The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees unanimously voted on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 to approve the P-H-M teachers’ contract for two years, the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, and increase teachers’ overall base salaries by approximately 5% and 3% respectively.

P-H-M Administration and the P-H-M Teachers Association effectively negotiated contracts that not only give salary increases to both new and existing teachers, but also provide a $650 retention bonus incentive (new teachers will get one in July 2024 and existing teachers will get one this December and again in July 2024). The new teacher’s starting salary is now $47,007 (up from $44,940 last year). The salary range now goes to $81,360 (last year’s high end of the range was $77,412). The new salary range will be retroactive to the start of the fiscal year July 1, 2023 running through June 30,2024. The breakdown of percentage increase is below.

“Negotiating a contract for two years instead of one is more efficient and shows P-H-M’s support and commitment to our teachers,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “The salary increases and retention bonuses support P-H-M’s talent acquisition and retention strategies to recruit and retain the best teachers for our students. Combined with our total compensation package, P-H-M offers a premier package for teachers in our area.” 

For year two of the contract (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), new teachers will get a 2.9% increase and existing teachers will get 3.1%, making the salary range $48,370 – $84,204. Existing teachers will receive a $650 retention bonus in December 2024. See the chart below.

Additionally, a yearly stipend of $250 will be paid to eligible teachers who have earned 36 credit hours beyond their Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree after 2012. For the two-year period of this contract, there will also be an annual 2% stipend increase for all teachers who also serve as athletic and extracurricular academic coaches. Employee contributions for health insurance premiums will also increase a marginal 5% during the first year of this agreement.

A tentative agreement was reached on September 19 and PHMTA members ratified the agreement by an overwhelming majority on Tuesday, September 26.

“Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association appreciates the collaboration with P-H-M administration to reach this two year agreement. With this agreement, P-H-M continues to stand out in this area as a leading district in wages and benefits. It is an agreement that will truly benefit our outstanding teachers and allows P-HM to continue to attract and retain the very best” said PHMTA President Lisa Langfeldt.

The teachers’ contract is negotiated first followed by the rest of P-H-M employee groups. Annually the process takes place after the school year has begun, approximately September thru November. Announcements about other P-H-M employee groups will be forthcoming.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign, Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker have generously donated $10,000 to the Education Foundation to have the basketball court in Penn High School’s Main Arena named after Hall of Fame and Penn’s legendary coach, Al Rhodes, renaming the court “Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court.”

The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees voted to approve the sponsorship agreement at the Monday, October 9, 2023, Board meeting. The donation will be paid in one lump sum to the Foundation.

Coach Rhodes retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, with a 28-2 record. The Kingsmen reached the Final Four led by Rhodes protégé and standout Markus Burton who won the coveted Mr. Basketball Award. Burton is only the third player from St. Joseph County to be named Mr. Basketball. Now at Notre Dame, he was the MVP of the 2023 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series.

Rhodes also played for the Kingsmen from 1966-1970. He went on to play for Tri-State University (now Trine University) before embarking on his coaching career.

Starting his head coaching career at Warsaw in 1980, Rhodes coached the Tigers through the 2002 season. His 1984 Warsaw team claimed the State Championship.

Rhodes and his Kingsmen teams cut down the nets six times as Sectional or Regional Champions. Penn reached the Final Four in Indiana’s revered Hoosier Hysteria state tournament for the third and fourth times in the school’s 65-year history. Rhodes posted an overall record of 693-320 in 42 seasons, including an overall state tournament record of 101-41. The Kingsmen won 18 Sectional Championships, nine Regional Championships, four Semi-state Championships and one State Championship. Coach Rhodes retired as the winningest coach in Kingsmen Boys Basketball history with a record of 239-128 in 15 seasons.

Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s donation to name the court after the Hall of Famer was a natural decision, said Dr. Thacker. “It’s only fitting that the hardwood where Kingsmen student-athletes racked up so many wins under Coach Rhodes’ leadership would be named after him. This is an excellent way to commemorate and celebrate Penn Basketball’s winningest coach ever!”

The unveiling of the new court signage is scheduled to take place at the Penn-Clay game on December 1, 2023. The new court name will be displayed above the scoreboard.

Per PHMEF’s naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation will go into the Foundation’s endowment, which will in turn provide 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 the education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in the School Corporation by strengthening partnerships between the community and the District. PHMEF supports education through awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Dr. Thacker has been superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation since 2006 and has supported the Education Foundation wholeheartedly. Over the course of 17 years, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker have donated $202,500 to the P-H-M Education Foundation, including this most recent donation of the naming rights. Most of this money has either been unrestricted donations or used as matching funds for fundraising initiatives. This is the second time they have made a donation to the naming rights campaign. In 2021, they donated $25,000 to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center renamed the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center after Penn’s legendary football championship coach. Click here to see pictures and video of the dedication.

“The Foundation Board and I are so appreciative of Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s generosity through the years,” said Jennifer Turnblom, Executive Director of the P-H-M Education Foundation. “Their unwavering support has been a tremendous help to us fulfilling our mission. The Thackers’ donations alone have made it possible for the Foundation to fund approximately 20% more classroom grants, activities and programs possible for the students of all P-H-M’s 15 schools. Their impact has been nothing less than incredible!”

The Arena is still available for naming rights.

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker dropped by Moran Elementary School today to surprise another teacher with a P-H-M Impact Award.  This time around, the noteworthy educator is Moran 2nd grade teacher Melisa Bennett.

All P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success. The P-H-M Impact Award is shining the spotlight on those teachers who are showing the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year. They are prime examples of how our teachers and students achieve P-H-M Excellence!

With the help of Principal Principal Lisa Russell, Dr. Thacker was able to catch Melisa Bennett off guard. Dr. Thacker was also joined by P-H-M administrators Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null and Director of Literacy and Title I Ryan Towner.

Melisa Bennett had the highest growth of all P-H-M Title I second grade teachers! 92% of students of her Moran second graders’ overall Dibels composite growth was average or higher. 36% of students were in the “above average” or “well above average” categories.

Check out all the photos of today’s award presentations on Facebook.

We thank the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards.

There are more P-H-M teachers to recognize in the days, weeks and months ahead!

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker awarded three more P-H-M teachers with the Impact Award today (Monday, October 2). Dr. Thacker visited Walt Disney Elementary, Elsie Rogers Elementary and Grissom Middle School. Awards handed out this time around were to the following teachers:

• Matt Serge, 3^rd grade teacher at Walt Disney
• Kara Flanagan, 1^st grade teacher at Elsie Rogers
• Josh Kelver, 8^th grade ELA teacher at Grissom Middle School

The P-H-M Impact Award is presented to educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. All P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success. The P-H-M Impact Award is shining the spotlight on those teachers who are showing the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year. They are prime examples of how our teachers and students achieve P-H-M Excellence!

Dr. Thacker popped in and surprised the teachers with the help of the school principals, Disney’s Dr. Higginson, Elsie’s Christy Campbell, and Grissom’s Jenn Sinclair. Dr. Thacker was also joined by P-H-M administrators Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short and Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null.

Matt Serge was recognized for having the highest growth in ELA of all Title I 3rd grade teachers in P-H-M! Mr. Serge’s class went from 9% (Clear Sight) to 55% proficiency on ILEARN; that’s 21% higher than average Title I proficiency growth!

At Elsie Rogers, the team caught Kara Flanagan completely off-guard. The students really got into the surprise. Flanagan had the highest growth of all P-H-M Title I first grade teachers! 90% of her students had average or higher growth for their overall Dibels composite growth; and 58% of her students were in the “above average” or “well above average” categories!

Because Mr. Kelver’s wife, Ashley Kelver, also works at Grissom, she was able to be included in the the surprise. Josh Kelver had the highest growth class section in 8th grade ELA across P-H-M (15% higher than the second highest class)! Mr. Kelver’s class went from 8% proficiency at the beginning of year, to 75% proficiency on ILEARN. That’s the highest average growth across all 8th grade P-H-M ELA teachers!

Check out all the photos of today’s award presentations on Facebook.

We thank the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards.

There are more P-H-M teachers to recognize in the days, weeks and months ahead!

This afternoon (Friday, Sept. 29) representatives from Riley Children’s Foundation visited Penn High School to thank members of Kingsmen Court, Penn students and staff for their generosity. 

Last year Kingsmen Court organized the “Turkey Legs” competition, during which teachers wear shorts and/or dress up in costumes in the days leading up to Thanksgiving Break, and collect money from students and staff with all proceeds going to Riley Children’s Hospital.

Last year’s “Turkey Legs” raised $7,436. 25 teachers participated, and three raised over $1,000: Glenn Northern, Kyle Berres, and Jeremy Starkweather. Glenn Northern raised just over $1,600 in donations!

With this gift to Riley, the Foundation was able to sponsor an actual Red Wagon at the hospital–the patients’ main method of transportation in the facility–with a special license plate bearing Penn High School’s name to honor the Kingsmen’s generous philanthropic spirit.  

Today Susan Miles, the Riley’s Kids Caring & Sharing Officer came to Penn to honor Penn for achieving its Red Wagon Sponsor status presenting a duplicate license plate to Kingsmen Court representatives, teacher sponsors Sandy Hunter and Sarah Klein, as well as Principal Dr. Sean Galiher and P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker.

Penn High School has a history of raising thousands of dollars for Riley Children’s Foundation. In 2018 and 2019, Penn students held a Dance Marathon FTK (For The Kids) raising $25,090.16 and $36,929.21 respectively. And even during the 2020 pandemic shutdown without holding the Dance Marathon, Penn students were still able to raise $25,008.12 virtually!

In year’s past, Penn’s annual Dodgeball Tournament proceeds have also been donated to Riley. In 2019, the Tournament raised $4,154.25. Click to read more.

We are very proud of our students and staff for their commitment to community service.

The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees will hold a Special School Board Meeting on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. at the Educational Services Center, 55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, Indiana related to discuss the terms of the tentative agreement of the teacher collective bargaining agreement.

Click here to view the Tentative Teachers Agreement for 2023-2025.

Today (Friday, September 29, 2023) Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker awarded another P-H-M teacher with the Impact Award. Dr. Thacker visited Penn High School to surprise 9^th grade Early College Biology teacher Dr. Lee Morris. Click here to see photos on Facebook.

The P-H-M Impact Award is being presented to educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. All P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success. The P-H-M Impact Award is shining the spotlight on those teachers who are showing the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year. They are prime examples of how our teachers and students achieve P-H-M Excellence!

Dr. Morris had the highest percentage of growth year over year with passing percentage growth; in 2022, it was 61%, and 83.4% in 2023. Her students’ growth was 28% higher than the overall Penn High School ILEARN Biology proficiency rate.

Dr. Thacker popped into Dr. Morris’ class and surprised her in the middle of reviewing an experiment with her students. In on the surprise was Penn Principal Dr. Sean Galiher, Associate Principal Rachel Fry, Assistant Principal Josiah Parker, Early College Academy Leader Danielle Black, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, and Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null.

P-H-M is grateful to the Education Foundation for covering the cost of these beautiful awards. 

There are more P-H-M teachers to recognize in the days, weeks and months ahead!

Friday, September 29 is Penn’s Homecoming Parade, Fun Zone, Food Trucks & the Penn football game versus St. Joe. The P-H-M Education Foundation is once again sponsoring all the fun and new this year–FIREWORKS after the football game! The entire P-H-M community is invited to come out for this fun-filled family event. All the fun starts with the Homecoming Parade. Be sure to grab your spot on the route by 5:00 p.m. Parade starts at 5:30! Here are some things that will be helpful for families as they head out for all the festivities.

Parking:

• Paid Parking ($3 cash) at these lots:
  • Penn High School (Front Lot & Jefferson Rd. Lot)
  • Softball/Tennis Lot
  • Bittersweet School Lot
• Free Parking at these lots:
  • Soccer Lot (Bank Lot)
  • Pennway Lot
  • Schmucker Lot (front, Sides & in Back of School)

Fun Zone:

• 5-7:00 p.m.
• Penn Baseball Field
• Teacher Dunk Tanks, Jumpies for elementary students
  • FREE for EVERYONE!
     
• Food Trucks:
  • Ben’s Pretzels
  • Junbuggies
  • Keim’s Elephant Ears
  • Kona Ice
  • Prized Pig
  • REAL Grille
  • Rulli’s Pizza
• Fans will be allowed to take food purchased at the Food Trucks into the stadium. However, no other outside food will be allowed!

Gate & Ticket Info:

• Penn vs. St, Joe, Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
• P-H-M students K – 5th grade get in FREE with paying adult!
• Tickets are on sale now-Thurs., Sept. 28 online, ticket price is $6 (students & all other age groups same price)
  • Click here to buy your tickets online
• Tickets on Friday, Sept. 29 are $7 (online or at the gate) 
• PHM Employees plus one guest get in FREE, but you must have ID badge & the guest must be with the employee
• Please remember middle schoolers cannot be dropped off unsupervised. Once in the game, the students are free to walk around. At least one responsible adult must be onsite.
• Tickets are sold at the North & South gates only!
• Penn All Sports Passes and tickets (hard & online) are accepted at all gates
• The Center Gate is reserved for Penn All Sports Passes and online ticket holders only
• No Reentry!

Fan Safety:

• Click to download and red the Lost Child Policy
• Please utilize crosswalks when crossing Bittersweet Road after the parade

Rules to Remember:

• No reentry to Everwise Field; once you leave, you are not allowed back in.
• No outside food or beverages, no insulated cups
• No backpacks
  • Diaper bags & large women’s purses are allowed
• Penn does not have a clear bag policy
• No electronic noise makers
• No Footballs or Beach Balls
• No weapons of any kind
• No alcohol
• No Smoking/Vaping products of any kind. All PHM school property is smoke free.
• No open flames at private tailgating

Info on the Penn Student Homecoming Dance on Saturday, September 30 can found on PHMEF’s website. CLICK HERE. 

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s ENL Services’ is sponsoring the District’s FREE Community Connections Fair!

Saturday, Oct. 7
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Schmucker Middle School

Come check out what the Mishawaka, South Bend, and Elkhart communities have to offer to your families!

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.

Bilingual interpreters will be on hand at the event to assist those families who need it.

Come out and enjoy the many cultural performances and student work that will be on display representing countries from all over the world! 

Please join us! Click here to download and share the flyer.

For more information, please contact:
Rylee Jacobson
P-H-M Elementary ENL Coordinator
(574) 271-8598, Ext. 50913
rjacobson@phm.k12.in.us

Penn-Harris-Madison representatives were recognized by the Indiana Association of School Psychologists (IASP) on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. P-H-M Board of School Trustee Secretary Clare Roach and P-H-M Lead School Psychologist Mike Manis, Ed.S. were recognized for their collaboration and partnership on working with the Association and Indiana Medicaid to clarify and strengthen the role of school psychologists in the Medicaid Program. 

To express the Association’s gratitude, IASP presented Trustee Roach with the Friend of School Psychology Award and Mike Manis as School Psychologist of the Year.

Both Roach and Manis partnered with IASP and Representative Mike Karickhoff (R-30) on House Bill 1205 that was enacted into Indiana Code 12-15-1-16  the 2023 spring legislative session which adds a school psychologist as a qualified provider for purposes of the Medicaid program and allows school corporations to obtain Medicaid reimbursement for specified services. 

The awards were presented to Roach and Manis during the IASP Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 13 2023 in Bloomington.

Mike Manis is a Board Certified School Neuropsychologist (ABSNP), Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), and an Indiana Independent Practice School Psychologist (IPE) serving in the role as Lead School Psychologist Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in the Exceptional Education Division.

Clare Roach has served as a P-H-M Board of School Trustee member since 2021; she has served as Board Secretary since January 2023. Roach has a M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame and is the Coordinator for Dual Language and a core member of the ENL Professional Development Team. She also serves as the Coordinator of the Two-way Spanish Immersion Program at Holy Cross School (South Bend).