2022 Middle School Instrument Selection Night
Discovery
Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Wednesday, Feb. 23
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Schmucker
Monday, Feb. 28 and Tuesday, March 1
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Grissom
Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is nationally recognized as one of the “Best Communities for Music Education” offering choir, band and orchestra at Schmucker, Discovery and Grissom Middle Schools.
Every P-H-M 5th grader who will be attending a P-H-M middle school as an incoming 6th grader in the Fall 2022 has the opportunity to join an instrumental music class, which includes either band or orchestra. “Instrument Selection Night” is when students and families get to make their choice!
At “Instrument Selection Night,” a music professional will be available to give students advice about which instrument may be best suited for them. They will be allowed to “try out” instruments from various instrument groups. Click here to download, view and print more information on Instrument Selection Night.
In order to join 6th grade band or orchestra, students must select an instrument that they will learn, practice and perform for the school year. Click this link to sign-up for your appointment at your designated school and date.
Penn Poms to host one-day clinic on Saturday, Jan. 29
Penn Poms will host a one-day clinic on Saturday, January 29, 2022.
The Poms clinic participants (pre-K through eighth grade) will learn a dance routine during the day on Saturday, Jan. 29, that will be performed at the Penn High School boys basketball halftime that night. The clinic cost is $35 per student.
Click here for details.
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COVID Testing Walk-in Clinic for P-H-M Students & Staff
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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.
Santa is Back on Saturday, December 4, 2021
We are happy to announce that Santa Claus is coming to town!
At the 2021 P-H-M Winter Wonderland Show, attendees will be treated to a fabulous light show and then children will have an opportunity to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
The show is called “Laser Holidays” and it will be shown in the state-of-the-art Digital Video Theater located at Bittersweet Elementary School.
Quick Details:
- Saturday, December 4, 2021
- Shows at 8 a.m., 9:45 a.m. & 11:15 a.m.
- Bittersweet Elementary School
- $5 for all tickets
- Tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 10 a.m.
- Space is limited to 75 participants per time slot.
- Purchase tickets here: phm.revtrak.net
Ticket sales begin on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 10 a.m. Tickets will only be available online on a first-come, first-served basis.
Space is limited to 75 participants per time slot. Once all tickets are sold, all sales end.
While the program is intended for Kindergarten through 3rd grade students, children of other ages may attend with their siblings. All children
must be accompanied by an adult and each person must purchase a ticket to attend.
Tickets will then be mailed to you from the Community Education office prior to the event.
If you have any questions about the program, please call 574.258.9568 or email jforkner@phm.k12.in.us.
Masks will be required to wear during the DVT show and in line to visit Santa. Masks can be taken off briefly to take the picture with Santa.
If you have any questions about the program, please call 574.258.9568 or email jforkner@phm.k12.in.us.
Penn Youth Girls Basketball League Grades 3-8
Registration for the Penn Youth Girls Basketball League for students in Grades 3-8 will be held on Sunday, Sept. 12, from 12:00-2 p.m..
When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 12:00-2 p.m.
Where: Penn High School/ Enter through Door D
Price: $125
Space is limited to the first 108 athletes per age group.
Please read this flyer thoroughly!
Kingsmen Boys Basketball League for Grades 2-8
Registration for the Penn Boys Basketball League for students in Grades 2-8 will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 1, from 5:45-8 p.m..
When: Wednesday, Sept. 1, 5:45-8 p.m.
Where: Penn High School/ Enter through Door D
Price: $75 Grades 2-6 / $60 Grades 7 & 8th
Discount: $10 Discount for Summer Basketball Camp Attendees
Information: If you have any questions please contact Assistant Varsity Coach Julius Smith at jsmith5@phm.k12.in.us
Please read this flyer and bring it to registration if possible.
Return to In-Person Instruction – Summer 2021
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.
eLearning Day Scheduled for Tues., March 30, 2021
The information below was sent to P-H-M families on Friday, March 26, 2021.
Dear P-H-M Families,
In the District’s ongoing efforts to provide opportunities for P-H-M staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, we worked with Meijer to provide a vaccination clinic on March 8 for the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.
1,170 people were vaccinated, including staff from P-H-M and neighboring school districts, as well as some community members. This included over 700 P-H-M staff, representing about half of our entire workforce.
Meijer is returning next Monday, March 29, to administer the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to staff and community members who were vaccinated at our clinic three weeks ago.
As part of our weekly meeting with the St. Joseph County Department of Health, it was shared with us that we should expect 15-30% of P-H-M employees to experience mild to adverse effects after receiving the second shot.
We know that other area school districts had to call eLearning days after their staff members experienced some side effects following the second dose of the Moderna vaccine. If 15-30% of P-H-M staff members called in sick for Tuesday, March 30, we would not be able to transport, feed or teach our students.
Based on this information, we are calling an eLearning Day for grades K-12th grade for next Tuesday, March 30. This day will be an eLearning day (just like what is called due to weather), NOT a virtual learning day. Teachers will not be teaching live on Tuesday. Head Start, PreK (Early Learning Academy and PennPALS), and Young Adult programs are all canceled for March 30. However, eLearning lessons will be provided for Early Learning Academy, PennPALS, and Young Adult programs.
The regular eLearning Day responsibilities of teachers will be in place next Tuesday. If a teacher is not sick, he/she will be online and responsive to student questions and to offer additional support and clarification as needed throughout the school day. If a teacher is taking a sick day on Tuesday, they will notify students and families through email and other normal modes of class communication and will not be available online that day. The classroom teachers will give specifics and assignment due dates of the eLearning lessons.
We know that this is a disruption and an inconvenience for our families at a time when we are trying to return all students to 100% in-person learning. Having nearly half of our workforce fully vaccinated through our Meijer clinic coupled with the state opening up vaccine eligibility to people 16 and older will ultimately help school districts return to near normal, pre-pandemic operations of educating students. We hope that parents, guardians, and families will also personally consider getting vaccinated to help our greater community, state and country. Thank you for being valued partners.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Thacker
Meijer Pharmacy Administers 1,170 Vaccine Doses
Almost a year to the date Indiana schools shut down (P-H-M schools shut down on March 12, 2020), P-H-M teachers and staff got a literal shot in the arm and marked a major step forward in our fight against COVID-19.
On Monday, March 8, 202, Meijer Pharmacy set up a vaccination clinic inside the Main Arena at Penn High School and administered 1,170 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.
Every P-H-M teacher and staff member who wanted to get the vaccine was able to do so.
The vaccines were made available under the federal allotment of vaccines through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. The White House announced that the federal allotment would be open to educational staff at schools so teachers and staff could receive the vaccine, especially in states where educational staff had not been included in the first responder group. P-H-M Human Resources reached out to Meijer as word spread that they were working with Indiana schools to set up on-site vaccination clinics.
We are so thankful to the team at Meijer and to EVERYBODY at P-H-M who worked so hard to make this event happen on very short notice.
![Meijer Pharmacists](http://www.phmschools.org/sites/phmschools.org/files/meijer.jpg)
Jenni McCarthy, a kindergarten teacher at Bittersweet Elementary said “I honestly have to say that it was fantastic when I found out that we could get them right here at school. I didn’t have to go anywhere. I didn’t have to sign up on any list, I didn’t have to do anything. It just goes to show that Penn-Harris-Madison is a great place to work because they always think of their employees first and are trying to make sure that we are safe to be back in the classroom.”
In addition to the over 700 P-H-M staff members who received a vaccine, we also reached out to area schools to make doses available to others as well. P-H-M felt it was important to share any extra vaccines with educators and staff from other school districts and private schools within P-H-M’s boundaries so that no vaccines would be wasted.
![teacher received vaccine](http://www.phmschools.org/sites/phmschools.org/files/1o7a6554.jpg)
Dr. Jerry Thacker, P-H-M’s superintendent of schools said “…this just has a tremendous positive impact on the feeling the teachers, all school employees and the students have with regards to receiving a vaccine. They know they’re going to be safer, so this is the first step in that. It also gives us a barometer of what we need to be doing in the future with regard to reaching out and making sure that we can get our students back [in person].”
Watch the video to get a fuller sense of what the day was like. Meijer will return to Penn Monday, March 29th to administer the second dose.
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!