COVID Testing Walk-in Clinic

If a student, teacher, or staff member is symptomatic or quarantined due to exposure, they may receive a free BinaxNOW rapid antigen test for the COVID-19 virus. This program uses Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW tests provided by the federal government.

The IDOH has recently revised the school site testing criteria due to the limited supply to only test the following groups:

• Symptomatic students Pre-K through grade 12

• Symptomatic teachers and staff members age 50 and above.  

Where can they be tested:

• The walk-up clinic will take place at the P-H-M Bank Locker Room Building located on the corner of Bittersweet and McKinley Hwy (US20) near Penn High School. Entry is off McKinley Hwy.

• No appointment is necessary.

• The clinic will be open when school is in session on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. AS LONG AS TESTS ARE AVAILABLE. The Clinic may need to close early on the days it is in operation as the number of available tests per day may vary due to the national shortage. 

• We will only test a student accompanied by a parent/guardian.

• Please bring the completed consent form to the clinic at the time of testing. Click here to download and print the consent form.

Tonight P-H-M Board of School Trustees newest board members were sworn into office.

Both Mr. James Turnwald and Mr. Ryan McCullough were appointed to fill two Penn Township Board seats made vacant back in November. The Board voted unanimously to appoint Mr. James Turnwald to Seat #1 filling the vacancy left by Mrs. Jaye Galloway. Mr. Ryan McCullough was appointed to fill Penn Township Seat #2 vacated by Mr. Jamie Woods. Both were unanimously approved on December 1.

Mr. Turnwald was sworn in by Board Attorney Jeff Johnson and joined by his wife Amanda and their four daughters.

Mr. Turnwald serves as the Executive Director of the Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) and a Board Member of the Potawatomi Zoo. He has a bachelor’s degree in Geography & Urban Planning from Miami University (Oxford, OH) and a master’s in Public Affairs from IUSB. He and his wife have four daughters, with two of their oldest enrolled at Meadow’s Edge. He brings a wealth of experience in civil government, planning, finance and infrastructure. As a P-H-M parent, he is passionate about education and supporting the growth and self-actualization of all students.

Mr. McCullough was also sworn in this evening. He was joined by his wife Nicole and son and daughter.

Mr. McCullough is a 1995 graduate of Penn High School Mr. McCullough attended Western State College of Colorado and was a member of the US Ski Team Freestyle 2004-2005. He works as a Sales & Marketing Executive for Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle out of Denver. Mr. McCullough and his wife, also a Penn grad, returned to Penn Township several years ago to raise their three children: Class of 2020 Penn grad, daughter at Schmucker, and son at Penn. Mr. McCullough is actively involved in the P-H-M community including volunteering as a Penn Freshman Football Coach.

Mr. Turnwald’s term will expire at the end of 2022. Mr. McCullough’s appointment will last through 2024. Both Mr. Turnwald and Mr. McCullough may choose to run for election for the ensuing four-year term with elections taking place in November 2022 for Seat #1 and November 2024 for Seat #2.

The P-H-M Community Tailgate was held Friday, August 27 before Penn’s home opener football game against LaPorte. The popular annual event brings together members of the community, Penn faculty, staff and students, as well as parents and families from across the District. This was the 34th year for the event. Click to see the photo gallery below.

Penn fans and patrons showed up to enjoy the food and good times served up by the P-H-M Education Service Center Staff and Administrators. Unfortunately, Penn lost to LaPorte 21-14 in overtime.

If you missed the Community Tailgate this year, be sure to mark your calendar for next year. It’s always held the night of Penn’s first home game from 5:30-7:00 at the south end zone Zolman Concession Stand! 

See the photo gallery below. To download high-resolution jpg files, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!

It’s August and that means Kingsmen sports and Marching Band practices are in high gear.

To recognize the hard work they’ve already put in and to wish them luck for their coming seasons, Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker stops by all of the fall sports practices to hand out popsicles!

It’s an annual tradition that students have come to expect and look forward to. He’s been doing it for over 15 years! This year, Chief Operating Officer Aaron Leniski joined Dr. Thacker in handing out the frozen treats.

Today (Friday, August 13) we caught up with Dr. Thacker and Mr. Leniski as they handed out frozen treats to Penn Band members. 

In a nice show of solidarity, the Penn Kingsmen football players came to the band practice area to wish them well.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

Next Wednesday, August 18 is the first day for 1st – 12th grades (August 19th for Kindergarten), but today P-H-M’s newest teachers went “Back to School!”

It was a busy New Teacher Orientation Day for this creative and talented group of 79 of P-H-M’s newest elementary, middle and high school teachers and Exceptional Education staff. A total of 84 new teachers were hired for the 2021-22 school year.

Here’s the stats on this year’s incoming teacher class:

• @25 have Master’s degrees
• @63 have received their Bachelor’s or Master’s from an Indiana College or University
• @27 are Penn High School graduates
• 350+ total years of combined experience

Browse the new faces below … your child may end up having them this year!

Tokyo 2020 is officially underway and we are PROUD to have not one but two graduates from Penn High School representing Team USA. Annie Drews (‘12) will be competing in volleyball and Sarah Hildebrandt (‘11) will be competing in freestyle wrestling. Also in Tokyo is Penn Wrestling Head Coach Brad Harper. Brad is working with Sarah as her personal coach. Learn more about Annie and Sarah below!

Annie Drews, a 2012 graduate of Penn High School, will be playing volleyball as an opposite hitter, representing Team USA with the perfect balance of offense and defense.

Before earning her spot on the world stage, Annie won two 4A volleyball state championships at Penn High School in 2010 and 2011. Annie was also a member of the U.S. Women’s National A2 Program while studying at Purdue University.

She is also the first in program history to represent Purdue on the Olympic Volleyball Team. U.S. Women’s Volleyball is currently ranked No. 1 in the world, and I can’t wait to see how far they’ll go!

Sarah Hildebrandt, a 2011 graduate of Penn High School, will represent Team USA as a wrestler in the 50KG weight class.

While at Penn High School, Sarah became the first female to qualify for the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Wrestling Semi-State competition and led Penn High School to the IHSAA Team Championship. Since graduating from high school, Sarah has earned four gold medals competing in the Pan American Games, as well as a silver medal in the World Championship.

Sarah brought Penn High School Wrestling Head Coach Brad Harper with her as her personal coach. Sarah’s continues involvement in Penn Wrestling is an inspiration to the next generation of girls and has helped grow the girls wrestling program to the best in the area!

These are just two of more than 30 American Olympians who have connections to Indiana high schools, colleges, or universities.

To learn more about our Olympians with Hoosier roots, click here.

The message below was shared with P-H-M Families and Staff via email July 1^st and 2^nd, 2021.

Dear P-H-M Families and Staff,

At the Monday, June 21, 2021, P-H-M Board meeting, I shared information regarding P-H-M’s social-emotional learning and diversity initiatives. As part of the growing national discussion about race relations, many parents are reaching out inquiring about critical race theory.

As I stated in last week’s Board meeting and several members of the administration have stated in response to parent emails, P-H-M is not teaching critical race theory. 

Many people have also requested more information about our Social Emotional Learning and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lessons. 

To help clear up misinformation and misconceptions of what we are teaching and our intentions, P-H-M will be hosting public information sessions before the start of the school year in August. We are still in the planning stages, but we will be sharing information with everyone very soon. 

We hope that our students, parents, staff and community will join us to learn more. Stay tuned!

I wish you and your families a very happy and safe Fourth of July holiday.

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Penn-Harris-Madison continues to monitor the spread of COVID-19. With more than 13,000 students and employees, we all play an important role in minimizing the risk and impact on each other and our operations. The health and safety of students and staff is our top priority. As a result, P-H-M Schools will implement various measures to keep everyone as safe as possible. 

Please click here to read an overview of the district’s plan for a safe and healthy learning environment for Summer 2021 In-Person Instruction.

Throughout Summer 2021, P-H-M will continue to track COVID cases of students and staff that are made known to district and school personnel. Click here to view the P-H-M Positive COVID Dashboard.

To read documents related to P-H-M’s Return to Learn Plan for the 2020-2021 school year, please click here.

On Monday, June 21, 2021 the Board of School Trustees approved the administrative changes submitted by Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. The changes below will take effect July 1 for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year:
 

• Bob Thompson was approved as the new Director of Alternative Education and Special Projects. This position opened when Seth Molnar was appointed Director of Human Resources replacing Mike Lureman who retired. Bob began his career in education in 2000 and has been with P-H-M for thirteen years, beginning in 2008 when he was hired as the Assistant to the Principal for Elsie Rogers Elementary. From 2009-2012, he served as Principal of Elsie Rogers. Bob was Principal of Bittersweet Elementary from 2012 until the end of this school year. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor for Bethel University in the Graduate Education Program since 2015. Bob is a Penn alum receiving the Penn High School Distinguished Alumni Award, Teacher of the Year at Battell Elementary during his time with School City of Mishawaka, as well as the IUSB Outstanding Future Educator Award.
• Katie Carroll was appointed as the new Principal of Bittersweet Elementary. Katie has been the Assistant to the Principal at Walt Disney Elementary since 2017 and served as K-4 Summer School Co-Principal since 2018. She is also a product of P-H-M attending Mary Frank, Horizon, Discovery and Penn. She began her teaching career in 2008 at Elsie Rogers after doing her student teaching with P-H-M. Katie taught kindergarten and first grade for nine years at Elsie. She is certified in Orton Gillingham Multisensory Approach, CPI trained, and is a certified Indiana School Safety Specialist.
• Brad Boyd was named Night School Supervisor following the retirement of Ginny Mueller. Brad began with P-H-M as a substitute teacher in 2009 and then moved to Walt Disney Elementary as a full-time Educational Assistant through Joint Services in January of 2010. Brad started teaching at Penn in 2012 as a half-time Social Studies Teacher and a half-time Dean of Students. He became full-time Dean of Students in 2014, with the exception of the 2016-2017 school year when he acted as an interim Assistant Principal.
• Kevin McMillen will be moving to the Assistant Principal position at Grissom Middle School. Kevin was hired in 1995, teaching German at Penn High School. He transitioned to Discovery Middle School the following year to teach multiple foreign languages for 7th and 8th grades. Kevin served as an interim Assistant Principal at Schmucker Middle School before being named principal at Madison Elementary in 2017.
• Jennifer Sinclair was approved as the new building principal for Madison Elementary. Jennifer has been with P-H-M for nine years, beginning in 2012 as a classroom teacher at Walt Disney Elementary. In 2018, she became an Assistant Principal at Grissom Middle School. During her time at GMS she has served as the RtI coordinator, the School Threat Assessment Team Leader and District Team Member. This past school year Jennifer was one of three Assistant Principal's who worked at the ESC supporting central office staff, managing COVID communications, and providing COVID protocols and guidance for building principals.

At the Monday, May 17 Board Meeting, the P-H-M Board of School Trustees approved two new positions, recognized P-H-M’s Teacher of the Year candidates, and outgoing staff members. Congratulations to everyone!