Students in grades PreK – 8^th can take advantage of a one-day Penn Dance Clinic.

DATE: Saturday, December 3, 2022

TIME: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 
              (Pre-K and K 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)

LOCATION: Penn High School Fitness Center (Enter through Door D)

COST: $40 (Pre-K & Kindergarten),
            $50 (1st-8th grades)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY! Please register by Friday, November 25, 2022 so t-shirts can be ordered. Late registration could result in no t-shirt.

PERFORMANCE:  Students will perform that evening at a Penn Boys Basketball Game TBD.

• JV Game:  PreK – 2^nd Grade
• Varsity Game:  Grades 3^rd – 8th

Penn High School junior Felix Zhang talked to South Bend local news media this afternoon about earning a perfect score, not missing a single question, on the college-level Advanced Placement® (AP®) Calculus AB Exam—the only student in the world to do so!

The media coverage of Felix Zhang’s amazing accomplishment continues to roll in, including a shout-out by Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” with more than a million views …

Below is a sampling of local, state, national and international news coverage:

• ABC 57
  • ABC 57’s story was then picked up by ABC News network, along with the ABC affiliate stations in Los Angeles, and Chicago
• WSBT-TV
  • WSBT’s story was picked up by the CBS station in Kansas City, MO
• WNDU-TV
  • WNDU’s story was picked up by the Boston affiliate
• Fox News Network
• 13 WTHR-TV (Indianapolis)
• WVPE (Elkhart Public Radio)
• New York Post
• Britain’s the Daily Mail
• Click to see all the Tweets about Felix

Click here to view the photo gallery on Penn’s website.

Zhang attended Northpoint Elementary and Discovery Middle School. With the release of the Spring 2022 ILEARN results and out of all 299 Indiana public schools that passed both ELA and Math, Northpoint Elementary is #1 is the number one public elementary school and Discovery Middle is #2 public middle school in the state. 

The College Board, which administers the AP® exams, recently notified Penn Principal Sean Galiher that Zhang not only attained a perfect score of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5), but Zhang was the only student in the world to earn every point possible on the AP® Calculus AB exam! This means Zhang accomplished the maximum score on each portion of the exam (108 out of 108). In 2017, a student from Carmel, Indiana, was 1 of 3 people in the world to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read a story in Indy Star). In 2016, a student from California was 1 of 12 in the world  to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read the story in LA Times).

In an email sent to Principal Galiher notifying him of Zhang’s phenomenal achievement, Head of the Advanced Placement Program Trevor Packer said, “This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at Penn High School. We applaud Felix's hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”

“The teachers in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation are some of the best in the state of Indiana,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Their incredible dedication and commitment to academic excellence and making sure every single student reaches their highest potential is nothing short of extraordinary; and they do this every day across our district, in all 15 schools. Felix Zhang and teacher Mrs. Denise White are just one of the many examples of great student/teacher relationships that result in phenomenal achievements for our students. It exemplifies our ‘Triangle of Success’—connecting students, teachers and parents!”

When asked by reporters if he was surprised with his score, Zhang replied “I felt pretty confident knowing that I knew what to do on the test, but there was always a chance I would make a small error or something. So I wasn't really expecting to see a perfect score. And that was pretty surprising to me because I felt like, there's a lot of other people out there who probably perform very well on this test, and I'm pretty surprised that no one else got a perfect score.”

Zhang took the AP® Calculus AB exam last spring 2022 when he was a sophomore along with approximately 270,000 students worldwide. Approximately 20% of students who took the test in May 2022 earned a 5—the largest percentage of 5s since 2016 (click here for more data related to the 2022 AP® Calculus AB exam).

Zhang’s AP® Calculus AB teacher at Penn High School last school year was Mrs. Denise White and this year she’s teaching Zhang again in the next level AP® Calculus CB class. Mrs. White has been a teacher for 30 years and is in her fourth year of teaching AP® Calculus at Penn.

“I love the students. I think that's why I do it. I call them my kids because now I have a daughter that just graduated and she's away at college. And so they have sort of fill that gap for me,” said Mrs. White talking to reporters. “I love to like go to their sporting events. I sponsor two clubs; and I used to coach here at Penn. So just getting involved in the students’ lives is very enjoyable for me. It's not a profession that you probably can do without loving it. I don't know what I would do if I didn't teach.”

Mrs. White also told reporters that not only is she extremely proud of Zhang, but she’s also overjoyed with last year’s class overall performance sharing that 50% of her students last spring scored 5s (click here for more information about the percentage breakdown of the 2022 AP® Calculus AB scores).

“There’s a lot of strategies that teachers can put in place to help students learn. But when you have kids scoring at a five, you know that the curriculum is intentional, it's focused, the kids are engaged and there is a collaborative environment,” said Penn Principal Sean Galiher. “When you take an AP Calculus course in high school, you're essentially taking the first year of Calculus as a college student; and that's the whole reason why we we push dual credit and AP type courses here at Penn High School. We want students to feel prepared so they can succeed in college and finish college, in four years at least. So if we can expose them at the high school level and help them experience the rigor and the challenge and be successful, we know they're going to be successful when they leave our our walls.”

Information supplied by the Advanced Placement® Program states that students who succeed in AP® are not only more likely to succeed in college, but have the chance to save a significant amount of time and money by earning college credit or placement. Colleges and universities around the world receive AP® scores for college.

Penn High School is the only high school within Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, which is located in suburban South Bend, Indiana (home to the University of Notre Dame). P-H-M Corporation serves nearly 11,000 (K-12) students in 11 elementary schools and three middle schools which all feed into Penn High School. Penn has approximately 3,500 students. P-H-M is among Indiana’s top performing public school corporations. It in the Top 3.67%, #11 out of Indiana’s public school districts. The School Corporation has consistently received an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education since 2011.

P-H-M’s “Triangle of Success” connects students, teachers and parents for excellence in education. To learn more about academic excellence Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, please click here. To learn about the achievements of Penn students and faculty, please click here.

There is going to be a little something for everybody happening at Penn High School on September 23^rd and 24^th, so mark your calendars and be sure to bring the whole family!

Friday, September 23^rd, 2022

P-H-M Education Foundation Family Fun Zone

• Time 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Location: Behind Penn High School in the Door E Parking Lot / West of TCU Freed Field

• Inflatables

• Food Trucks

• Penn Teacher Dunk Tank
• Voting for parade costumes and floats

*All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

Saint Joseph Health System Health Fair

• Time 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Free Health Screenings PLUS interactive booths for children

Homecoming Parade

• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• Location: Behind Schmucker Middle School > Bittersweet > Ends at the P-H-M ESC
  **SEE THE MAP BELOW**
• Parade Grand Marshal P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, 2022 Penn Homecoming Court, Kingsmen Marching Band, Penn Cheerleaders, Penn student groups and clubs, local Fire trucks & Police cars

Penn Homecoming game, Kingsmen vs. Marian Knights

• Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
  • Homecoming Court Presentation at halftime
• Cost: $6
• Children in grades K-5 get in FREE with a paying adult

Saturday, September 24th, 2022

Silver Mile Bubble & Color Run for Education – Sign up Here!
All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

• Late Registration & T-Shirt Pickup
  • ​Time: 7:15-8:00 a.m.
  • Location: TCU Freed Field
• Warm Up
  • ​Time: 8:15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• 1-Mile Fun Run / Walk
  • ​Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
  • Cost: $10 Per Person (4 & under free!) | T-Shirt $10
    • ​Price for Preregistration by September 22nd, 2022
    • Friday & Saturday (Day of) Registration: Cost $15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• Water and light post race snacks will be available to participants
  

Community Connections Fair

Saturday, March 26, 2022

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Schmucker Middle School

56405 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s ENL Services’ is sponsoring the District’s FREE Community Connections Fair!

Come check out what the Mishawaka, South Bend, and Elkhart communities have to offer to your families!

P-H-M is inviting area businesses who want to participate in the Community Connections Fair to sign up. Click here to request a table at the event. 

The Fair will also include cultural performances from P-H-M students and families. Families wishing to sign up to perform, click here.

Flyers about the event are available in the following languages, please click to download and print:

• English
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Spanish
• Gujarati
• Telugu
• Hindi
• Korean
• Punjabi

Bilingual interpreters will be on hand at the event to assist those families who need it.

Come out and enjoy the many cultural performances and student work that will be on display representing countries from all over the world! 

Please join us!

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Parker

P-H-M Elementary ENL Coordinator

(574) 259-2486, Ext. 53261

nparker@phm.k12.in.us

As stated in Board Policy 9130, parents are welcome to provide feedback related to curriculum materials.  The information submitted on this form will be directed to the building principal.

Click here to fill out and submit Instructional Material Feedback form.

March 28, 29 and 30^th at Penn High School

If you are interested, please email Varsity Coach Rita Szweda at rszweda@phm.k12.in.us before March 25 and she will provide the tryout information and your name will be added to the tryout list.

"An Evening of Jazz" will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, at St. Mark Missionary Church, 55240 Bittersweet Rd, Mishawaka, Ind., 46545.

The event will feature performances by jazz ensembles from Grissom Middle School, Discovery Middle School, Concord High School, and Penn High School.

Our guest artist, Mark Buselli, director of Jazz Studies at Ball State University, will work with students during the day and perform with the ensembles through the evening. We will also raffle off several exciting items and packages during the event.

Tickets are $10 per person and all proceeds will go toward the Penn Jazz program. Ticket sales will be at that door starting at 6 p.m. and will be general seating.

Due to COVID concerns and guidance from the P-H-M School Corporation and the CDC, we will not be serving a meal this year.

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.

*Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view the pdfs on this page. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit Adobe’s website, at this link www.get.adobe.com/reader/, to download your free version.

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.