Summer instruction is provided for elementary, middle and high school students who need additional time and extra support mastering grade level skills.

Based on teacher recommendations, parent requests, test results and evidence of need, principals will issue invitations in the spring for certain students to attend one or more sessions of P-H-M’s summer school program.  

Instruction is very focused, and may cover only math or only reading, depending on the student’s needs.  The approach is remedial, prescriptive, and highly supportive.  Bus transportation and food service are provided as part of summer school. 

Penn High School’s summer program is credit-based, meaning students undertake and complete actual courses for credit, some in the classroom and some online.  Students who wish to include summer classes in their schedule should see their counselor. 

Information about P-H-M’s summer instructional programs are mailed to families who students participate in the program. Dates, times and locations are posted on the website in the spring.

Homebound instruction provides continuity of educational services between the classroom and the home for students whose medical needs, both physical and psychiatric, prohibit school attendance. 

Additionally, homebound instruction may be used to supplement the classroom program for health-impaired children whose conditions may interfere with consistent attendance or children with disabilities that prevent regular school attendance. 

Homebound instruction is intended to be temporary. The “temporary” requirement is based on the premise that instruction should take place in the school setting to the fullest extent possible. 

Who is eligible for homebound instruction?

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, per Board Policy #2412 and in accordance with Indiana Code 20-26-3, will provide individual instruction to students of legal school age who are not able to attend classes because of accident, illness, or disability. 

A student is eligible to receive homebound instruction if:
•    The student is expected to miss 20 consecutive days of school, or
•    A total of 20 days over a period of one year, or
•    Any number of days of homebound care or hospital care necessary to complete the school year
 

Continuity of educational services for the student is the goal of homebound instruction. 

How does homebound instruction work?

•    The homebound instructor is a licensed teacher who acts as a bridge between home and school. 
•    If services are provided in the home, the parent/guardian must be present. Services may be provided at an alternate location per agreement between the parent and the homebound teacher. 
•    Laboratory and activity-based classes like physical education and choir are not available through homebound services. 
•    Five hours of instruction per week is the maximum available to a homebound student.  
•    The homebound teacher will keep a log of all tutoring hours and materials taught. 
•    When the student returns to school the homebound teacher will prepare a report summarizing the student’s academic progress and submit it to the principal or guidance counselor. 

How do I arrange for homebound services for my child?

Documentation of a disabling condition must be done by a physician licensed to practice in the State of Indiana.

The physician must:
•    Certify the nature of the medical disability, and
•    State the probable duration of the confinement, and 
•    Certify the student’s ability to participate in an educational program

The parent starts the application process by filling out the Request Physician Form or request a printed copy from your school principal or your student’s guidance counselor. This form must be presented to the student’s physician who should complete and sign it, and then returned to the school or the parent. 

In addition, the parent must read, sign, and return the Homebound Requirements and Parental Agreement. The information on this page makes clear how important parental support is to a child’s successful homebound experience.

Both forms must be on file at the school before a homebound instructor can be scheduled. 

How long can my child receive homebound instruction?

The goal of homebound instruction is to facilitate the student’s return to the classroom setting as quickly as possible. 

Application for homebound services must be completed each year. Homebound services do not continue from one school year to the next without a new application form and physician-certified statement of need. 

Questions? 

Contact Heather Short, Asst. Superintendent for Instruction
Office 574-258-9588 ♦ hshort@phm.k12.in.us

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation
55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka IN 46545
Receptionist 574-258-7941 ♦ Fax 574-258-9547

Click here to fill out the 2024-25 registration form

*please only use the link above to register for the current 2024-2025 school year

Early Learning Academy is offered at these three locations:

• Northpoint Elementary *New site for the 2025-2026 school year
  • Address: 50800 Cherry Rd, Granger
  • Main Office: (574) 271-8598
  • Click here to Register for Northpoint
• Mary Frank Elementary
  • ​Address:  13111 Adams Road, Granger
  • Main Office: (574) 272-0340
  • Teacher:  Tonya Rhodes trhodes@phm.k12.in.us
  • Click Here to Register for Mary Frank

• Horizon Elementary
  • Address:  10060 Brummitt Road, Granger
  • Main Office:  (574) 679-9788
  • Teacher:  Lisa Langfeldt llangfeldt@phm.k12.in.us
  • Click Here to Register for Horizon

Additional Information: 

The non-refundable registration fee of $60 is due before your child is officially registered into the Early Learning Academy.  The fee can be dropped off at the school office between 8:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

In addition to submitting the online registration form (linked at the bottom of the page), you will need to provide a copy of the child’s birth certificate, immunization records, and two proofs of residency (mortgage/lease/rental statement and a current utility bill). Instructions on where to send these documents are found on the electronic registration form.  School front office staff will be happy to help you with any questions you may have.

Who is eligible to apply? 

Registration for the Northpoint, Horizon and Mary Frank Early Learning Academies are open now.

The child must be 4 years old on or before September 1, 2025 to attend during the 2025 – 2026 school year. There is no residency requirement. Youngsters who live in neighboring school districts are welcome to apply. Please note – when non-resident preschool children are of age to attend Kindergarten, parents/guardians must apply for a spot during the P-H-M non-resident application process.  Attending the Early Learning Academy does not qualify non-resident students to automatically attend a P-H-M school.

How many days a week does this program operate? 

The program operates 5 days a week, Monday through Friday.

What are the hours of operation? 

Both ELA locations at Mary Frank and Horizon operate from 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. , Monday through Friday. We follow the established P-H-M school calendar, including school closings and delays that may occur due to weather. 

• Click here for the school calendar

How much does it cost? 

In addition to the non-refundable registration fee of $60, the cost for the  2025 – 2026 school year is $35 a day.  Cost includes full-day programming, a daily lunch and a snack.

We do offer an option to pay fees online. Please click here for more details on how to pay Early Learning Academy fees online using e~Funds for Schools.

What is the curriculum for the program? 

Each location is served by a certified lead teacher, assisted by para-educators in the classroom setting. We use a research-based, early childhood program that builds strong foundations for school success focusing on each student’s social, emotional and cognitive learning through a variety of tools. Our preschoolers spend time in role-play which has shown to lead to higher measures of creativity and cognition. Students are exposed to learning through multiple intelligences including literacy, mathematics, socialization, music, physical education, and the arts. Through fun, creative activities, we scaffold students through multiple levels of learning. 

Watch this video highlighting how our professionally-staffed, full-time programs promote learning while encouraging creativity and problem solving. 

Are either transportation service or Kids Club available? 

We do not offer bus transportation to and from preschool. If it is necessary for your child to attend Kids Club (P-H-M’s child care services before and after school program), please indicate the need on the ELA application.

Click here to Register for Northpoint Early Learning Academy Registration Form for the 2025 – 2026 school year.

Click here for the Mary Frank Early Learning Academy Registration Form for the 2025 – 2026 school year.

Click here for the Horizon Early Learning Academy Registration Form for the 2025 – 2026 school year.

Our Parent Handbooks cover many details and are available here:

• Parent Handbooks

Alternative education provides options to students who are not successful in the traditional school setting. The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation offers the following alternative programs.

Pennway Alternative Program

The purpose of the Pennway Alternative Program is to provide each student with the resources and support necessary to successfully complete a program of studies that will lead to a high school diploma as well as obtain marketable work skills.

Pennway Alternative Day School offers a program for 11th and 12th grade students. This program connects to the corporation program at Penn High School. If students are employed or volunteer, they may be eligible for additional credits. Pennway Alternative also houses the Penn High School Independent Study program. This is for Penn High School students in grades 9-12 who need to retake a course for credit.

For more information, contact the Penn High School Guidance office at 574-258-9502.

Listed below is the Student Alternative Education Application and the Pennway Student Handbook:
2024-2025 Penn High School Student Handbook

Pennway Night School

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation also offers a Pennway Night School program whose purpose is to provide coursework for a high school diploma. There is a comprehensive core curriculum of North Central Association and Indiana Department of Education-approved courses delivered through several software programs. Students are required to pass the Indiana End of Course Exams (ECA) in Language Arts 10 and Algebra 1 and take the Biology 1 ECA as a requirement of No Child Left Behind.

To qualify for the Pennway Night School you must be 18 years of age or older and need a high school diploma. Individuals who are currently enrolled in high school classes are not eligible to enroll as a full time night school student. Enrollment is quick and easy. You must be 18 years of age or older to enroll. A fee of $25 is required at the time of enrollment. You can register by appointment with Brad Boyd, Pennway Night School in the evenings Monday through Thursday (between the hours of 3:00 to 9:00 p.m.). Enrollees will need the following documents to enroll: government issued picture ID or birth certificate for proof of age. Only checks or money orders will be accepted. Penn-Harris-Madison reserves the right to determine appropriate academic placement for students.

Pennway Night School is located at 55985 Bittersweet Road across from Penn High School and north of the Paul H. Schmucker Middle School. For more information, contact the Guidance Office at Penn High School at (574) 258-9502 or Pennway Night School Director Brad Boyd by telephone at (574) 254-2895.

P-H-M’s English as a New Language (ENL) program serves all students whose first language is not English.

Upon enrollment in U.S. schools, all students complete a Home Language Survey to indicate the student’s native language.  If English is not the student’s native language, an English language assessment is completed. Indiana utilizes the WIDA Screener to determine the student’s English language fluency. If a student has obtained a fluent score (from a WIDA assessment of 5.0 or higher) from a previous school, it is helpful to present this at the time of registration. 

ENL services are provided in all P-H-M schools. An Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is developed for each “limited English proficient” (LEP) student.  This document outlines specific modifications appropriate for all classroom instruction and state testing accommodations. 

Elementary students are serviced by a licensed English language teacher and through small groups or individual in class assistance by an ENL aide. These services are presented according to the language level of the student in conjunction with Indiana Department of Education standards as well as WIDA’s English Language Development (ELD) Standards. Collaboration occurs between the mainstream teacher and EL staff to address areas of focus. 

Middle and high school students are enrolled in English Language Development (ELD) and/or Language Lab. Both courses provide opportunities to develop skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. WIDA’s English Language Development (ELD) Standards are also addressed.

Additional information can be found at the Indiana Department of Education’s website for English Learning and Migrant Education. 

CONTACT

• For district related questions, please contact the Director of Alternative Education and Special Projects, Robert Thompson, phone (574) 254-2857 extension 20617. Email him at rthompson@phm.k12.in.us 
• At the elementary level (grades K-5), please contact the Elementary EL Coordinator, Nicole Parker, phone (574) 259-2486, extension 53261. Email her at nparker@phm.k12.in.us​
• At the middle school level (grades 6-8), please contact the Middle School EL Coordinator, Rylee Jacobson, phone (574) 674-7375, extension 49245, Email her at rjacobson@phm.k12.in.us
• At the high school level (grades 9–12), please contact the High School EL Coordinator, Lauren Tarbet, phone (574) 258-9543, extension 20461. Email her at ltarbet@phm.k12.in.us

How We Identify High Ability Students

In Indiana, students can be identified as high ability based on achievement or aptitude. We are required to give nationally normed tests to test for high ability. We use the NWEA tests to measure achievement and the CogAT tests to measure aptitude.

We have selection committees that determine which students are high ability. The cut-off scores for kindergarten are 97%ile on the NWEA tests and 95%ile on the CogAT tests. For grades 1-5 the cut-off score for NWEA is 95%ile and the CogAT cut-off is 95%ile.

Formal High Ability Identification Years

Because young students change and grow, there are three times in the elementary experience that we formally identify students who have high ability: kindergarten, second grade and fifth grade.

The following documents outline the process:

• Kindergarten high ability identification process
• Second grade high ability identification process
• Fifth grade high ability identification process

Informal High Ability Identification Years

Grades 1,3 and 4-These are informal years for high ability identification. Students only do achievement testing if they are nominated by a teacher. Nominated 1st, 3rd and 4th graders will be given the NWEA test or tests in February. 

Test Results – Beginning in mid April, parents may request test reports/results by emailing your child’s building principal. Please include the child’s first name, last name, grade and school in the email.

Parent Letters – Letters will be sent to the parents of the newly identified students in April. Letters of newly identified students were sent the week of April 14th through the US postal service. A small amount of students  will be tested after spring break. If any of these students qualify for high ability, the parents will be notified.

Appeals – Grades K, 2, 5 only: Parents may request an appeal form by emailing your child’s building principal. Appeal forms should only be completed when students barely missed the NWEA required score and there is other evidence that the student has characteristics of a High Ability student. Appeals are due May 12.

Identifying students who are new to the Corporation  Please send recent achievement and aptitude test reports to your child’s school so that the correct placement is made for your child. Principals are in charge of the placement of all students. Only actively enrolled students are assessed for high ability during the testing window. If a student was identified as high ability or gifted and talented in a different school corporation, please send recent nationally normed test reports to your child’s principal. The high ability/gifted and talented label will continue if there are percentile scores that match our cut-off scores.

Placement of high ability students in elementary schools-High Ability Cluster Grouping Model with a Mixed Ability Class

Definition:  All high ability students are clustered in one classroom per grade and the subjects are differentiated. In some of our schools, there are cluster groups in two classes if the number of identified students is high.

Note-Our corporation doesn’t have one specific way to manage high ability cluster groups. Each school and teacher needs to use strategies that fit the number of identified students, student learning styles and teaching style.

How We Serve High Ability Students in Elementary Grades

Language Arts

Writing

Writing instruction will take place with the whole class and in small groups. Writing instruction naturally differentiates based on individual strengths and weaknesses with each writing piece. 

Reading

Reading Street and the reading curriculum maps provide the framework for instruction. All on-grade level standards and skills on the curriculum maps need to be taught or reviewed based on each student’s experience. This can be done whole class or in small groups.

Practice will be differentiated if students have mastered on-grade level standards. Below you will find resources that teachers may use to differentiate. 

Question Stems-These are higher level questions for the reading standards that can be used with most text at any level. These can be used with text at a student’s instructional level. These can be used in a small group discussion or assigned individually. The text could be from Reading Street leveled readers, leveled readers from building libraries or from a different provided resource.

Off Grade Level Magazines-Teachers have subscriptions for off grade level magazines for their identified HA LA students. There are a lot of good thinking activities in the magazines for articles/stories at a higher reading level. 

Other resources that may be used by HA LA teachers:

• Junior Great Books
• Novel Studies
• Other off grade level resources that are provided by the high ability coordinator

Math

Everyday Mathematics and the math curriculum maps provide the framework for instruction. All standards on the curriculum map need to be taught and/or reviewed. This can be done whole class or in small groups. The corporation’s expectation for high ability is that students master on-grade level skills and are introduced to off grade level standards and practice these off grade level standards. They don’t have to master off grade level skills. Below are a list of resources that are provided to high ability math teachers to assist them in meeting the instructional needs of our high ability math students.

Unit DI Guides– Unit guides  provide guidance for differentiation. The first column lists the on-grade level standards. The second column lists activities that are on grade level but at a higher DOK level. The third column lists the off grade level standard that aligns to each on grade level standard. As HA students show mastery in on grade level standards, teachers use this guide to help them plan practice at students’ instructional level.

Off grade level standard resources-Teachers are provided with resources that practice off grade level standards.

High Ability Final Report, 2022-23

High Ability Final Report, 2023-2024

Please contact your school principal for more information on the High Ability program.

Saturday Enrichment at Schmucker Middle School

During the 2024-2025 school year we will be offering a variety of Saturday Enrichment opportunities. Invitations will include details about eligible grade levels and class offerings.

Fall 2025 Enrichment Dates: Saturdays, 8:00 – 11:00 a.m.

• November 8
• November 15
• November 22

Spring 2026 Enrichment Dates: Saturdays, 8:00 – 11:00 a.m.

• March 14
• March 21
• March 28

*Priority is given to students that were unable to attend Fall Saturday Enrichment.

Eligibility Requirements for participating in Saturday Enrichment (Grades 3-5)
Grade 3

• scored in at least the 90%ile on a second grade NWEA test or CogAT test
• scored proficient or highly proficient on the 2024 Fall Clearsight Interim Assessment
• identified as high ability

Grades 4- 5

• scored an above proficiency on the Spring 2024 Language Arts or Math ILEARN
• identified as high ability