The Indiana Department of Education released 2015 school accountability grades today and all 15 of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s schools earned an “A”! The final grades were approved unanimously by the State Board of Education during the January 26 Board meeting.

“This straight ‘A’ report card is a result of the hard work and dedication from principals and teachers to the staff, students and families at all of our schools,” said P-H-M School Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “This latest achievement is a result of our District’s commitment to excellence.”

Last year, 13 P-H-M schools earned an “A.” With Madison Elementary and Elsie Rogers Elementary each moving up from a “B” to an “A,” all 15 P-H-M schools (11 elementary, three middle and one high school) have now earned this top recognition from the IDOE. Out of 2,095 schools across the state that got a letter grade, only 123 schools saw their letter grades go up in this latest ranking.

A spreadsheet reflecting the final school grades as approved by the State Board of Education is available through this link, http://www.doe.in.gov/news/indiana-department-education-releases-2015-accountability-grades.

On January 6, 2016 the IDOE publicly released the 2015 ISTEP+ results. With an 81.4% pass rate for ELA (English/Language Arts) and a 78.0% pass rate for Math, P-H-M ranked 10th in the state among 293 public school districts. The District’s 2015 overall combined pass rate for both subject areas is 72.1%

Click here for more information on P-H-M’s 2015 ISTEP+ results.

With the Wednesday, January 6, 2016 public release of the 2015 ISTEP+ results, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation saw a jump in its ranking among Indiana’s 293 public school districts. With a 81.4% pass rate for ELA (English/Language Arts) and a 78.0% pass rate for Math, P-H-M ranks 10th in the state! The District’s 2015 overall combined pass rate for both subject areas is 72.1%.  

Another highlight from the 2015 ISTEP+ results for P-H-M … the School Corporation saw an increase in score variance. In grade 3, the variance between P-H-M’s scores and the state’s increased to 19.6 points; in grade 8, it goes up to 25.1 points. This shows that the younger a student enters the P-H-M education family, and the longer they are taught by P-H-M teachers, the better the students do!

Superintendent Jerry Thacker keeps the district’s focus on excellence in education, and acknowledges the partnership that makes it possible. “We commend our students and teachers, along with our parents for their concentrated hard work and dedication; that is the ‘Triangle of Success’ we tout at P-H-M.”

This link takes you to the full story of how P-H-M students fared on the 2015 assessment, including access to data charts that display individual school results.

Note that the Feb. 16, 4:30 p.m. deadline to apply for this vacancy has passed and the application materials are no longer available online. 

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is seeking applicants for the position of Harris Township Trustee (Seat 6) on the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Board of School Trustees. The Board will appoint a Trustee to serve in the vacancy due to Mr. Larry Romero’s recent resignation. Mr. Romero and his family will be leaving the P-H-M community and relocating out of state. Mr. Romero’s resignation is effective February 8, 2016. The newly appointed trustee will complete Mr. Romero’s term of office from March 2016 to December 2018. The appointee may run for election for the ensuing four-year term with elections taking place in November 2018.

Applicants for the position of Harris Township Trustee shall be registered voters, at least twenty-one (21) years of age or older, and shall be a resident of said township – Harris Township – for at least two (2) years immediately preceding the date of the appointment.

Click here to download an application packet. (This link has been disabled).  Applications may also be obtained at the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s administrative office: Educational Services Center, 55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, Indiana 46545. Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.  

Application deadline is Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. Please note the ESC is closed on Monday, February 15 in observance of President’s Day.

Interviews will be held in the Board Room at the Educational Services Center. The Board will take action to appoint the new Trustee at a Special Board Meeting.

Penn-Harris-Madison will be performing computer network maintenance on February 12, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. to upgrade our current internet services. During that time, access to P-H-M online services, including P-H-M hosted websites, Canvas, APlus and Plato will be unavailable. This network maintenance is necessary in order for P-H-M to continue to offer excellent technology online service. We appreciate your patience.

Another Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation school has been nominated for a National Blue Ribbon School Award.  Northpoint Elementary School received word on Friday, Jan. 15 of the school’s recent nomination by Indiana Superintendent Glenda Ritz to the U.S. Department of Education for the National Blue Ribbon School award.

Northpoint is one of just eight Indiana schools nominated for the award. The school was selected based on student performance on 2014-2015 ISTEP+. In 2015, Northpoint had 95.9% pass rate for ELA, and 94.1% for Math. In 2014, the ELA pass rate was 99.3% and Math was 99.7%.

The award requires that schools nominated have pass rates on each test, at each grade level, and be in the upper 15 percent of Indiana schools. Additionally, three of the eight schools must have 40% or greater free/reduced lunch rates.

Announcement of school award winners will be made in September 2016 by the U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King, Jr. If Northpoint is named a National Blue Ribbon School it will be the second time the school has received the honor (the first time was in 2010) and two consecutive years that a PHM school was named a National Blue Ribbon School.

On Sept. 29, 2015, Prairie Vista won. To date, P-H-M has received the National Blue Ribbon designation eight times: Penn High School in 1994, 1995 and again in 2001; Discovery Middle School in 2006 and 2013; Northpoint Elementary School in 2010; and Prairie Vista in 1996 and 2015.
 

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 2014, P-H-M was rated an “A-rated” school district by the Indiana Department of Education for the 5th 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. 

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation will hold two upcoming Special Meetings to interview the four candidates interested in filling the Board of School Trustees vacancy created by the resignation of Harris Township Trustee, Mr. Larry Romero on February 8, 2016.

The two meetings will be held on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 and Wednesday, March 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the Boardroom at the Educational Services Center, 55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka. The meetings are open to the public and anyone is welcome to attend. 

Board President Gary Fox has called the Special Board Meetings and will lead the interviewing of the four candidates.

The four Harris Township candidates are:
1. Mrs. Angie Gates, Granger
2. Mr. Terry Miller, Granger
3. Mrs. Carole J. Pascarella, Granger
4. Mrs. Clare Roach, Granger

The P-H-M Board will hold a third Special Meeting on Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 8:00 a.m., in the Boardroom at the ESC, to appoint the newest Board member. This meeting is also open to the public. Whoever is selected will serve the remainder of Mr. Romero’s term, which runs through December 31, 2018.

Registration for kindergarten students for the 2016-2017 school year will begin at each P-H-M elementary school on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. This registration opportunity is for youngsters who live within the P-H-M district and who will be five years old on or before September 1. A parent or guardian must appear at the school in person to register their child.  

Parents, before you go to the child’s school, please visit the district’s kindergarten registration page to:

• Learn more about the registration process
• See what documentation you must provide
• View and download copies of the necessary forms

We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2029!

Parents of 3rd through 8th graders and Penn sophomores, the Indiana Department of Education has released the testing windows for ISTEP+ and IREAD for the 2015-2016 school year. ISTEP will begin in late February and IREAD in mid-March. Part 1 of ISTEP will be done with paper/pencil and Part 2 will be done online. 

New this year:  In preparation for 2016 ISTEP+, the IDOE has now made ISTEP+ “Experience” available through Pearson, allowing students and parents to experience various technology-enhanced item types that will appear on the ISTEP+ Part 2 assessment as often as they like from home, at school, or on mobile devices. “Experience” is presented via the Pearson online platform (TestNav 8) that will be used for ISTEP+ online testing, as well as IREAD-3 online testing. P-H-M families can access ISTEP+ “Experience” through the P-H-M District website, as well as through the link provided on the RESOURCES menu of every school website.

Indiana Statewide Testing of Educational Progress Plus (ISTEP+ ) Grades 3-8, and 10*

                                                                           Window Begins                                              Window Ends

ISTEP+ Part 1 – paper/pencil                        February 29, 2016                                          March 11, 2016
(Applied Skills)

ISTEP+ Part 2 – online                                    April 18, 2016                                                  May 6, 2016
(Multiple-choice & Technology-Enhanced Items)

*New this year, high school sophomores will be required to take ISTEP

Indiana Reading And Evaluation Determination-3 (IREAD-3) Grade 3

IREAD-3                                                           March 14, 2016                                               March 18, 2016

For more information on the state assessment testing windows, please visit the Indiana Department of Education website, www.doe.in.gov/assessment.

Two Penn-Harris-Madison schools make the grade in national rankings of the nation’s top public schools … Northpoint Elementary came in at #27 of the 2015 list of “50 Best American Public Elementary Schools” by TheBestSchools.org and Discovery Middle school came in at #50 of “50 Best American Public Middle Schools.”

Northpoint was cited for its academic performance, the strength and richness of its programs, and for earning National Blue Ribbon School status in 2010.

Other rankings for Northpoint include:

• “A+” grade by LocalSchoolDirectory.com
• a grade of 97 by City-data.com
• Rated 10 out of 10 by Education.com
• “A” grade by K12.Niche.com
• Ranked 4 out of 1014 schools with a 5 star rating by Schooldigger.com

Discovery is also an “A” rated school. Best Schools recognized Discovery for students participating in the Horizons STEM Conference, Academic Team Competitions, National Junior Honor Society and the Discovery Scholastic Art Competition.

Other rankings for Discovery include:

• Ranked #4 in the state by SchoolDigger.com
• Rated 10 (on a scale of 10) by GreatSchools.com
• Rated 10 (on a scale of 10) by Education.com

Overall, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is an “A-rated” school district from the Indiana Department of Education.

• P-H-M performed in the top 5% of all Indiana districts on ISTEP+, with an overall passing rate of 91% in English/Language Arts and 93% in Math in 2014.
• 91% of P-H-M third graders passed the IREAD-3 proficiency exam on the first attempt, compared with 84% in the state overall.
• P-H-M has seven Four Star schools, as named by the IDOE. They are: Horizon Elementary, Mary Frank Elementary, Prairie Vista Elementary, Northpoint Elementary, Discovery Middle, Grissom Middle, and Penn High School. 
• Thirteen P-H-M schools earned an ‘A’ grade from the Indiana Department of Education.

Penn High School is again an elite 90-25-90 school. Penn’s performance far exceeds each of these three academic benchmarks, with a 97% graduation rate

On Sept. 29, 2015, Prairie Vista Elementary School was among the 335 schools awarded National Blue Ribbon School status for 2015. Prairie Vista was recognized as an “Exemplary High Performing School.”  This makes the second time that Prairie Vista has been named a Blue Ribbon school; the first award was given in 1996-97. And for the past seven years, the Indiana Department of Education has also recognized Prairie Vista as a Four Star School.

Prairie Vista’s 2015 recognition makes the eighth time that a P-H-M school has received the National Blue Ribbon designation: Penn High School in 1994, 1995 and again in 2001; Discovery Middle School in 2006 and 2013; Northpoint Elementary School in 2010; and Prairie Vista received the award for the first time in 1996.

It's that time of year again when the weather gets fickle. Sunny and warm, rainy and cold, possibly snow; we just never know in October.  Please make sure your child comes to school dressed for outside recess. We will go outside if it is zero or above and the weather permits. We ask that students are dressed and prepared for the changes that October brings.