The P-H-M Education Foundation hosted Dr. Jerry Thacker’s annual Superintendent’s Luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 16. More than 300 community leaders, business partners, P-H-M parents, and P-H-M staff attended. (See the full photo gallery below). Dr. Thacker is in his 13^th year as superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison. In giving his State of the District Address, he highlighted some of the school corporation’s most recent points of excellence: 

• For grade 10, P-H-M ranks in the Top 5% (out of 291 Indiana public school corporations that have a high school) for Spring 2018 ISTEP+ scores.
• In grades 3-8, P-H-M is in the Top 6% of public school districts (out of 294 Indiana public school corporations that have grades 3-8) for Spring 2018 ISTEP+ scores.
• Out of 410 IHSAA members, Penn High School was the only school in the state to win Sectional Titles in all Fall 2017 & Spring 2018 sports!
• In Fall 2017, the Penn Girls Soccer Team brought home the Class 3-A State Championship and was also named National Champions! Varsity Football was State Runners-Up.

P-H-M parent, CEO of Lippert Components and featured speaker Jason Lippert talked to the audience about the importance and impact of volunteerism and supporting education. In 2017, Lippert employees volunteered more than 100,000 community service hours! Mr. Lippert talked about the culture of giving back that has been created and nurtured at Lippert. The company created www.actsofservice.com, an online portal that area businesses can connect with non-profits and schools for volunteer and service opportunities.

PHMEF Executive Director Mari Linn Wise introduced grant recipients 2018 P-H-M Teacher of the Year Danielle Black and Title I Technology Integration Coach Jessie Kinney (See the full photo gallery below). The grant recipients were featured as part of the event to highlight the Education Foundation’s mission to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in P-H-M 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. PHMEF Board President Christine Rutherford co-emceed the event with WSBT anchor Bob Montgomery. Bob is married to 1^st grade Prairie Vista teacher, Rose Montgomery, and is also a P-H-M parent. 

*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. 

Before the Kingsmen hosted cross-town rivals the Mishawaka Cavemen for a very rainy Backyard Brawl, Penn High School hosted the Penn-Harris-Madison community for the opening of the new Kingsmen Athletic Center and Plaza (Friday, Oct. 12).

For an hour-and-a-half before kickoff, members of the public had the opportunity to get in from the cold and rain and tour the new building which holds locker room space for Penn High School student-athletes and visiting teams. The new 13,264 square foot facility includes three new locker rooms to be rotated during the Fall and Spring sports seasons: Football (varsity, JV and Freshmen), Track & Field (boys & girls) and Girls Lacrosse. There are a total of 255 oversized lockers large enough to house equipment. There are also private shower and rest room stalls. Click for a brochure with more details about the new facility. All three locker room areas have adjacent coaching staff office space for supervision. The two home larger locker rooms include integrated team meeting and film areas with video projection. With the addition of a training room at TCU Freed Field, Penn athletic trainers will have on-site access to equipment and medical treatment supplies during sporting activities. The new building also provides private facilities for sports officials. Click to see the full photo gallery on Penn’s website.

The home and visiting locker rooms were not in use for the Oct. 12 home game, but will be on Oct. 26 when Penn hosts Warsaw in the Class 6-A Sectional 2 opener.

On Thursday, Oct. 11, Kingsmen senior football players Caden Paquette, Bryce Stone, Rockne Hurley, Drew Schneider, and Brock Boynton got a sneak peek at the new facilities as part of a media tour with P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Chief Operating Officer Aaron Lenski and Penn Athletic Director Jeff Hart. Click to see the full photo gallery on Penn’s website.

On Friday afternoon, Penn Freshmen football players and coaches were also given a tour of the new facility. Check out their reaction in the video below.

P-H-M and Penn administrators along with P-H-M School Board of Trustees Members were on hand to welcome the public. Taking part in the evening’s events were Board of School Trustees Members Jim Garrett, Secretary Angie Gates, Jaye Galloway, Vice President Larry Beehler, Jamie Woods, Mr. Lenski, Dr. Thacker, President Chris Riley, Coach Hart, and Penn Principal Sean Galiher (Board member Gary Fox was unable to attend).

The Kingsmen Athletic Center & Plaza also enhances the visitor experience adding features on the south end of TCU Freed Field where none previously existed. Public restrooms (30 stalls for women, 20 for men) and three family restrooms were opened for Friday’s game. Patrons were also able to enjoy the new south end zone concession stand and family plaza picnic area. 

The new concession stand has been named the Zolman’s Tire Concessions. P-H-M community business partner Zolman’s Tire has donated $25,000 (over 12 years) to the P-H-M Education Foundation for the naming rights. Zolman’s made the same commitment in 2016 to name the north end zone concession stand. The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in P-H-M 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. Per PHMEF’s naming rights campaign, 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment. The remaining 20 percent will directly fund professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. The Zolman’s Tire Concessions Stand will be dedicated in the coming weeks with Zolman’s owner Nate Zolman.

The Kingsmen Athletic Center and Plaza has been a year in the making. In November 2017, the P-H-M Board of School Trustees approved the construction of a new athletics facilities building to be built in the south end zone of Penn High School’s TCU Freed Field. The bid was awarded in February 2018 to Fanning Howey. Ground broke on March 1 with the project completing October 2018. The project was part of Penn-Harris-Madison’s overall $7.5 million 2018 Capital Improvement Projects districtwide for 15 school buildings. The cost of overall TCU Freed Field stadium improvements (such as safety and security upgrades, replacement of asphalt, fencing, drainage, etc.) was $3.7 million, with the cost of the Kingsmen Athletic Center being $2.9 million. The stadium project was financed using General Obligation Bonds. When using bonds to finance projects the goal is to borrow funds within our financial capacity which in turn keeps property taxes level.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation has a vision of excellence serving more than 11,100 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and Penn High School. The School Corporation received an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education consecutively since 2011. For grade 10, P-H-M ranks in the Top 5% (out of 291 Indiana public school corporations that have a high school). In grades 3-8, P-H-M is in the Top 6% of public school districts (out of 294 Indiana public school corporations that have grades 3-8). 

Once again Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation schools, in all grade levels tested, scored above Indiana’s averages. The variance between P-H-M’s pass rate over the state is at least 10% or higher across all grade levels and subjects.

For grade 10, P-H-M ranks in the Top 5% (out of 291 Indiana public school corporations that have a high school). 

In grades 3-8, P-H-M is in the Top 6% of public school districts (out of 294 Indiana public school corporations that have grades 3-8).

For grade 10, 75.6% of P-H-M students passed the ELA test and 58.4% passed the Math portion. The district’s overall pass rate for grade 10 was 56.4%.

For grades 3-8, 78.0% of P-H-M students passed the ELA test and 74.8% passed the Math test. P-H-M’s overall district pass rate for grades 3-8 was 68.3%.

Other significant highlights from the Spring 2018 ISTEP+ results:

• Overall, Penn High School ranks in the Top 5% of all Indiana public high schools.
• Penn High School ranks 5th out of large public school districts (500+ students tested, based on both Math and ELA pass results of grade 10)
• Northpoint Elementary School is 2nd in Indiana public primary elementary schools (schools where grades 3-5 were tested)
• Discovery Middle School is 3rd in Indiana public middle schools (schools where grades 6-8 were tested)

• A total of four P-H-M elementary & one middle school—Northpoint, Prairie Vista, Horizon and Mary Frank Elementary Schools, along with Discovery Middle School—rank among the state’s Top 50 of all 1,426 public schools 

When reviewing the Corporation’s performance on the last round of ISTEP+ (grades 3-8) test results, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker commented “P-H-M teachers and administrators are incredibly committed to our vision of excellence and offer the best education in the Michiana area. I am very proud of the fact that P-H-M is one of the state’s top performing school districts. The credit goes to our outstanding teachers, students and parents.”

Students in Grades 3-8 and students enrolled in Biology at Penn will take ILEARN Indiana’s, new computer-adaptive standardized test, this spring (April 22 – May 17) replacing the state’s previous test, ISTEP+. To see what subjects students will be tested per their grade level, please click to visit the IDOE website. 

To help parents better understand how their children will be tested and to help them prepare their students for the test, the IDOE has put together a quick one page guide. Click here to download the pdf copy.

The ISTEP+ Grade 10 assessment will be administered during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. Click here for more information on the transition from the ISTEP+ Grade10 assessment to the College Entrance Exam.

IREAD-3 for Grade 3 will continue as is. Click for more details.

Starting this spring, the Indiana Department of Education will also transition to a new test to assess students with significant cognitive disabilities in Grades 3-8 and 10. IAM is the new summative accountability assessment. Click here for more details on IAM.

Click to view all the testing dates on the P-H-M Corporate Calendar or reference the 2018-19 P-H-M District Activities Wall Calendar.

Tuesday, October 16

Noon

St. Joseph Conference Center

1208 E. Douglas Rd., Mishawaka

The luncheon, hosted by the P-H-M Education Foundation, is a District fundraiser and an opportunity for P-H-M parents, business, community and education leaders to get a State of the Corporation directly from Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker.

Along with Dr. Thacker, this year’s featured speaker will be P-H-M parent and CEO of Lippert Components Jason Lippert. Mr. Lippert will discuss the importance and impact of volunteerism and supporting education. In 2017, Lippert employees volunteered more than 100,000 community service hours!

Mr. Lippert along with his wife Mrs. Darla Lippert last year established the Jeneane Arter Teaching in Excellence Award through the P-H-M Education Foundation – named after 25 Northpoint Elementary School veteran teacher Jeneane Arter (click for more details). The Lipperts underwrite the $2,000 award. Each year’s recipient is determined from a P-H-M student’s one-page essay of how the teacher made a lasting impact on his/her educational experience.  

For tickets to this year’s Superintendent’s Luncheon, please click here to pay online. For more information, contact Amber Kennedy at (574) 254-2893.

The show schedule for the 2018-19 school year has been set, with the first show of the season kicking off on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 6:30. Click here for the full schedule.

Patrons are now able to reserve and purchase tickets online through the P-H-M ​RevTrak Web Store. More  details online at www.phmschools.org/dvt.  

P-H-M Director of Saftey and Security Mike Seger will be recognized in November as among “2018’s Most Influential People in Security” by Security Magazine. 

The magazine has identified 17 top security executives and industry leaders who are “positively impacting the security field.” Mr. Seger is being recognized with other national safety leaders from the FBI to Microsoft and the National Football League.

Mr. Seger has been recognized for his role as a local, regional, and national leader in school safety initiatives, including:   

• Indiana State Suicide and Prevention Council
• Educational Interiors Showcase: Three Layer Security Design
• GOV 30 Award
• Security Today Cover Story
• Honeywell Users Group Advisor

Click here to learn more.

Penn-Harris-Madison Director of Communications Lucha Ramey and the Communications Department was recognized at the Monday, August 27 Board Meeting for recent awards that the Department received from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

This summer the Communications Department won these NSPRA 2018 Publications and Digital Media Awards:

• Excellence Happens Here marketing materials won Award of Honorable Mention
• The 2017-18 Calendar of P-H-M Activities won Award of Honorable Mention
• The P-H-M District and 15 School Brand Styleguide and Image Package won Award of Honorable Mention
• P-H-M social media activity on Facebook and Twitter won Award of Merit

There were 1,061 entries in this year’s NSPRA awards program, with 648 receiving recognition (click here to see the full list of winners). 

Other P-H-M staff and outside organizations and individuals made valuable contributions to help create the materials that received recent recognition:

• Jenny Forkner for her project management of the design, production and printing of the District Activities Calendar,
• Hirons for their graphic design support in creation of the District and 15 school Brand Styleguides, and
• Pictures in the marketing materials were taken by Penn High School's Curt Rallo, Mrs. Ramey, former PHM Multimedia Producer Tom Gropp, and some were even submitted by parents.

P-H-M’s Communications Department works to not only communicate valuable information to our parents and families through the District and 15 school websites. Through marketing and brand awareness initiatives, P-H-M not only keeps our families informed of all the terrific things taking place all across our District, but we also make the greater community aware of our student and staff accomplishments. The P-H-M audience is engaged and connected to the District through the use of eye catching photos and video storytelling on social media, websites and other digital forms of communication.

P-H-M launched the PHM Excellence Happens Here marketing campaign in August 2017. #PHMExcellence has an average of more than 58,000 impressions a month on Twitter! Click here to check out our #PHMExcellence feed. Click here to watch our PHM Excellence Happens Here video series on YouTube.

Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R, 2^nd District) visited Walt Disney Elementary school this morning to observe and learn more about P-H-M’s school breakfast program. Walt Disney is among P-H-M’s 12 schools, nine elementary schools, that serve breakfast. At Disney, students come in the morning and pick up their meal bags and head to the classroom where they eat their breakfast comfortably in their classrooms before the start of school. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee,  the Congresswoman reached out to Penn-Harris-Madison with an interest to observe an effective and efficient program that has been in existence for a number of years.  

Food Services Director Jill Riggs explained the program to the Congresswoman while she observed morning arrival and disbursement of meals. Disney Principal Ryan Towner then gave the Congresswoman a tour of Disney classrooms where she had the opportunity to meet students and answer their questions; one student even gave her a hug (see the photo gallery below)! Also in attendance was P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Board of School Trustees Member Gary Fox, and Chief Operating Officer Aaron Lenski. Principal Towner introduced Congresswoman to Nicole Parker, P-H-M’s Elementary ENL Coordinator, who explained Disney’s diverse student population where approximately 39 different languages are spoken in student family homes.