Indiana Association of School Principals, District 2 announced late yesterday afternoon (Monday, April 25, 2016) that Grissom Principal Mr. Nathan Boyd has been named District 2 “Middle School Principal of the Year.”
Boyd came to Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in 2013 after being principal at South Bend’s LaSalle Intermediate Academy for four years. Boyd began his 11-year career in education as a teacher, quickly followed by Assistant Principal, a position he held for three years before coming principal at LaSalle in 2009.
“Since joining P-H-M, Mr. Boyd has worked tirelessly to make Grissom an "A-rated" school,” said P-H-M School Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “He has set up not only a great framework for academics, worked hard to bring up ISTEP+ test scores, but Mr. Boyd has also found innovative ways to connect the students in co-curricular activities.”
P-H-M’s philosophy is that the more active students are in extra and co-curricular activities, the more successful they will be in the classroom. To that end, Boyd has created such value add programs like Grissom's first-ever "Grissom Drum Brigade" and "Club Honors." The Drum Brigade is designed to provide students with academic help while building a sense of school belonging and confidence within their own abilities. Students learn good study skills and habits while practicing drums!
Club Honors is another unique program that encourages students to excel in their classwork. For students that earn Honor Roll, they earn a “pass” to enjoy the school’s game room. It was Boyd’s idea to take an empty classroom and with the help of donations from Mishawaka based Laidig Systems, Sony PlayStation, Archway and Sam’s Club furnish it with video gaming consoles (with school and age appropriate video games), air hockey tables, basketball arcade game, board games, etc. By earning good grades, students earn the privilege to “hang out” in Club Honors after lunch or before school. Cognizant of wanting Club Honors accessible to all students, Grissom offers free after-school tutoring three days a week.
Boyd will be eligible for the opportunity to be named as the "Principal of the Year" for the State of Indiana at the fall conference coming up this November.
This is just the latest honor for Boyd; on March 31, the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce named Boyd a member of the 2016 Michiana “Forty under 40” class. Boyd and this year’s other nominees will be honored at a Recognition Luncheon which will take place Friday, May 6 at the Gillespie Conference Center.
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More About Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation serves approximately 10,700 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and Penn High School. For the 2015 ISTEP+, P-H-M earned an 81.4% pass rate for ELA (English/Language Arts); 78.0% pass rate for Math; and an overall combined pass rate of 72.1% for both subjects areas. P-H-M now ranks 10th in the state among 293 public school districts. In 2015, P-H-M was rated an “A-rated” school district by the Indiana Department of Education for the 6th year in a row. Penn High School's graduation rate exceeds the state’s with a 97% graduation rate and is rated a 90-25-90 school by the IDOE. 100% of P-H-M teachers rank either highly effective or effective. To learn more about P-H-M, please click here.
