To help kick off National Appreciation Week, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised two very special teachers on Monday, May 2 to notify them that they had been chosen as year’s P-H-M 2022 Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year. 

In the morning Dr. Thacker dropped by Elsie Rogers Elementary School to surprise 4th grade teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox. She was in the middle of teaching a math lesson when Dr. Thacker and Cabinet members popped into her classroom for the big surprise. Mrs. Fox is such a committed and focused teacher that she even made Dr. Thacker wait until she was finished before he could continue with the “surprise!” Click here to see the photo gallery on Elsie Rogers’ website. On Monday afternoon, Dr. Thacker stopped by Penn High School to surprise Art Teacher Mrs. Becky Hope to award her with the honor of PHM Secondary Teacher of the Year. Click here to read more.

This is one of three of Mrs. Fox's latest awards. Last week she was chosen as one of the recipients of the 2022 Michiana Forty under 40 class. The program recognizes 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.

Back in February, Mrs. Fox was named a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Click here to read the White House news release. This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States to K-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers. President Joe Biden named 117 teachers and Mrs. Fox was among the national winners! 

Mrs. Fox’s colleague and fellow teacher Becky Richhart nominated Mrs. Fox for P-H-M Elementary Teacher of the Year partially because of her passion of “devising ways to incorporate computer science concepts into existing STEM curriculum.” 

Ms. Richhart recounted how recently Mrs. Fox had her students create book reports and multiplication games using a free block-based programming website. She led her students in a “telephone style” game designed to demonstrate how different parts of a computer communicate when it’s computing. 

One of the things that stands out the most about Mrs. Fox is her collaboration with ND Department of Computer Science & Engineering on various research efforts funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF grants funded a K-6 ND computer science summer program, as well as Prairie Vista after-school coding classes where Mrs. Fox used to teach. She was also the first teacher sponsor of the VEX Robotics team at Prairie Vista and was the Project Lead the Way teacher.

Last summer while developing content for her classroom, Mrs. Fox participated in research activities alongside Notre Dame grad students as part of RET (National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers), a program which is typically aimed at high school teachers.

Mrs. Fox was among the first cohort of teachers to help K-8 teachers develop age-appropriate curriculum to introduce students to computer science within existing STEM curricula. She also contributed to developing a framework for K-12 schools to meet new state computer science standards. Mrs. Fox also established a northern Indiana chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA).

Over her eight years at P-H-M, she has “used computer science to deepen the computational thinking skills for her students,” said Ms. Richhart. 

Penn High School has once again been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation's best high schools. Penn ranks 1st in the South Bend area, 20th in Indiana, and #1,486 in the national rankings (out of nearly 18,000 high schools nationwide). This puts Penn in the top 8% of the nation's best high schools for 2022!

Penn’s other points of distinction noted by the prestigious national magazine ranking, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement course work and exam. At least 41% of Penn students enrolled in AP took at least one test, and 31% of those passed at least one AP exam.

The rankings are based on data collected for the 2020-2021, 2019-2020 and 2018-2019 academic years, detailed school-specific information on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, location, school type, and results of state assessments as well as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Indiana high school students typically follow the Core 40 curriculum, which includes required classes in English Language Arts, math, Social Studies and Science, among others. Students who fulfill additional requirements can earn a diploma with academic or technical honors. Penn has a 97% graduation rate with approximately 78% of students in 2019 enrolled in AP, Dual Credit, and Industry certification classes.

For the 2021-2022 school year, Penn maintained the 97% graduation rate and about 76% of students in 2019 enrolled in AP, Dual Credit, and Industry certification classes. 

Class of 2022 included these points of distinction:

• @800 graduates earned more than $11 million in scholarships and county
• 17 valedictorians and 5 salutatorians

• 10 students have named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, 11 were named Finalists

• 9 students were named Commended Scholars

• Valedictorian Matthew Zhang semifinalist for the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of only 620 nationally

• Valedictorian Hala Ansari selected as a 2022 Indiana Academic All-Star, one of only 40 students across our state to be honored

• All 4 students awarded the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County Eli Lilly Endowment Scholarship were Penn students/valedictorians: Hala Ansari, Manaal Buchh, Salem Fitwi and Luca Nijim

The Academies at Penn High School provide the framework for student success. Through their work in each academy, students find relevant and meaningful coursework taught in a supportive environment where each student is known well by his teachers and peers. Through these “smaller learning communities,” students build relationships while engaged in relevant learning experiences.

Early College Academy was endorsed in 2019 as an “Early College High School” by The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis. In 2022, the Academy was re-endorsed as an exemplar for other high schools across Indiana implementing an Early College program. The 8 EC Core Principles (as outlined by CELL) are: 

1. Targeted Student Population
2. Curriculum & Plan of Study
3. College-Going Culture
4. Rigorous Instruction
5. Supports for Student Success
6. Collaboration & Partnerships
7. Leadership & Staffing
8. Data Collection, Analysis, and Use

Penn is a Four Star School earning the Project Lead the Way Distinguished High School distinction for 2021-22 school year, and in 2016 the STEM Academy was certified as a Full STEM Certified Program by the Indiana Department of Education. 

Click to see the full list of Indiana High Schools as ranked by US News & World Report in 2021. 

St. Joseph Health System will host a vaccine clinic this Thursday, April 14th at Schmucker Middle School from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

To help reduce wait time, they can pre-register at www.ourshot.gov for an appointment time and they will get to bypass any walk-ins – but walk-ins are always welcome!

Click here for more information.

Walt Disney Elementary School Principal Ryan Towner experienced the "Luck of the Irish" a day early! In a surprise assembly today, Wednesday, March 16,  was named a recipient of the Milken Educator Award for his excellence and innovation in education AND received a $25,000 check! Click to watch the video below to see his reaction …

Click here to see the photo gallery on Walt Disney’s website.

Filling the auditorium were members of the local media, cheering students, teachers and colleagues, P-H-M Board Members and Administrators, representatives of Milken, members of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), and local and state officials. Notables on hand to help surprise Principal Towner were:

• Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley
• Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner
• Director of Leadership & Innovation, IDOE, Ms. Rebecca Estes
• P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker
• P-H-M Board of School Trustees President Mr. Chris Riley
• P-H-M Board of School Secretary Mrs. Clare Roach
• Indiana State Representative Dale DeVon
• Representing U.S. Senator Mike Braun's Office Mary Martin

Towner is one of the few principal recipients of the Award for the 2021-22 school year chosen from among Indiana's 80,000 plus incredible educators. He’s also among more than 60 educators nationwide to be named a Milken Educator this season.

Towner and Walt Disney teachers educate the school's diverse students with differentiated instruction. He leads by providing unique professional development methods and gets students excited about school through unique engagements like playing the ukulele and piano for students at arrival and dismissal.

Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Awards celebrate, elevate and activate the American teaching profession and inspire young, capable people to join it. The Milken Educator Award is not a lifetime achievement honor. Recipients are heralded while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities inherent in the Award.

“Educators are an invaluable resource, and the Milken Family Foundation seeks to emphasize that this work does not go unnoticed,” said Dr. Foley, who is herself a 1994 Indiana Milken Educator. “Ryan Towner fully embodies the qualities of an effective leader: innovation, enthusiasm and the ability to inspire those same merits in his colleagues.”

“Mr. Ryan Towner represents the best of Indiana’s educators, as he engages with students daily in unique ways to get them excited about learning,” said Dr. Jenner. “Leveraging his passion and his creative side, he leads by bringing his fellow educators, families and community members together to help students learn and grow. We’re thankful to have him representing Indiana and setting a great example for how we might best serve our students.”

“Ryan is one of P-H-M’s many excellent and dedicated educators,” said Dr. Thacker. “His devotion to his students, staff, and school is limitless. We are so proud of Principal Towner and the Walt Disney community; winning Milken Educator award is an amazing opportunity for Ryan to grow professionally, but to also help Disney become an even better school.”

More About Principal Towner

Innovation: Raising the bar for both student and educators’ practices, Towner introduced tiered academic interventions with ongoing progress monitoring, new curriculum maps with common assessments and a renewed focus on phonics instruction for the school’s younger students. He creates an environment where students and staff feel valued, motivated and appreciated and often brings lightheartedness to campus where he greets each student by name as he plays the piano or ukulele at arrival and dismissal. He created Walt Disney’s annual Culture Night, which celebrates the school’s linguistic and cultural diversity and is one of the best attended events in the district.

Leadership: A role model to both students and colleagues alike, Towner created a teacher leadership team that holds regular professional learning community meetings, encouraging staff to make data-informed decisions in curricular planning, differentiate instruction and collaborate across grade levels. Since taking the helm, his school has charted steady gains in student achievement and exceeded state averages with some of the strongest growth in the district. He helped create a three-week STEM camp, chaired the district’s wellness committee and led its federal grant program for several years. Education runs in Towner’s family—his father served as a longtime administrator for a nearby district and has strongly influenced the principal’s career.

Education: Towner earned a bachelor’s in education in 2010 and a master’s in education administration in 2016 from Indiana University South Bend.

Career: Towner is a creative leader and has been with P-H-M since 2011 when he joined the district as a teacher with Prairie Vista. He did an administrative internship at Madison Elementary for a year and then came to Walt Disney as Assistant Principal in 2014 and became principal of Walt Disney 2017.

Click here for more details about Mr. Towner's Milken Educator Award on the Foundation's website.

More about Walt Disney Elementary School:

Walt Disney is part of the “A” rated Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, where excellence in education is pursued and achieved at all levels. Walt Disney is one of P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Our students feel supported and encouraged to reach their full potential. 

Walt Disney has also earned the distinction of being among Indiana’s Top 30% of Public Elementary Schools by U.S. News & World Report (data is based on the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years). Click here to learn more.

The school values and celebrates diversity. More than 40 different languages are spoken in the homes of the students. Which is why one of Disney’s annual traditions that they love to celebrate is Culture Day and Cultural Night. Click to read an Edutopia article about how Walt Disney celebrates it’s diversity (this article was written by Clare Roach in 2015, before she was elected to the P-H-M Board of School Trustees).

More About the Milken Educator Award

The very first Milken Educator Awards were presented by the Milken Family Foundation in 1987. The Awards provide public recognition and individual financial rewards of $25,000 to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education. Along with the $25,000 financial prize, recipients join the national Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,800 top teachers, principals and specialists. The network serves as a rich resource for fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others dedicated to excellence in education.

• The honorees will also attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum, where they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders about how to increase their impact on K-12 education. In addition, they will learn about how to become involved in the Milken Friends Forever (MFFs) mentoring program, in which freshman Milken Educators receive personalized coaching and support from a Milken Educator veteran on ways to elevate their instructional practice and take an active role in educational leadership, policy and practice.
• Over the years, more than $140 million in funding, including $70 million for the individual cash awards, has been devoted to the overall Milken Awards initiative, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout recipients’ careers. 
• Veteran Milken Educators frequently go on to serve in leadership roles at state, national and international levels. 
• “We find you. You don’t find us!” Unlike most teacher recognition programs, the Milken Educator Awards initiative has no formal nomination or application process. Candidates are sourced through a confidential selection process and then reviewed by blue ribbon panels in each state. The most exceptional candidates are recommended for the award, with final selection made by the Milken Family Foundation. 
• The $25,000 cash award is unrestricted. Recipients have used the money in diverse ways. For instance, some have spent the funds on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships, and even adopting children.  

This year’s Young Authors' Conference, held this past Saturday, March 5, was a huge success!  Gabrielle Balkan was this year’s celebrity speaker. Mrs. Balkan is best known for non-fiction books that delight readers ages 3-12 with curious and essential facts about the United States, animal record-breakers, and ground-breaking artists. 

During this unique learning experience, P-H-M students in grades K-5 have the opportunity to learn directly from a well-known children’s writer. Through interactive, engaging Q&A with the children, Balkan led the students through the process of creating engaging storylines. 

Students also participate in small group sharing sessions, led by P-H-M teachers, where they share stories they’ve created. Students give each other positive feedback, encouraging and inspiring their fellow students.

Students aren’t the only ones that benefit from the Young Authors’ Conference, parents do too! While students were participating in their small group writing sessions, parents attended a special presentation by Penn High School English Teacher Mary Nicolini. Nicolini gave parents fun tips on ways to inspire ideas for creative writing with their children.

Students and parents also enjoyed a presentation of from the Potawatomi Zoo!. The Young Authors’ Conference is sponsored by Corporations for Education, a division of the P-H-M Education Foundation. 

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.

The information below was shared via email with P-H-M staff and families the afternoon of Feb. 25, 2022.

The CDC announced a short time ago that it will no longer require the wearing of masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs.

Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to  align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. School systems at their discretion may choose to require that people wear masks on buses or vans. Click here to read the full update.

Therefore, P-H-M will no longer require masking on our buses and vans.

The changes were part of the CDC's overall updated guidelines for masking. Click here to read the new guidelines.
 

Community Connections Fair

Saturday, March 26, 2022

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Schmucker Middle School

56405 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s ENL Services’ is sponsoring the District’s FREE Community Connections Fair!

Come check out what the Mishawaka, South Bend, and Elkhart communities have to offer to your families!

P-H-M is inviting area businesses who want to participate in the Community Connections Fair to sign up. Click here to request a table at the event. 

The Fair will also include cultural performances from P-H-M students and families. Families wishing to sign up to perform, click here.

Flyers about the event are available in the following languages, please click to download and print:

• English
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Spanish
• Gujarati
• Telugu
• Hindi
• Korean
• Punjabi

Bilingual interpreters will be on hand at the event to assist those families who need it.

Come out and enjoy the many cultural performances and student work that will be on display representing countries from all over the world! 

Please join us!

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Parker

P-H-M Elementary ENL Coordinator

(574) 259-2486, Ext. 53261

nparker@phm.k12.in.us

Calling all Teachers:

If you missed our Teacher Job Fair on February 4, you haven’t missed out. We’re creating the opportunity for ALL certified teachers at ALL levels in ALL subjects–and those who anticipate being certified by Fall 2022–to have a virtual interview with a P-H-M administrator.

Click here to sign up today for virtual interviews that will take place between Monday, February 28 – Friday, March 18.

The email below was shared with P-H-M staff and families the evening of Feb. 17, 2022.

Dear P-H-M Families,

The past few days have been full of changes, as things with COVID have been from the very beginning.

Monday the P-H-M Board of School Trustees voted to go mask optional. I shared with you on Tuesday that per the Indiana Department of Health guidelines contact tracing and conditional masking would continue. 

Today, I’m sharing with you that the IDOH held a webinar for schools regarding COVID protocols that can be removed starting Wednesday, February 23. Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box stated schools that have already begun the transition and are able to implement optional masking and other changes can do so immediately and do not have to wait until Feb. 23rd.

When P-H-M students and staff return to school, the procedures listed below will be followed per the IDOH recommendations made today:

• Schools are no longer required to contact trace or quarantine.
• If schools are made aware of a positive case, notification is no longer required to staff and families.
• Schools do not need to report any COVID-19 case information to IDOH; both the Indiana and School dashboards will be discontinued. The P-H-M COVID Positive Dashboard will also soon be discontinued.
• Schools should continue to isolate positive individuals for at least 5 days per CDC. 
• Schools should notify their local health department and distribute exposure notification when there is a cluster of positive COVID-19 cases or an outbreak. 
• Schools should notify their local health department when absenteeism reaches 10% for COVID-like illness or when schools are concerned about the level of illness.
• If an individual tests positive, they should stay home and isolate from others for at least 5 full days.
  • People who are in isolation may return to school on day 6 as long as they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms have improved.
  • They should wear a mask when around others at home, in public and at school for days 6-10.
• A negative test or doctor’s note is no longer required to return to school. 

As a result, we have also updated our Health & Safety Plan. We are asking all staff and families to please review the updated plan and familiarize yourself with the changes. Many mitigation safety measures will remain in place such as increased ventilation, promotion of hand hygiene, sanitation and increased cleaning.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Thacker, Superintendent of Schools

This letter was shared with P-H-M staff and families via email the afternoon of Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Good Afternoon P-H-M Families,

Some of you may be aware that at last night’s Board of School Trustees meeting, the Trustees unanimously voted for Penn-Harris-Madison schools to go mask optional starting Thursday, February 17, 2022.

The Trustees made this decision based on several factors:

• P-H-M has made vaccinations available to all staff members and students (5 and up).
• P-H-M’s layered COVID mitigation strategies outlined in the “Health and Safety Overview Plan” have worked to contain and minimize the spread of COVID in our schools.
• P-H-M’s positive COVID cases have been steadily declining for the past two weeks. Click to view P-H-M’s COVID-19 Positive Dashboard for the past 10 days.
• Locally, St. Joseph County cases are on the decline. Click to view St. Joseph County COVID-19 Data Summary on the Health Department website.
• Statewide, COVID cases are going down. Click to view Indiana’s COVID case data on the Indiana Department of Health website.

The Board and Administration realize that there are many families that have immune compromised members and that there are some staff and students that may elect to still wear their masks. The School Trustees support that decision and encourage anyone that still chooses to wear a face covering to do so.

Please note that it is still a federal requirement that everyone (staff and students) must wear a mask while riding on a school bus (even if fully vaccinated); this federal mandate is set to expire March 18, 2022. That means that students who are transported to and from school or for any other purpose must have a mask with them and wear it for the entire bus ride. Bus drivers do keep a small supply on buses in case a student forgets one, but please make sure your child has one.

Now that P-H-M will be mask optional, the district is required per the IDOH to have students who either test COVID positive or are symptomatic close contacts and they are not fully vaccinated (or previously had COVID in the past 90 days), they will be required to quarantine per the IDOH Guidelines for schools without a mask requirement (click here to read).
 

School principals and staff will need to contact trace when they are notified of a positive case so that safety measures can be followed.

Along with last night’s vote, the Board of School Trustees also requested that principals work to eventually allow visitors back into the buildings and to resume planning for student field trips, as school buses are available. For a full summary listing of things that will be reintroduced, please click here. It can also be found on page 4 of the Health and Safety Overview Plan.

We are asking for families to please be patient as there are a lot of logistics and details that our principals need to work out with our Custodians and Facilities crews, this includes removing barriers in the lunch rooms. We also request parents understand that there will not be an instant restart of school field trips, as there are a limited number of bus drivers available to drive during the school day.
 

Please expect that principals will share more details and outline of a plan to resume many school pre-pandemic practices (as listed on the P-H-M Updated COVID plan). While the initial emails may not contain all details to all questions, information will be forthcoming. Principals will reach out to parents tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Thank you for your continued support of our teachers and staff as they work to provide the safest and best learning environment for your children.
 

Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation