The message below was sent out to all P-H-M staff and families the afternoon of March 3, 2020.

Dear P-H-M Families,

The health, safety and well-being of Penn-Harris-Madison students and staff are our top priorities. With the ongoing elevated discussion regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the world news, we are reaching out to remind everyone in the P-H-M family about the preventive safety measures we can all take, as well as to inform you what we at P-H-M are doing.

As a school district, we are closely monitoring the situation via the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. The CDC is providing local expert and community guidance through the St. Joseph County Department of Health and the Indiana Department of Health. We are also receiving information from the U.S. Department of Education and the Indiana Department of Education, as well as a host of other state and national professional organizations. The one good thing about this situation is that there is an abundance of expert guidance. We are following the advice and direction of the governmental entities in charge. As a district, we are focusing on the things within our control.

All of the health officials are uniformly reiterating that the best preventive measure that each and every one of us can do is practice good hand hygiene. The same precautions that we annually remind our students, at all grade levels, during the cold and flu season are the exact same practices that the CDC is recommending to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:
 

1. Clean hands. Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Cover your mouth and nose. Remind your students to cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. The best thing to do is to cough/sneeze into your elbow. Second best is to cover the mouth and nose area with a tissue and then throw the tissue away.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
4. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.

P-H-M’s janitorial staff already cleans common areas and disinfects common touch surfaces regularly. We ramp up these efforts during the cold and flu season. Under the current circumstances and in an abundance of precaution, P-H-M is taking extra steps to increase our normal diligent disinfectant measures.

As stated in all P-H-M Student Handbooks if students are sick please keep them home. Students should not return to school until they are fever and symptom free for 24 hours. We are constantly reminding families to practice this ongoing safety practice year round.

As it pertains to concerns over COVID-19 symptoms, the CDC has very specific recommendations if the symptoms coincide with recent travel to specific countries on their watch lists.

This situation continues to evolve. P-H-M Administrators are staying abreast of the information, as we have since the beginning. If the need should arise to change or defer from our normal operations, rest assured we will communicate with our families and staff immediately.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Dr. Jerry Thacker

Superintendent of Schools

Registration is now OPEN!

Cost is $25 per child, per day. If you are not currently enrolled in Kids Club, you must also pay the $25 registration fee per child. Please click to register. Payment must be submitted through https://www.myprocare.com/.

Registration and payment are due and non-refundable by midnight, Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Registrations will not be accepted after that date.

Kids Club will operate at Northpoint Elementary School, 6:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Entry will be through Door E; there will not be a door code for entry.

Students should bring their own sack lunch and drink. Morning and afternoon snacks will be provided.

Kids Club Cell Phone: (574) 261-9974 

The application window for P-H-M Education Foundation’s Spring 2020 Grant Cycle is now open!

PHMEF grants are eligible to any P-H-M staff member who can demonstrate a program’s innovation and creativity, and reflect commitment to excellence in education. Deadline for all grant applications is 4 p.m., Friday, March 27, at the P-H-M’s Educational Services Center (55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka).

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 (click to download & print 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. During the Fall 2019 Grant Cycle, the PHMEF awarded $10,188.63 in grants! Click here for a list of the unique Fall 2019 grant awardees.

Watch the video below to see how a PHMEF grant awarded back in 2016 to plant fruit trees at three P-H-M elementary schools came to fruition in early fall …

There are two ways to apply—EZ Form or Traditional Form. Grant applications and filing details can be found online at the Education Foundation’s website or by clicking on the links below:

1. EZ Form: for grants less than $250
2. 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). This form cannot be emailed. It must be sent with 10 copies each and with the appropriate signatures. Forms that don’t have these requirements and/or are not complete, will not be considered.

Your project evaluation must be submitted within 30 days of completion of the project or at the latest within the 1 year of funds being awarded. Consideration of future grants is dependent upon submission of a completed evaluation form. Click here to fill out the Grant Project Evaluation Form online.

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

• Friday, March 27, 4:00 p.m. – All applications (EZ Form and Traditional Form) must be turned in at the ESC or emailed if it is the EZ Form by the deadline! No late applications will be accepted! Note there must be 10 copies for the traditional form.
• Between March 30 – April 22 – PHMEF grant committee meets to select recipients and presents grants for approval to the P-H-M Education Foundation Board of Directors. 
• By April 24 – Recipients will be notified by email with formal letter to follow.

Horizon Elementary hosted the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees for their regularly scheduled Board Meeting held last night (Monday, Feb. 24, 2020). Four times each school year, the Board of School Trustees visits a school within the district to "spotlight" a particular program or accomplishment. Horizon hosted the Board's third visit for the 2019-2020 school year. The other schools on this year's visitation list include Prairie Vista and Walt Disney Elementary Schools, as well as Grissom Middle School.

Horizon Principal Tressa Decker highlighted various programs at Horizon that show how the school is “Going Above and Beyond” this school year. Principal Decker introduced the Board Members to second grader Olivia Kruyer who is a young philanthropist! Olivia loves reading and has a desire to help others. Olivia raised reads to other children at the YWCA once a month and wanted to help refurbish their reading room, so she started a fundraiser raising more than $5,000. Olivia was featured on WNDU a few times for her fundraising idea.

Third grader Anica Gensic was also introduced to the Board. Anica wrote a book about “How to Handle Anger,” which explains how she and her family use self soothing methods. After reading the book to the Board, she gave Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker a signed copy!

Next up Principal Decker introduced Horizon’s VEX-IQ Robotics Team which recently won the Regional Championship and next month will be competing at the State Competition at Lucas Oil Stadium! The team coached by Mr. Derrick Fairbotham demonstrated their robots for the Board.

Penn-Harris-Madison is pleased to introduce Naviance Student as a comprehensive website that you and your middle or high school student can use to make post-secondary plans. Naviance Student allows your student to engage in a variety of activities, such as:

• Getting involved in the planning and advising process – Build a resume, complete online surveys, and manage timelines and deadlines for making decisions about post-secondary options and careers
• Researching colleges – Review statistics regarding students who have been admitted in the past
• Researching careers – Research hundreds of careers and career clusters, and take career assessments
• Creating plans for the future – Create four-year plans, goals and to-dos, and complete tasks assigned by the school to better prepare your student for future post-secondary and career goals.

To help parents answer questions about this new tool, we will be holding a information night for middle and high school parents:

Naviance Parent Info Night (middle & high school parents)

Monday, March 2

6:00 p.m.

Penn High School, LGI-B

*Enter Door A or B

You can get started by clicking here to watch a demo of “The Student Journey in Naviance.” 

Naviance Student also lets us share information with you and your student about upcoming meetings and events, local scholarship opportunities, and other resources for post-secondary information. We will systematically introduce Naviance to your student so your child can begin engaging in a variety of  activities. 

Additionally, over the course of the spring semester, your student will have the opportunity to complete different activities in Naviance, so please talk with your student about what your child is completing and learning about themselves in preparation for college and career readiness.

Penn High School will host athletics physicals for 2020-2021 high school students and incoming freshmen (current eighth graders) only.

Date: Tuesday, May 19

Location: Penn Main Arena

Time: 3:15 – 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $25 (checks made payable to Penn High School)

Student-athletes MUST have their physical forms page 1 and 3 completed prior to attending.

Click here for the Athletics Physical form, or you can pick up the forms at the Penn Athletic office, or your middle schools athletic office.

These pages include parent and student signatures (page 4 is informational). The doctors will complete page 2. Once the student-athletes have been to every station and checked out with the doctors, they will check out with the athletic office staff and turn their completed physical form in.
 

Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 14 & Sunday, March 15 for the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event. Penn High School is once again hosting more than 40 high school FRC robotics teams from Indiana and Michigan who will battle it out for the title. Join more than 5,000 students, coaches, mentors, parents and fans during this one-of-a-kind two-day FREE event!

Saturday, March 14 

10 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Next Gen (K-8): 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 15 

9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Click to watch the video below to check out all the upcoming excitement, then come out to cheer on Penn Robotics Team 135!

Make sure to also bring your young Robotics fans to "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. This event is also FREE ADMISSION!

Saturday, May 16

8:30 a.m. – Noon

Penn High School

Register online today! Early Bird Registration is available until Sunday, May 3 ($20 for adults, $10 for students)!

Do you like bubbles? Well, if you do, you’ll enjoy the Silver Mile Bubble Bash!  

Highlighted changes for this year’s event:

• Early start time, 8:30 a.m.
• 1.5 mile and 5K route options
• Lower early bird prices: $20 for adults, $10 for students
• Family Pricing: $60 for four or more (at same address)

Missed out on all the bubbly fun last year? Don't let it happen two years in a row! Watch the video and see how much fun you and your whole family will have …

The Silver Mile Run is the largest fundraiser for the P-H-M Education Foundation and all the proceeds go towards providing innovative P-H-M teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development, and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Presenting sponsor Saint Joseph Health System will offer free health screenings including body mass index and blood sugar! Other area businesses will also be on hand to showcase health and fitness related activities, resources and services. 

After a fun day, leave with great bargains purchased at the Silent Auction. The P-H-M student talent showcase is always a crowd pleaser. Last year, the student groups included Horizon Show Choir, Bittersweet Cardio Drummers, Elm Road Jumping Eagles, Meadow's Edge Dancers, and Penn High School Dancers.

​

Choose to walk or run the 5K or take a shorter loop. This exciting untimed race welcomes runners of all experience levels while blasting through foam bogs and fun spirit stations along the course.

​

The Silver Mile Bubble Bash is a chance for P-H-M families and local community members to get together and show their support for excellence in education in all P-H-M schools.  Proceeds are returned to P-H-M schools by awarding innovative teacher grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Click here to take advantage of early bird registration and for more information on the Bubble Bash.

Monday., April 27 (Rain Date is Wed., April 29)

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

behind Elm Road Elementary School 

59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka
 

“Running is Elementary” is gearing up for another great year! This is the 12th year for the one mile, non-competitive run which will feature the participation of almost 700 fourth and fifth grade students from all 11 P-H-M elementary schools. This event is FREE to students and takes place on the Penn cross-country course located behind Elm Road Elementary School.

Each school year fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to join the running club at each of P-H-M’s elementary schools. The kids go through this six-week club trained by designated coaches at each school. The end of the six weeks is then celebrated by participating in the Running is Elementary run.

Click to download the RIE forms to sign your student(s) to participate. 

Mary Frank physical education teacher and P-H-M’s 2009 Teacher of the Year Cindy Batalis began this event in 2008. Running has always been a true passion for Batalis and she shares that passion with students by organizing this yearly event.

The event is hosted by the P-H-M Education Foundation and Corporations for Education.

Discovery Instrument Selection Nights

Monday, Feb. 24, 2020

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
 

Schmucker Instrument Selection Nights

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Grissom Instrument Selection Night

Monday, March 9, 2020

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

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 our three middle schools: Schmucker, Discovery and Grissom.

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. 

Please click here to download the flyer with all the information.

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.