Incoming 9th graders for the 2019-2020 school year interested in doing Penn’s 9th grade Summer Physical Education for the Summer of 2019 … the Lottery sign-up window opens this Friday, Jan. 18, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. The window closes at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.

Incoming freshmen MUST be able to commit to BOTH summer school sessions!

Click here to visit Penn High School’s website for more details.

The first day for students of the 2019-2020 school year is Wednesday, August 21, 2019 and the last day for students is Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Other important dates include:

• September 2, 2019: Recess Day – Labor Day
• October 25 & 28, 2019: Fall Recess Days
• November 5, 2019: Recess Day – General Election
• November 27-29, 2019: Thanksgiving Recess Days
• December 23-Jan. 3, 2020: Winter Break
• January 20, 2020: Recess Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 17, 2020: Recess Day – Presidents’ Day
• April 6-10, 2020: Spring Break
• May 5, 2020: Recess Day – Primary Election
• May 25, 2020: Recess Day – Memorial Day

Click here for a one-page pdf copy of the 2019-2020 school year calendar.

If you need copies of the 2018-2019 school year and activity calendars, please click here.

Discovery Middle School PTO in Partnership with Discovery Middle School presents “An Evening of Vocational Options and Saving for College.” 
 

Please join us at Discovery Middle School for presentations about the College Savings 529 Plan and by Elkhart Area Career Center. The programs at the EACC are available to Penn High School students. A complete listing of classes and programs are outline in the Penn High School Program of Studies—just use the “Cntrl F” function to search for the Elkhart Area Career Center.

Monday, February 11, 2019, 7:00 p.m. at Discovery Middle School.

Swiss Valley will not be open due to no snow and the warmer temps.   Ski Club will be canceled tonight. 

Penn Robotics Team 135 is once again holding workshops for 1^st ​- 8th grade students over two days of Winter Recess (Thurs., Dec. 27 & Friday, Dec. 28).

Creative Workshop 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Suggested Age: 1^st ​- 3^rd graders. Price: $80.00. A camp that stretches the creative mind! Students are given a design challenge to complete over the course of two days. Students will be using K’NEX to build a solution to the stated problem. They will be on teams that will design, create, and improve upon their concept. While having fun in an exciting environment, the emphasis is always on the process of design to build, while always improving on previous ideas! On Friday students will have the opportunity to test their concepts against the other teams within the workshop. Parents are also welcome to attend the Parent Show which will take place the last 15 minutes of the workshop on the December 28th. High school robotics students will be mentors during these two days of fun!

Applied Workshop 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Suggested Age: 4^th – 8^th graders. Price: $80.00. This camp is geared towards students who want to expand their knowledge in designing and manufacturing! This workshop is also geared towards students who can follow instructions and are comfortable behind computer software. Over the two days, students will be designing 3D parts on the computer that can be brought to life with many CNC Machines. Students will have the opportunity to use the 3D printer, CNC Laser Cutter, the CNC Router, and many other tools/machines in the Penn Robotics Lab! High school students will be mentoring and helping students with their 3D computer designs and machining their parts.

Click here to sign-up and pay online today!

Penn High School Counselors will be coming to Discovery on Thursday, Dec. 6, 6;00 p.m., for an 8th grade Parent Info Night explaining the course selection and scheduling process for this year’s current Archer 8th graders, next year’s incoming Penn Freshmen Class, and  future Class of 2023.

The students will be touring Penn High School during a school day during the week of November 26.

At the upcoming Parent Info Night, Penn Counselors will cover how students and parents should fill out the Pink Course Selection Sheets and the deadline of when the sheets will be due back to the students’ Discovery Counselors.  Penn’s Counseling Center staff will also be available to answer any questions parents may have.

Parents and students are also encouraged to visit Penn together for the upcoming Penn Showcase on Monday, Dec. 10, 6 – 8:00 p.m. (click here for more info on the Showcase). The Showcase is designed to help incoming parents and students learn about all Penn has to offer, from Academies, to classes, and even extra-curricular activities. It also helps current 9th, 10th, and 11th graders and their parents make educated decisions about the pathways they should be following and the classes in which they should be enrolling.

All DMS students who sold three items or more were able to participate in the fundraiser party in the gym. The activities at this event included: a photo booth, snacks, inflatables, dancing, ping pong tables, an eating contest, a dance contest, and getting to cover Mr. Kauffman in silly string!  The students enjoyed the social time and were able to celebrate being the top cookie dough sellers in the country!  

The IDOE released the 2017-18 Accountability grades on Wednesday, November 14 and once again the Indiana Department of Education has recognized the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation as an “A” rated school district! Along with the district’s “A” rating, Discovery Middle and six other schools also received “A” letter grades:

• Elsie Rogers Elementary School
• Horizon Elementary School
• Moran Elementary School
• Northpoint Elementary School
• Prairie Vista Elementary School
• Penn High School

P-H-M has received an “A” rating every year since 2011—making this the seventh consecutive year!

Overall, nearly 64 percent of Indiana Schools received an A or B. For more information on and to view the 2017-18 School Accountability Grades, please click here to visit the IDOE website. For more information on Discovery’s rating and 2017-18 ISTEP+ scores, please click here.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation serves more than 11,100 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and Penn High School. With the release of the Spring 2018 ISTEP+ results, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation ranks in the state’s Top 5% of public school districts for grade 10 ISTEP+ results and in the Top 6% for grades 3-8.

Discovery Middle School ranks #3 out of the state’s public middle schools! Northpoint is the #2 public elementary school in the state! 

Penn High School ranks in the Top 5% of all Indiana public high schools and has a 97% graduation rate, exceeding the state’s graduation rate.

P-H-M’s “Triangle of Success” connects students, teachers and parents for excellence in education.

The Discovery Spell Bowl Team were victorious at the Regional Competition with a score of 69 out of 72 possible points. Not only did they have the best score in their division, but they had the best score of any team at the competition. Congrats to Janet, Olivia, Felix, Aayan, and VJ for their perfect scores and Vikrant, David, and Shahmeer who scored near perfect scores. The team will return to Purdue on November 10th to defend their state title.

Penn High School’s Drama Club will present “Boo Bash”  in the Studio Theater on Thursday, Oct. 25.

“Boo Bash” features two shows, and admission is free.

The first show, “Wren and Moose”, is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25. It is a 25-minute children’s Halloween show written by Penn High School student Kenny Collymore-Williams. After the show, there will be Halloween candy and a short meet-and-greet with the characters.

The second show, “Death and All His Nonexistent Friends”, is a 30-minute young adult Halloween show, also written by Kenny Collymore-Williams. It is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., and features a few more jumps, bumps, and scares.

According to Drama Club Sponsor Crystal Ryan, “Boo Bash” is a student-led project. It is student-written, directed, acted, and teched.

“The Drama Club developed this event as a way to have a fun, free event for the community, but more importantly, the Drama Board members wanted a low pressure, fun way to engage incoming theatre students,” Ryan said. “With such a large program, it is a great way to get our “Intro to Theatre” involved in a performance situation. 

“The other unique thing about this event it is Penn’s first stage reading!” Ryan said. “Stage readings are how most professional playwrights get their works initially read before they go on to a huge, full production. Having several aspiring playwrights in our program, I would like begin implementing this more in our program to teach students how to get their work read, produced, and out in the professional world.“