Please read the letter below that was distributed to all P-H-M Families and Staff on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 …

Dear Penn-Harris-Madison Families and Staff,

As you might be aware, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has now confirmed seven cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in humans. This week the MDHHS also expanded the geographic area affected by the human EEE cases to include the southern Michigan counties of Cass and Van Buren–those closest to St. Joseph County, Indiana. In addition to the human cases in Michigan, there are nine confirmed cases in animals that include the nearest southern Michigan counties of St. Joseph (MI), Cass and Van Buren. Click here for more information from MDHHS.

In addition, yesterday (Thurs., Sept. 19)  Elkhart County Health Department (ECHD) renewed their earlier warning after four horses tested positive for EEE in Elkhart County. Click here for more information from the ECHD. Click here for more information from the ECHD.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is carried by certain types of mosquitoes. It is a potentially serious disease that can affect anyone, but children under the age of 15 and people over the age of 50 are at greatest risk of severe disease following infection. Although there is a vaccination available for horses, there is not one available for humans. The kind of mosquitoes that spread EEE typically breed in bog and hardwood swamp wetlands. Mosquitoes remain active at temperatures above 60 degrees F and tend to be more active in the evening and pre-dawn hours. Click here for more information on EEE.

At this time, we are not aware of St. Joseph County (Indiana) releasing a warning, alert or advisory for EEE. However, due to the nature of the disease, and that children and older adults are more susceptible to the disease, we are reaching out to our families and staff to make sure everyone is aware and can start taking precautions at home.

• When used as directed, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective. Use EPA-registered insect repellents with one of these active ingredients: 

  • DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or para menthane-diol (PMD),  2-undecanone. Find the insect repellent that’s right for you by using EPA’s search tool.

• ​Apply long lasting insect repellent to your children or yourself before leaving for school/work. Please research and use the product that has the longest effective range; this will provide extra protection for our elementary age children and staff during recess times. 

  • Middle and High School students who have outside, after-school activities are allowed to have non-aerosol insect repellent in the form of lotion or wipes in their backpacks and are encouraged to apply before going outdoors. P-H-M prefers these students only bring non-aerosol products to school in order to prevent getting the products in their eyes.

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Insect repellent can also be applied to the clothing for a longer lasting effect and helps prevent bites. The weather for the week of Sept. 23 is forecasted to be cooler and in the 70s.

• If you and your family are attending outdoor, after-school activities, please apply insect repellent to your body and to your long-sleeved shirts and pants clothing.

At your home, you can take these precautions to help eliminate mosquito breeding sites on your property, thus preventing mosquito bites for you and your family:

• Maintain window and door screening to help keep mosquitoes outside.

• Empty water from mosquito breeding sites near the home, such as buckets, unused kiddie pools, old tires or similar sites where mosquitoes may lay eggs.

• Use nets and/or fans over outdoor eating areas.

• Unclog gutters

• Keep overgrown vegetation mowed

• Home swimming pools should be maintained clean and operational

• Ornamental ponds should be aerated to prevent the collection of mosquito larvae

Penn-Harris-Madison Facilities Department and Groundskeeping crews will also be extra vigilant in maintaining our school properties and campus areas to minimize these risks for students when they are with us. If you are aware of areas of concern at one of our schools or properties, we encourage you to reach out to your building principal who will notify P-H-M Facilities Department.

We appreciate your cooperation as heightened awareness about EEE continues to grow in our area. As we become aware or receive updates from area and state Health Departments, we will pass that information along to our families and staff. We will also post any important updates on the P-H-M District website homepage at phmschools.org. Please also feel free to share that information with us by way of your building principal. 

Thank you for your collaboration in helping to keep our students and staff safe.

Three years ago thanks to a P-H-M Education Foundation grant Penn High School Early College teacher Mr. John Gensic had an idea that was able to take root … to plant fruit orchards at some PHM elementary schools; the first was planted at Horizon Elementary.

Now the project is literally bearing fruit! Recently current 3rd graders of Ms. Marci Messer & the students who helped plant the orchard three years ago (who are now Discovery students) went apple & pear pickin'! Click to see the full photo gallery on Horizon’s website.

Watch the video …

On September 4, the IDOE released the Spring 2019 Indiana Learning Evaluation and Readiness Network (ILEARN) results, and Penn-Harris-Madison outperformed the state by as much as 22% in some subjects. 

We also compare ourselves to other large top performing school districts. Out of Indiana public school corporations (292 school districts), P-H-M ranks 12th in the state for combined ELA & Math scores in grades 3-8.

“P-H-M’s favorable ILEARN results are due to our teachers conducting ongoing effective and valuable formative assessment, combined with the focus and educational stamina of our students, who are supported by their families,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “The results are consistent success and a prime example of P-H-M’s ‘Triangle of Success!’”

Among the state’s public elementary schools in grades 3-5 (507 schools), P-H-M has four elementary schools that rank among the state’s Top 15 schools in combined ELA & Math Proficiency:

• #1 Northpoint, 81.9%
• #4 Prairie Vista, 78.5% 
• #8 Mary Frank, 74.5% 
• #11 Horizon, 73.1%

Mary Frank’s 3rd grade English/Language Arts ILEARN scores are also the highest in the entire state!

Among the state’s public middle schools grades 6-8 (219 schools), Discovery Middle School is ranked #5 in Indiana.

ISTEP English and Math was administered to 10th grade.

Penn’s English pass rate was 82.9%; Penn’s Math pass rate was 62.4%, and the overall combined pass rate for both ELA & Math for grade 10 is 61.2%. This places Penn High School as 12th among public schools for combined ELA & Math scores in grade 10.

Indiana’s ELA pass rate for grade 10 was 62.4% and the Math pass rate was 35.3%. The State’s overall pass rate for both ELA & Math combined for grade 10 is 33.8% . Penn High School outperformed the state by 27.4%.

At the high school level, the only group to take ILEARN for Biology were those enrolled in Biology for the 2018-19 school year. Penn students taking ILEARN Biology outperformed the state by 20%.

From the IDOE’s website “ILEARN was developed with input from over 1,200 educators and assesses the same Indiana Academic Standards as ISTEP+, but with a redefined focus on rigorous college-and-career readiness (CCR). When compared to past ISTEP+ scores, ILEARN indicated lower achievement levels across the state in both English/language arts and mathematics.”

Click here for the statewide IDOE results.

Some people may think that things are pretty laid back over the summer, with teachers and some staff being off. But for the Facilities Department, it’s actually their busiest! That’s because we make use of the time while most staff are off to get capital projects done in our 15 buildings and campuses. In this video, P-H-M Chief Operations Manager Aaron Leniski gives an overview of what was accomplished across the District this summer.

PHM now offers a new benefit for all PHM employees and their immediate family members. Effective June 1, 2019, P-H-M is offering an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). An EAP is a voluntary, confidential, pro-active, face-to-face, solution-oriented counseling program designed to promote employee health, wellness and work-life balance. Watch the video below for details and more information …

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is offered through New Avenues: Midwest Behavioral Health Network. Here are the benefits:

• comes at NO COST to employees!

• For all active employees with or without insurance and the family members living in their household (substitutes are excluded from this benefit).
  Confidential services

• Three face-to-face EAP sessions per incident per year (Year runs June 1-May 31)

• Other program benefits include:

  • Assistance with various areas such as: stress, personal concerns, marriage/family/relationship problems, anxiety, substance abuse, workplace issues, grief, etc.

  • NewAvenuesOnline.com or Call 1-800-731-6501
     

On Thursday, August 22, we welcomed back the youngest members of the P-H-M family … our kindergartners!

This up and coming Class of 2032 kicked off their educational careers in true #PHMExcellence fashion! Take a look …

Wednesday, August 22 was the First Day of School for grades 1-12.

As could be expected, there was a lot of excitement and smiling faces as students were welcomed back to class by teachers, principals, administrators and staff. We all love our students and are so happy to have them back. Here’s to another #PHMExcellence school year! Get a snapshot of the First Day of School in P-H-M in the video below …

Today Mrs. Jeanie Mitchell was notified by the Indiana Department of Education that she was now among the state’s TOP 10 FINALISTS for Teacher of the Year!

Mrs. Mitchell was named P-H-M’s Secondary Teacher of the Year back in April. Click here to read the story and see the video when she was named. 

Mrs. Mitchell is a French Teacher and the Academy Leader for Freshman Academy. She learned on August 5 that she had made the Top 30 lists of finalists, along with Mrs. Christine Austin (4^th grade teacher at Walt Disney Elementary School) who was named P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year also back in April. Austin and Mitchell were among 30 teachers chosen as the top finalists from a field of 61 applicants. P-H-M was only one of two school districts, and the only one in the Michiana area, that has two teachers who made the Top 30!

Mrs. Mitchell will now move on to the “Top 10 Interview Day” on September 12 in Indianapolis, with the announcement of the Indiana Teacher of the Year winner coming in late September, early October. A banquet to honor all candidates will be held November 15. 

We are proud of both Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Mitchell and we wish “Madame Mitchell” best of luck on her upcoming interview!

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Noon

St. Joseph Conference Center

Holiday Inn, 1208 E. Douglas Rd., Mishawaka

The luncheon, hosted by the P-H-M Education Foundation, is a District fundraiser and an opportunity for P-H-M parents, business, community and education leaders to get a State of the Corporation directly from Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker.

Along with Dr. Thacker, this year’s featured speaker will be Penn Alumna, World Class Wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt!

The 2011 Penn grad recently earned another gold medal at the Pan Am Games held August 2019. This makes her 4^th gold medal at Pan Am Games. She also won gold in 2013, 2015 and 2018 for USA Wrestling. Hildebrandt was the 2018 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year and also earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the Pan Am Games in 2018. She was last year’s U.S. Open champion and was a world silver medalist.

At Penn, Sarah’s wrestled under Head Coach Brad Harper. Her junior year, she became the first female to qualify for the IHSAA Wrestling Semi-state; she accomplished this weighing just 103 pounds! Sarah also helped Penn win an IHSAA Team Regional Championship with a pin vs. Jimtown's Cody Koebel (4:54). Penn defeated Jimtown 37-25 for the Team Championship. She attended King University (Bristol, Tenn) and was the 2015 and 2014 WCWA National Champion at 123 pounds!

For tickets to this year’s Superintendent’s Luncheon, please click here to pay online.

For information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Mari Linn Wise at (574) 254-2893 or mlwise@phmef.org. 

For questions about the event, please contact Amber Kennedy at (574) 259-7941, ext. 10721 or amber@phmef.org.

Students don’t head back to school until Wednesday, August 21st, but today was the first day for our P-H-M New Teacher Class of 2019.

Penn-Harris-Madison welcomed 59 new certified employees at Orientation today for the 2019-20 school year—among the highest in the district’s most recent hiring history! The reason for the large incoming P-H-M teacher “freshmen” class … retirement and relocation of outgoing faculty. Thirteen out of 15 P-H-M schools will have at least one new teacher joining their ranks this year, not counting the Exceptional Education staff members.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for 19 of the new teachers, as they are former P-H-M students and Penn High School graduates.

This year’s new teachers are not only among our largest hire group, they are also a pretty smart group … with nearly 170 combined years of experience, and 15 have master’s degrees!

Check out the photo galleries below of our new teachers, broken down by building and group, so that you can help welcome these new faces into the P-H-M Family!