Saturday, March 9, 2019

8:45 – 11:30 a.m.

Schmucker Middle School

P-H-M Elementary students, grades K-5

Registration Fee: $5 per child

Click here to register and pay online
*Registration deadline has been extended to Friday, March 1

The Young Authors’ Conference is an annual, beloved event for P-H-M students in grades K-5. The event, sponsored by Corporations for Education, a division of the P-H-M Education Foundation, provides an opportunity for students and their parents to meet and hear from a well-known children’s authors. Click here to view the photo gallery of last year’s event.

Troy Cummings is this year’s celebrity author and illustrator of the popular series “The Notebook of Doom.” Cummings’ illustrations have also been featured on magazines, puzzles, and games! Click hear to learn more about Cummings’ other work. 

As part of the morning activities, participants and parents will not only enjoy a presentation by Cummings, but also a short performance by Penn High School Theater students from their upcoming musical “Tuck Everlasting” (March 1, 2 and 3).

Elementary student attendees will also work in small adult-led breakout sessions sharing their own writing pieces with other P-H-M students.

Parents will attend a special presentation by Bethel College Education professor Dr. Michelle Fish.  Dr. Fish will share how parents can use children’s literature to connect with writing at home. *One parent must accompany students! However, keep in mind that students and parents will separate for a portion of the day.

REGISTRATION: Click here to register and pay online. If you don’t have a PHM Revtrak account, you will need to create one. There is a fee for using this service. If you prefer to register via paper, please fill out the front of the blue envelope that was attached to the hard copy of the flyer that came home with your student. Fill out the blue envelope completely, insert your payment, and return it to your child’s school. Checks should be made payable to: Young Authors’ Conference. Cash is also accepted. The deadline for registration is Friday, February 22, 2019!

CONFIRMATION: Participating students will receive additional information prior to the conference through their home school at the beginning of March.

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Russell at lrussell@phm.k12.in.us.

Community Connections Fair

Saturday, March 23, 2019

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Schmucker Middle School

56405 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka

In an effort to expand outreach to the families of all of our ENL students (grades K-12), P-H-M’s ENL Services is hosting a FREE community resource fair to make families aware of the services not only available within the district, but also in the Mishawaka and South Bend areas. Bilingual interpreters will be on hand at the event to assist those families who need it.

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
• Hindi
• Korean
• Spanish
• Telugu

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Parker

P-H-M Elementary ENL Coordinator

(574) 259-2486, Ext. 53261

nparker@phm.k12.in.us

Registration for kindergarten students for the 2019-2020 school year opened on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.

This registration opportunity is for youngsters who live within the P-H-M district and who will be five-years-old on or before September 1, 2019. 

Registration will take place at the schools during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in most cases. The offices at Elsie Rogers Elementary School and Moran Elementary School will take registrations from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A parent or guardian must appear in person to register their child. 

Click here for more registration forms and more details on P-H-M Kindergarten Registration.

Penn-Harris-Madison also operates two preschool programs: Early Learning Academy (ELA) and Penn PALS. 

Click here to learn more about ELA and to download a registration form. Registration for the 2019-20 school year opened Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019.

Click here to learn more about Penn PALS and download a registration form. Registration for the 2019-20 school year opens on Monday, March 11, 2019.

Penn High School will once again host the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10. And for the younger  robotics fans, Penn Robotics Team 135 is once again holding its Next Gen Day on March 9.

Plan on coming out and enjoying the excitement of more than 40 high school FRC robotics teams from Indiana and Michigan battling it out on a basketball court-sized field with four-foot tall, 120-pound robots! Join more than 5,000 students, coaches, mentors, parents and fans during this one-of-a-kind two-day event! WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW to get a taste of all the excitement!

Cheer on Penn’s Team 135 and make sure to bring your Robotics fans to enjoy 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. The entire event is FREE ADMISSION!

This past Tuesday night Academic Letters were handed out to some of our more than 700+ Kingsmen student-athletes. Click here to view a photo gallery from the ceremony on Penn High School’s Facebook page.

At Penn, we're proud to say our students are students FIRST and then athletes! This fall they have achieved a combined 3.61 GPA!

Watch the video below to see how they achieve #PHMExcellence in the classroom first BEFORE they hit courts, fields, mats, pool, tracks, gridiron, etc.

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: Discovery, Grissom and Schmucker Middle Schools.

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. *If you have not received a letter with details about this process, please contact Glenn Northern at gnorthern@phm.k12.in.us.

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.

Please see the dates and times below for your students’ soon-to-be middle school …

Discovery Middle School

Monday, Feb. 25, 2019

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Schmucker Middle School

Monday, March 4, 2019

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Grissom Middle School

Thursday, March 7, 2019

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Click here to learn more about Instrument Night and to make your appointment for designated school and date. 

Parents, your child’s teacher is using either Google Classroom or Canvas for their curriculum assignments. (If you are unsure, please contact your child’s teacher via email ASAP). Classroom teachers are reviewing with students the process today in case they have any questions.

In either situation, you will begin by going to the primary launchpad (primary.phmschools.org) and selecting either Canvas or Google (then Google Classroom). From there, you will sign in by entering your child’s username and password. Your child should be familiar with this username/password from regular use, but if you are unsure, please contact your child’s teacher.

After logging in, you should see a class from your child’s teacher. Click to proceed and follow the prompts.

As general reminders, you are not required to print any of the assignments, but you may do so if you choose. Students will have 5 days to submit the assignments after the missed school day. Keep in mind that the computer lab will be opened, when school is back in session, as an option before or after school for students as needed. Please contact your teacher for specifics if necessary.

Also remember that your primary contact on eLearning days is your child’s teacher. They will be accessible by email and will help to answer any questions you may have.

Four P-H-M Board of School Trustees were re-elected in the November 2018 General Election: Jaye Galloway (Penn Twp.); Angie Gates (Harris Twp.); Chris Riley (At-Large); and Larry Beehler (Madison Twp.). All four members were sworn in and took their Oaths of Office at the beginning of the January 14, 2019 Board Meeting. The terms of these newly re-elected members will expire in 2022.

Chris Riley was re-elected as Board President, Larry Beehler as Vice President, and Angie Gates as Secretary. All are seen below pictures with Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker.

P-H-M has a seven-member Board of School Trustees. Other Board Members include Gary Fox (Harris Twp.); Jim Garrett (Penn Twp.); and Jamie Woods (Penn Twp.). Click here for profiles on all seven Board Members.

The first day for students of the 2019-2020 school year is Wednesday, August 21, 2019 and the last day for students is Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Other important dates include:

• September 2, 2019: Recess Day – Labor Day
• October 25 & 28, 2019: Fall Recess Days
• November 5, 2019: Recess Day – General Election
• November 27-29, 2019: Thanksgiving Recess Days
• December 23-Jan. 3, 2020: Winter Break
• January 20, 2020: Recess Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 17, 2020: Recess Day – Presidents’ Day
• April 6-10, 2020: Spring Break
• May 5, 2020: Recess Day – Primary Election
• May 25, 2020: Recess Day – Memorial Day

Click here for a one-page pdf copy of the 2019-2020 school year calendar.

If you need copies of the 2018-2019 school year and activity calendars, please click here.

Dr. Jenny Sears was appointed as the Director of P-H-M Social-Emotional Learning in December of 2018 and assumed the duties January 1, 2019.
 

Dr. Sears was charged with leading P-H-M’s renewed, concentrated focus on student mental health to help initiate additional ways that we can help all students succeed and self-actualize in an environment of excellence here at Penn-Harris-Madison.

Under Dr. Sears’ leadership, a multi-year plan of action to increase social-emotional learning in the classroom was developed. The plan includes various resources and support for P-H-M staff to in turn be able to assist our students and families. Dr. Sears will be working with community stakeholders and agencies to increase trauma-informed care training for P-H-M staff. This will increase our ability to offer mental health support to our students and families within a school setting.

We have also expanded our partnership with Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County for the remainder of this school year to add dedicated YSB personnel to all of our K-8 buildings.

In the coming days, Dr. Sears will send more information to our buildings about the district’s upcoming SEL and mental health initiatives that will be starting soon. The focus on social emotional learning and mental health is crucial to helping students reach their fullest potential and help remove any barriers to student success. This sustained effort will only strengthen our triangle of success between students, teachers and parents.

Dr. Sears, a Penn grad, came back to P-H-M in 2015 as the P-H-M Exceptional Education Program Supervisor. Dr. Sears is a psychologist and has a Ph.D. in Educational and Psychological Services from Indiana State University. In her previous role, she supervised special education programming for Penn High School, all three middle schools, and 11 elementary schools in the Penn-Harris-Madison school district. In addition, Dr. Sears supervised P-H-M staff speech and language pathologists, speech and language assistants, psychologists, occupational therapists, and the young adult program. 

Since coming onboard at P-H-M in 2015, Dr. Sears has been dedicated to improving transitional programming and raising awareness of available student mental health services. As an Exceptional Education leader, she's worked with staff helping to make invaluable contributions to the services we provide not only to our exceptional education students, but to all P-H-M students. She’s currently partnering with Logan Industries and Corvilla for an opportunity to work grant which will provide our students additional community work experiences.

Dr. Sears has served as an adjunct professor at both Saint Mary’s and Bethel Colleges. She has presented at several national conferences on child psychology and is also a member of a number of professional organizations: National Association of School Psychologists, Indiana Council of Special Education Administrators, Indiana Special Education Administrators Northeast Roundtable, Psi Chi, and the American Psychological Association. She was named a member of the 2017 Michiana "Forty under 40" class, by the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce.