Penn High School in Top 8.9% of 2023 nation’s Best High Schools by U.S. News & World Report

Penn High School has once again been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s best public high schools. Penn ranks 1st in the South Bend area, 22nd in Indiana (out of 377 schools ranked in Indiana), and #1,581 in the national rankings (out of 17,680 nationally ranked high schools). This puts Penn in the top 8.9% of the nation’s best high schools for 2023!

In coordination with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, U.S. News ranked approximately 17,680 public high schools out of nearly 25,000 reviewed. This is the count of public high schools that had a 12th grade enrollment of 15 students or greater, or otherwise had sufficient enrollment in other high school grades. Data from the 2020-2021 school year was used in the analysis. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Based on last school year, 2022-2023 the most recent school year, Penn’s students achieved a 98% graduation rate.

For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, Penn High School ranked FIRST in the state with the highest number of students earning ICC (Indiana College Core) or AGS (Associate of General Studies) certificates earned! Penn is also the State leader (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) for Ivy Tech dual credit completions!

Highlights from the Class 0f 2023 include:

  • $15 million in scholarships
  • 446 earned Academic Honors diplomas
  • 253 earned High Honors diplomas
  • 41 earned Technical Honors diplomas
  • 119 Early College Students
    • 106 earned ICC through Ivy Tech Community College
    • 89 earned Associates Degrees from Ivy Tech

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 endorsed as a Level 2 program WITH DISTINCTION. 

Penn High School is the first and only Early College High School in Indiana to achieve this level of distinction! The IDOE named the Early College Academy a “UCAN Mentor School” 

Click to see the full list of Indiana High Schools as ranked by US News & World Report in 2023. 

Walt Disney Teacher Named Top 10 Finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year

The Indiana Department of Education released today (Friday, August 18, 2023) the Top 10 finalists for Indiana Teacher of the Year and Walt Disney Elementary School Music teacher Mr. Robi Davidson was among them!

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Board of School Trustees Member Dana Sullivan were touring Walt Disney as part of the beginning of the school year school visits when they learned the news, so they popped into Mr. Davidson’s classroom to congratulate him. Watch the video below.

This is two Fridays in a row that Dr. Thacker has shown up to congratulate Mr. Davidson. Last Friday Dr. Thacker, Walt Disney Principal Dr. Mindy Higginson, and other P-H-M Administrators showed up at Penn Band practice to congratulate him as well when Mr. Davidson made it to the Top 25; last week he was “serenaded” by the Penn High School Marching Band! Take a look.

Mr. Davidson makes P-H-M’s fourth Top 10 Finalist in seven years–John Gensic in 2016, Jeanie Mitchell in 2019, Amanda Fox in 2022, and now Robi Davidson in 2023! And he’s the only teacher from the Michiana area to make it to the Top 10!

In April, Davidson was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year. Between his teaching career and his K-12 education, Mr. Davidson has spent almost his entire life at P-H-M! He attended Madison Elementary School, Grissom Middle School and graduated from Penn High School in 2007. He has taught music at Walt Disney Elementary for 11 of his 12 years of teaching. Click here to learn about Mr. Davidson.

The announcement for the winner of Indiana Teacher of the Year is expected to come early to mid September. We believe Mr. Davidson will be the winner!

2023 Community Tailgate

This year’s annual Community Tailgate will be a great way to kick off the return of the Backyard Brawl between the Kingsmen and the Mishawaka Cavemen. 

All fans are welcome, Cavemen and Kingsmen! There’s plenty of food for fans on both sides.

Gates open at 5:00 p.m. You must have a ticket to the football game to enter. Once inside the stadium head down to the white tents in the South End Zone, near the Zolman’s Tire & Auto Care South Concession Stand.

 

Walt Disney Music Teacher Named Top 25 Finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year

The Indiana Department of Education released today (Friday, August 11, 2023) the Top 25 finalists for Indiana Teacher of the Year and Walt Disney Elementary School Music teacher Mr. Robi Davidson was among them!

Davidson was at Penn High School Marching Band practice when Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, former Walt Disney Principal now Literacy Director Ryan Towner, and new Disney Principal Dr. Mindy Higginson surprised him to congratulate him. In the summer, Davidson coaches the tuba section for Penn’s award-winning Marching Band and works on the sound design team with the front ensemble. To celebrate Davidson’s next step in the Indiana TOY process, Walt Disney Principal Dr. Higginson brought him balloons and the band played the Penn Fight Song, with the tuba section front and center! Watch the video below. Click here to view the photo gallery.

In April, Davidson was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year. Between his teaching career and his K-12 education, Davidson has spent almost his entire life at P-H-M! He attended P- Madison Elementary School, Grissom Middle School and graduated from Penn High School in 2007. He has taught music at Walt Disney Elementary for 11 of his 12 years of teaching.

Walt Disney is one of P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Nearly 30 different languages spoken in the homes of Disney families. To celebrate the school’s diversity, we host an annual “Culture Night” and month long of educational experiences and celebrations for both students and families alike. Along with his music teaching responsibilities, Davidson is the lead organizer along of Disney’s Cultural activities.   

The IDOE each year recognizes an Indiana Teacher of the Year—a educator who works to inspire, rejuvenate, and celebrate the teaching profession by recognizing outstanding teachers from across the state. The INTOY award is a lifetime role in education, which has many opportunities to celebrate teaching and uplift the teaching profession.

On August 1, P-H-M’s Secondary Teacher of the Year Penn High School AP History teacher Eric Bowers was named Indiana History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute. Bowers will receive a $1,000 honorarium and a core archive of American history books from the Gilder Lehrman Institute. He is one of 53 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year award. The national winner will be announced in fall 2023 and celebrated at a ceremony in New York City. Bowers will also be among those recognized at the second annual Indiana Educational Excellence Awards Gala coming up in September. The Gala is sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education. 

 

Penn’s Eric Bowers Named 2023 Indiana History Teacher of the Year

Penn High School AP History teacher Mr. Eric Bowers was recently named Indiana History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute. The announcement came August 1. Bowers will be among those recognized at the second annual Indiana Educational Excellence Awards Gala coming up in September. The Gala is sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education.

Bowers was named P-H-M’s 2023 Secondary Teacher of the Year in the spring and is up for Indiana state Teacher of the Year. 

The History Teacher of the Year award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K–12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and U.S. Territories. The award is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 

In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, each History Teacher of the Year receives a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials, and becomes one of 53 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year award.

The winner of this year’s National History Teacher of the Year Award will be announced in fall 2023 and celebrated at a ceremony in New York City. This year’s ceremony will feature Peabody and Emmy Award-winning ABC News Senior National Affairs Correspondent Deborah Roberts as its presenter. Roberts, a contributing anchor for 20/20, was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in May. She is also the author of the New York Times recent bestselling book, Lessons Learned and Cherished: The Teacher Who Changed My Life.

Past presenters of the award include the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, First Lady Laura Bush, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

2023-2024 District Activities Calendar

The 2023-2024 District Activities Calendar was mailed to the homes of P-H-M families the last week of July.

The calendar provides key dates for testing, recess breaks, and school specific events (for the schools that provided the information).

You can click here to view a PDF copy of the calendar. You can also view a one-page of the 2023-2024 school calendar that shows the school year at a glance.

The P-H-M District online (Google) calendar is the most up-to-date. You can add this district and any school calendar to your own personal Google calendar.

Each of our 15 schools also maintains an online calendar that is updated frequently with the school’s scheduled activities and event details. You’ll need to visit your school’s website to add that calendar to your personal Google calendar. 

Notice of Public Hearing Related to Teacher Compensation & Collective Bargaining

On Wednesday, August. 2, 2023, 9:30 a.m., Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation administration and members of the Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association (PHMTA) will conduct a Public Hearing.

Please click to read the notice.

P-H-M Social Media Rules of Engagement

P-H-M Social Media Rules of Engagement Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and its individual schools may have an official presence on the social networking sites: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn. All P-H-M social media accounts serve the purpose of disseminating information about the P-H-M School District to students, staff, parents, and citizens to our school communities and the greater community at large. The district’s social media accounts are not intended to be a public forum.

Comments posted to these pages will be monitored. Frequent offenders may be blocked from district social media sites and page administrators reserve the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason.

Comments that contain/involve any of the following will not be tolerated and will be deleted:

  • abusive, obscene, vulgar, and inappropriate language
  • comments or content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination or hostility on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or any other unlawful basis of discrimination
  • derogatory language or personal attacks directed at individual(s), whether a student, a staff member, or a community member
  • information that violates a student’s or staff member’s right to privacy
  • information that may compromise the safety, security, or proceedings of any person, public system, or any criminal or civil investigation
  • advocacy of illegal or violent activity
  • jokes made about tragedies
  • solicitations or advertisements for external businesses, products or commercial transactions
  • spam or links to other sites
  • comments that are posted repeatedly
  • comments or discussions that are off topic
  • negative comments or negative discussion threads that are made on positive posts and pictures of students and staff members Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is not responsible for content posted by others.

Any account that violates these rules is subjected to being blocked.

The comments and opinions expressed by members of the public are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the district or its employees. Communications made through the district’s social media sites will in no way constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the district or any district official or employee for any purpose. Information shared with or posted to official district pages by the public is also subject to the Terms of Service of the host site and may be used by the owners of the host site for its own purposes.

P-H-M social media sites are third party sites and the host sites have Terms of Service and policies that are not governed by the district. The posts made on this page are meant to show the joy of learning, positive learning environment, student and staff achievement, highlight the district’s commitment to academic excellence, and the wide range of extracurricular and co-curricular programs.

2023 Employee Recognition Night

P-H-M’s Employee Recognition Program was held Wednesday, May 17. While not all were present, the Corporation as a whole did honor PHM’s Teachers of the Years, Employee of the Year, retirees, as well as employees who’ve been with PHM for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. Click the links to view the dinner program, photo gallery and videos of the TOYs and EOY.

During the program Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Board of School Trustees President Chris Riley honored this year’s retirees in attendance, as well as Robi Davidson, Elementary Teacher of the Year; Eric Bowers, Secondary Teacher of the Year; and Employee of the Year Julie Mead.  

Robi Davidson, 2023 PHM Elementary Teacher of the Year Eric Bowers, 2023 PHM Teacher of the Year Julie Mead, 2023 PHM Employee of the Year

Eric Bowers was a tad late, but arrived just in time to be recognized. Bowers who is also Penn’s Tennis Coach and the Kingsmen Girls were competing for their 16th consecutive Sectional crown, which they won! Bowers got retiring Penn Boys Basketball Coach Al Rhodes in on sharing the good news with the crowd by having him bring up the trophy during his comments.

Coach Eric Bowers Coach Al Rhodes

Board Members Jim Garrett, Clare Roach, and Dana Sullivan were also on hand to applaud and congratulate employees for their honors. The dinner was generously sponsored by Teachers Credit Union. Human Resources Director Dr. Lisa Soto-Kile served as Master of Ceremonies.

Mr. Davidson, Mr. Bowers and Mrs. Mead all spoke at last night’s dinner; they also received a commemorative plaque for their award. As part of the recognitions for Mr. Davidson and Mr. Bowers, P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom gave each teacher a $1,000 grant from the P-H-M Education Foundation to use in their classrooms. Mrs. Mead received a gift certificate from the District.

Click to watch the videos below to learn about Mr. Davidson, Mr. Bowers and Mrs. Mead.

View the photo gallery below of those who attended the May 17th dinner. Just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. 

 

P-H-M Names Horizon Elementary Teacher’s Aide as Employee of the Year

P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker wrapped up his busy week of surprises this afternoon at Horizon Elementary School by naming Teacher’s Aide Julie Mead as the Classified Employee of the Year. Dr. Thacker and Horizon Principal Amy Fadorsen popped into a kindergarten class where Mead was leading a Reading Learning Club session. Mead was so taken off guard she didn’t realize the award was actually for her until Dr. Thacker said her name. Click to watch the video below and view the photo gallery.

 

 

Mead first came to P-H-M as a parent. All of her three children have attended P-H-M schools and she says grateful for all the opportunities P-H-M has provided for her children and now herself, “Best decision we could have made, not only for our three kids, but for our family as a whole. Not only have they had wonderful educational experiences, but I’ve been able to find a job that is more like a family at Horizon.”

 

Mead started working at P-H-M in January 2019 as a Universal Substitute at Horizon. A year later she transitioned to a Teacher's Aide position, staying at Horizon. This school year, Mead has also become an Early Learning Academy Teacher's Aide–the only ELA Teacher's Aide at Horizon! 

 

Mead loves that she’s able to interact with students and staff throughout the building, “The job of a TA is a unique one. You spend so much of your day in small time frames all over the building. I touch each grade level daily. I get to learn about each and every year these students spend in the building and I get to help them year after year grow in their learning.” Mead says she’s found her calling as a TA, “I count it a blessing to be able to help so many all over the building! … There is so much joy in my day to be able to see those little lightbulbs go off above the students' heads.”

 

Mead is appreciated not just for the assistance she provides in the classroom, but for what she does  outside the classroom as well. Her list of school activities include: leading staff after school workouts, helping coach Horizon’s “Running is Elementary” teams, taking care of Horizon’s outdoor learning space known as the environmental lab, serving as a school traffic guard through VSS, and organizing a school blood drive for staff and the community.

 

Horizon teacher Jeffrey Hardman, who nominated Mead, explains how important she is to the building community “Mrs. Mead social emotional personality to help and lift up those around her is above and beyond what is needed in our workplace. She brings a cheery and secure personality to work each day.” Hardman also states her “positive behaviors have left us all feeling better at the end of the day.”

 

There were two surprise announcements earlier this week for P-H-M Teachers of the Year. On Monday, April 24, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Thacker surprised Walt Disney Music Teacher Mr. Robi Davidson naming him P-H-M Elementary Teacher of the Year. The next day (Tuesday, April 25) he surprised Penn High School AP History Teacher and Tennis Coach Mr. Eric Bowers and named him Secondary Teacher of the Year. Julie Mead was named Classified Employee of the Year on Friday, April 28.

 

The Teachers of the Year and the Employee of the Year awardees are officially recognized at P-H-M’s annual Employee Recognition & Retiree Dinner which will take place Wednesday, May 17th.