It was a gorgeous day for the 10^th annual “Running is Elementary.” Most years, 4^th and 5^th grade students from all 11 P-H-M elementary schools are fighting the elements of wind, rain, sleet or snow … but not this year!

Almost 700 students  participated in the 1 mile run on the Penn cross-country course located behind Elm Road School on Monday, April 30. Please click to see the photo gallery below.

The fun event encourages fitness and wellness. Fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to sign up for the free running club. Designated coaches at each school are then tasked with training the runners for the 6-week club which then culminates with the Running is Elementary Race. Cheered on by their families, principals, teachers and running coaches it’s amazing to see the dedication and hard work the students put in to complete the race. “Running Buddies” accompany those students who may need their extra assistance and/or encouragement.

Cindy Batalis (P-H-M’s 2009 Teacher of the Year and physical education teacher at Horizon Elementary) began the yearly tradition of Running Is Elementary back in 2008. Batalis’ own love for running and her desire to pass that love on to students is evident in the passion she puts into the Running is Elementary event each year. “This is a thrill! All the kids out here running today are out here making a positive step to healthy habits and we celebrate all of them. It's a true community event!"

The top times for the 2018 Running Is Elementary Race were as follows:

5^th grade Boys

BIB# 99
Elm Road School
Time: 5:59
 

5th grade Girls Winner

BIB# 190
Horizon
Time: 6:43 
 

4^th grade Boys

BIB# 429
Meadow's Edge
Time: 6:05
 

4^th grade Girls

BIB# 171
Elsie Rogers
Time: 6:51

It was particularly heartwarming when the whole crowd got behind one special runner to cheer him on 4th grade Horizon student Mikan Gensic, son of Penn Biology Teacher John Gensic. Mikan took everything in stride and didn't even seem to be tired when he was done. He even had to be talked into getting his complimentary bottle of water and frozen Urban Swirl cup!

All runners are to be congratulated for their efforts and hard work!!

A big thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation and Corporations for Education for sponsoring the event!

Sponsors for the 2018 event:

Presenting sponsor – Corporations for Education

Royal Excursion and Gaylor Electric

After Race Snack Donations:

Urban Swirl and B&B Organics

Be sure to sign up to run in the P-H-M Education Foundation’s Silver Mile Bubble Bash this Saturday, May 5. Click to register online today!

Please see the photo gallery below. To download a high resolution jpg file from the photo gallery, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function.

The annual Superintendent’s Luncheon held today (Tuesday, October 17, 2017) was a celebration of the District’s commitment to excellence and an expression of gratitude to those who support the District through the P-H-M Education Foundation and Corporations for Education.

The Luncheon showcases the various value add educational, extracurricular and co-curricular programs the Education Foundation supports throughout the school year, everything from Penn Robotics to “Running is Elementary,” an elementary health and finesses awareness programs.

Click here to see more photos in the the photo gallery below.

Executive Director Mari Linn Wise highlighted and thanked the Foundation’s generous donors and partners that helped raise the dollar amounts for the programming listed below …
 

• $58,502 – innovative grants, Visual Arts Academy, and Silver Mile grants
• $51,474 – Corporations for Education grants
• $700,000 – naming rights in pledges

PHMEF’s funding comes from special events such as its premier Silver Mile Health & Fitness Fair, Donna & Dr. Jerry Thacker 5K Run/Walk for Education, the State of Indiana from the purchase of Read On Education License plates, Thank a Teacher, Entrance to Excellence bricks, and individual donations.

As an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3), the Foundation develops alternative sources of income to support educational programs that fall outside of the District’s funding sources. PHMEF also works to strengthen the partnership between our schools and the community. PHMEF awards innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Luncheon special guests and keynote speakers former Bethel Basketball Coach Mike Lightfoot and his wife Jacci praised P-H-M teachers, coaches and administrators for their “ministry” of educating children. The Lightfoots applauded P-H-M business and community partners for their ongoing support noting that the pursuit of happiness should center around families and community, not around individuals.

P-H-M’s 2017 Teacher of the Year Anne Tschetter (an orchestra teacher at Penn High School) was recognized at today’s luncheon. She received a $1,000 PHMEF grant with her honor last spring. Speaking today, Mrs. Tschetter thanked the Foundation for the much needed funds that she used to buy new instruments for her classroom. Horizon Wellness Teacher Cindy Bitalis thanked the audience for their support of “Running is Elementary” noting that the true value of the vent is the student participants learning perseverance. PHMEF grants make it possible for 4th, 5th and 6th graders to participate at no cost.

In his 12th year as Superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison Schools, Dr. Thacker gave his State of the Corporation Address highlighting P-H-M’s Triangle of Success, connecting students, teachers and parents.

He noted with nine Four Star Schools, P-H-M is in the Top 3 of Indiana public school districts. Dr. Thacker praised the teachers and staff in the District’s 15 schools that teach nearly 11,200 students. The IDOE P-H-M has consistently named P-H-M an “A” Rated School District for seven straight years, and he expects the same ranking this year. With the release of the 2017 Spring ISTEP+ results, 10 P-H-M schools earned an ‘A’ grade. Dr. Thacker also noted these points of excellence:

• P-H-M ranks in the state’s top 4% of public school districts
• P-H-M ranks 12th out of all 292 public school districts in Indiana (based on both Math and ELA pass results of grades 3-8)
• For grade 10, P-H-M ranks 9th out of all 292 public school corporations—the Michiana area’s only public school district to make the top 20!
• Northpoint is the #1 public elementary school in the state
• Discovery is Indiana’s #3 public middle school

P-H-M has four schools (Northpoint, Prairie Vista and Horizon Elementary Schools, along with Discovery Middle School) ranked among the state’s top 50 of all 1,437 public schools.
P-H-M ranks 4th among public school corporations with large high schools (student population more than 500).

The Education Foundation’s mission is to assist and support Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in providing a premier education to the District’s students and families.

The presenting sponsor of this year’s Luncheon was TCU, the Gold Sponsor was Beacon Health System. PHMEF is also grateful to the following Patron Sponsors:

• LL Low Associates, Inc.
• Samuel & Erin McGrath
• Sen. Ryan Mishler

Table Sponsors included: Dr. Jerry Thacker, Gates Automotive, IUSB School of Education, Ivy Tech Development, Kruggel Lawton CPAs, Lake City Bank, May Oberfell Lorber, Meilstrup Family, Moore Family, Murphy & Witchie Families, P-H-M Administrators, P-H-M Board of Trustees, P-H-M Teachers Assoc., Penn High School, Saint Joseph Health System, Schwartz Family, South Bend Education Foundation, South Bend Regional Chamber, Tuesley Hall Konopa, the University of Notre Dame and the Wade Family.

Last Friday night (September 15) was a big night … not only was it Penn’s Homecoming game vs. Adams High School, it was also the dedication of the Larry Beehler Ticket Center! 

Mr. Beehler was honored in a pregame ceremony with his family before kickoff. He was joined by his wife, four children and their spouses, six grand children with spouses, and one great grand child! Members of P-H-M Board of School Trustees, Education Foundation, P-H-M Administration, along with Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker were also on hand. Click to watch the video below of the night’s highlights.

Mr. Beehler is the longest serving Board Member on the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees. In his 31^st year of service with P-H-M, Mr. Beehler was elected to the Board as the Madison Township representative ​ in July 1986. He is a graduate and class valedictorian of then Madison Township High School (Wakarusa), which is now Madison Elementary School, one of P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools. Larry and his wife of 55 years, Judy, are lifelong residents of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. 

This past August, anonymous donors donated $25,000 to the P-H-M Education Foundation Naming Rights campaign to have the newly constructed ticket center at Penn High School’s TCU Freed Field named after Larry Beehler. Click here to read more about the Education Foundation naming rights campaign.

In recognition of Larry Beehler’s 31 years of service on the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees, the Larry Beehler Ticket Center at TCU Freed Field will be dedicated before kickoff of Penn Football game Friday night, September 15. The dedication will take place on the field before the coin toss and kickoff. This wil be the first time the public will have a chance to see the new ticket center with the signage of the new name. Friday night is Penn’s Homecoming game vs. Adams High School.

The ticket center is part of the facility updates that took place over the summer at Penn High School’s football field. P-H-M’s Board of School Trustees voted to approve the name the ticket center after Larry Beehler at their meeting held on August 14. Anonymous donors established a naming rights partnership with the P-H-M Education Foundation to name the ticket center after Mr. Beehler.

Mr. Beehler is a graduate and class valedictorian of then Madison Township High School (Wakarusa), which is now Madison Elementary School, one of P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools. Larry and his wife of 55 years, Judy, are lifelong residents of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. In July of 1986, he was elected to the Board as the Madison Township representative and is currently serving his 31st year as a Board Member. During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler served in leadership roles as Board Secretary for three years, Board Vice President for nine years, and Board President for six years. He has also served as P-H-M’s representative on several different Indiana School Boards Association (ISBA) boards, including as Board Policy Liaison and Legislative Liaison. He is also an active member of the National Schools Boards Association (NSBA).

During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler’s roles have ranged from also serving on District Strategic Planning Committees to Smaller Learning Communities Achievement Design Committee for Penn High School. Mr. Beehler was nominated and received the Penn High School Distinguished Staff Award in 2010 sponsored by the Penn High School Alumni Association.

Aware of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s ongoing naming rights campaign, anonymous donors contacted the P-H-M Education Foundation wishing to contribute to the Foundation’s endowment. Wanting to also find a way to honor Mr. Beehler’s three decades of civil service and dedication to P-H-M, the naming rights partnership for the new ticket center was suggested. Per the agreement, the donors have donated $25,000 to the P-H-M Education Foundation endowment.

When a donor partners with PHMEF on the naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment. This in turn provides alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing education and training of educators is a major priority for P-H-M School District. The key to providing an excellent education is having excellent teachers. P-H-M teachers are excellent at what they do because of their passion, but also because of the ongoing professional development the District provides.

Breakfast & Lunch is served at all 11 elementary schools.

• Students receiving special meals due to diet restrictions: Special diet menus will not change with changes on the regular menu. Your student will receive the original menu item on days that they have requested a meal.

Monthly Menus:

• Beginning April 2026, all school menus will  only be listed on SchoolCafe.
  • Click this link to access the menus on SchoolCafe.
• March 2026 Elementary Menu (Updated 2.26.26)

*School menus are also posted in Schoolcafe.com. 

The Penn-Harris-Madison Food Service department implements the Offer Versus Serve (OVS) system. OVS allows students to accept or decline some of the food offered as part of a complete meal. The goals of “OVS“ are to reduce food waste in the school nutrition programs and to allow students more customization of the meal they select. 

CLICK HERE to fill out a new application for Free / Reduced Lunch. 

For parents with busy schedules, it can be hard to make sure that kids are eating a healthy breakfast before they go to school in the morning.

Sometimes children aren’t hungry right after waking up, and it’s hard to find food they like to eat that is also healthy.

Also, some kids refuse breakfast at home but are hungry when they arrive at school. Fortunately, we have a great breakfast program for all students, and it’s available at school every day.

If morning meals are difficult for your family, let the School Breakfast Program help you out!
Free meal students receive a free breakfast. Reduced price breakfast for qualified students is .30. Regular priced breakfast is $1.50 at elementary and $1.75 at secondary. Ala-carte is also available at the middle and high schools.

The following schools serve breakfast each morning:

• Bittersweet Elementary serves breakfast in the cafeteria
• Elm Road Elementary has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• Elsie Rogers Elementary serves breakfast in the cafeteria
• Horizon Elementary serves breakfast in the cafeteria
• Madison Elementary serves breakfast in the cafeteria
• Mary Frank Elementary serves breakfast in the cafeteria
• Meadow’s Edge Elementary has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• Moran Elementary has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• Northpoint has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• Prairie Vista has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• Walt Disney Elementary has a grab and go breakfast that students enjoy in the classroom.
• All three middle schools serve breakfast in the cafeteria
• Penn High School offers breakfast in the cafeteria. Students can eat there or take to the classroom.

Benefits of Eating Breakfast

• Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test
  scores.
• Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get
  along with their peers than those who do not.
• Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and
  improves memory.
• Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and
  incidents of tardiness than those who do not.
• By eating breakfast, students get more of important nutrients, vitamins
  and minerals such as calcium, dietary fiber, folate and protein.
• Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast on a regular basis are less
  likely to be overweight.
• Eating breakfast as a child is important for establishing healthy habits for later in
  life.
• Schools that provide breakfast in the classroom to all students have shown
  decreases in tardiness and suspensions as well as improved student behavior
  and attentiveness.
• What you eat for breakfast can have an impact on learning. One study showed
  that eating breakfast food high in fiber and low in sugar for breakfast helped
  students sustain the cognitive effects of breakfast.
• School Breakfast provides daily servings of fruit, whole grains, and milk, plus
  roughly ¼ the recommended calories needed for lasting energy.