Leader Danielle Black.

“Even years later, families reach out to us with stories of perseverance and open doors which may not have been possible without Early College. I'll never forget the tears of gratitude from a grandma or proud college graduation pictures from parents, not to mention ongoing communication with the students themselves! What a joy to be part of the entire Early College experience."

Schools pursuing endorsement submit portfolios addressing ECHS required principles categorized by: rigorous curriculum, robust student supports, and program completion data. Schools undergo a site visit including interviews with administrators, teachers, students, and parents.

CELL introduced the Early College High School model to Indiana in 2003 and developed the endorsement process in 2007. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has authorized CELL as the state’s sole organization for training, supporting, and endorsing Early College High Schools. As of August of 2022, CELL has trained more than 150 Indiana high schools on the Early College principles.  Forty-four early colleges are endorsed, and one has been designated as endorsed “with distinction.”

Data released from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education in January 2021 shows students earning dual credit in high school are more likely to stay enrolled in college and graduate on time or early. These students saved roughly $82 million in potential tuition costs. 

The email below as sent to all P-H-M Families the afternoon of September 1, 2022.

Dear P-H-M Families,

We are happy to share with you some important information relative to the latest student achievement data in Penn-Harris-Madison. We are proud of the ongoing work of our teachers, students, and families and we will maintain our focus on continuous improvement to ensure students are ready for college and/or career success as they leave Penn High School.

The Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Jennifer McCormick, made a statement in 2019 in order to clarify the drastic differences between ISTEP+ (the previously used state assessment) and ILEARN (which began as the new state assessment in the spring of 2019). This assessment is given to students in grades 3-8 in both English/Language Arts and Mathematics.

As we shared with you over the summer, we are incredibly proud of our state ranking on spring 2022 ILEARN. Penn-Harris-Madison’s students scored in the top 3.67% of all public school corporations ranking 11th out of 299 districts. We want to thank our teachers for their dedication and commitment to working to accelerate the learning of our students.

As we noted above, the statewide assessment changed in 2019. But even with that change, one way we benchmark our performance is by comparing it to statewide proficiency scores. Since 2013, we have increased our variance from state averages considerably.

This graphic shows that we were 12 percentage points above the state average in English/Language Arts in 2013 and then increased that variance to 20 percentage points in 2022, an increase of 8 percentage points. In Mathematics, we were 11 percentage points higher than the state average in 2013 and increased that variance to 21 percentage points, an increase of 10 percentage points.

On this chart, we again look at our variance from the state average when students have passed both English/Language Arts and Mathematics together. In 2013 we were 14 percentage points higher than the state average, while in 2022 we were 21 percentage points higher, showing a 7 percentage point increase. 

Fourth grade teacher Amanda Fox has been selected as a “Top 10” finalist for Indiana’s Teacher of the Year. She was selected as a Top 25 Finalist on August 18.

Mrs. Fox was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year last school year. Mrs. Fox has won a few awards this year:

• 2022 Michiana Forty under 40 class, recognizing young adults, professionals, executives and leaders, under the age of 40, achieving outstanding professional success while also engaging in his/her community through charitable and civic involvement.
• Indiana’s only math finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). She traveled to Washington, DC in May to receive her award.

Watch the video below to find out what makes Mrs. Fox such a terrific teacher …

The next step for the Indiana Teacher of the Year is for Mrs. Fox to do an in-person interview with the Selection Committee on September 12.