7th Grade Football – Monday, August 1  8:00-10:00 a.m.

8th Grade Football   – Monday, August 1  8:00-10:30 a.m.

7/8th Grade Cheer – Tuesday, August 2  9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

7th Grade Volleyball  – Monday, August 8  11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

8th Grade Volleyball  – Monday, August 8  9:30-11:00 a.m.

6th-8th Cross Country –  Monday, August 15  8:00-9:30 a.m.

All students should report inside of Door E by the main gym for the first practice. 

REMINDER: In order to participate in athletics, students must have an updated physical turned in, on or before the first practice, dated after April 1, 2016. Students may bring completed physical forms to the first practice and turn in to the coach.

Fall Intramurals and Club lists will be posted to Canvas and the Discovery Website by September 15, 2016. A copy may also be picked up in the main office.

Mr. Kauffman

Mrs. Harper

The Indiana Department of Education has announced the 2014-15 Four Star Schools and six Penn-Harris-Madison Schools made the annual roster for this elite distinction.

Along with Discovery, P-H-M’s other Four Star Schools include Horizon, Mary Frank, Northpoint and Prairie Vista Elementary Schools, and Penn High School.

In order to achieve this designation, a school must be in the top 25th percentile of schools in two ISTEP-based categories. Additionally, a qualifying school must have earned the highest designation in the state’s accountability system and be accredited by the Indiana Department of Education. A total of 287 schools received the award throughout the state. A complete list of the schools that received the award, as well as a more complete methodology outlining Four Star determination, can be found on the IDOE’s website.

In January, the 2015 ISTEP+ scores were released and P-H-M ranked 10th in the state among 293 public school districts. The District 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 was also rated an “A-rated” school district for the 6^th year in a row.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation serves approximately 10,700 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and Penn High School. 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. 

SUMMER TEEN ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS (STEPs)

STEPs is an activity-centered summer program for high school students entering grades 9-12. Taught by IU South Bend faculty, each of our one-week intensive learning “camps” introduces students to a different area of college study through lively, hands-on projects. All camps are limited to 15 students to ensure maximum engagement with our faculty. Morning and afternoon programs run from July 11-15 and July 18-22 and are $125 per program, with an optional lunch for an additional $20 per week. Reduced rates are available for students with financial need. To learn more about financial aid or to register for a program, visit www.iusb.edu/clas/steps. Special exceptions may be made for students entering 8^th grade if they have a strong academic record. If you have questions about the program or would like to apply for an exception, please contact Associate Dean Lee Kahan at  lkahan@iusb.edu.

You can also find more information here.

CANVAS is an online communication platform that connects students, parents and teachers. CANVAS has boosted the success of P-H-M’s Chromebook program in middle and high school, and most of our users have given it a “thumbs up” this year.

Starting June 6, 2016, P-H-M’s CANVAS users will see a new and improved “dashboard” when they log on. In addition to the new look, the user will have new options for organizing and viewing CANVAS content. We think the changes being made to the user interface will merit two thumbs up!  

Parents and students, watch the video below for an overview of the changes. 

The URL (web address ) to CANVAS is not changing. You will find it at the same location, or by using the same link or shortcut, as you have used in the past. 

• Click here to go to the CANVAS login page now, or copy/paste this address into your browser bar: https://phm.instructure.com/ to go there. 

Your login information will not change. Your CANVAS login is the same as your HAC (Home Access Center) login.

• Contact the school office or email the HAC helpdesk HAC@phm.k12.in.us if you need help setting up your account. 

Visit the Canvas Help Page for additional resources and information.

Congratulations Indiana Academic Super Bowl Top 10 Overall Junior Division Teams. 

2016 is the eighth year IASP is recognizing the Top 10 teams in each Indiana Academic Super Bowl enrollment class, based on the cumulative scores of all five rounds at the Area Competition.  A certificate award is being mailed to each team coordinator this week. This award is unrelated to State Championship awards, and is a separate way to recognize academic achievement.

Congratulations to Discovery’s team for being a part of this elite group!  The full list of “Top 10” teams can be viewed online at http://www.iasp.org/pdf/SuperJr2016Top10Overall.pdf

Seventeen students from Discovery Middle School will be competing in a prestigious national math competition this weekend.

Mathcon is a popular math competition for students in grades 5-12. More than 45,000 students nationwide, from 330 schools in 42 different states take the test, but they only take the top 100 students from each grade level to compete at the national finals.

Representing Discovery at Mathcon in Chicago on April 23 will be:

• 6th Grade: Eric Yun and Hunter Striegel

• 7th Grade: Grace Waddell, Peter Sullivan, Ethan Yoder, Reagan Hoke, Anya Tang, Camden Kaminsky and Shubham Lahane

• 8th Grade: Seunghoon Sun, Lyvia Li, Tara Devaraj, Andy Kaboski, Dustin Smith, Jeffrey Du, Rajeev Datta and Noah Lang

First Round of the competition took place at the school back in February. The Second Round taking place this weekend in Chicago will be an “on site” paper test. The MathCON test questions require ingenuity and insight, but little technical knowledge beyond grade level mathematics and includes problems of varying degree of difficulty that enables all students to be equally challenged. 

On Wednesday, April 13, 2016, the Discovery Middle School Math team traveled to Huntington University (Indiana) to compete against 24 other middle school teams in the annual statewide academic competition.  

Coached by Michelle Crawford, the team met and practiced earlier in the year.

Their preparation paid off—the Archers brought home the First Place Trophy! And Seunghoon Sun took 1^st in the individual competition!

Team members include:  Seunghoon Sun, Lyvia Li, Andy Kaboski and Jeffrey Du. Alternates were Aidan Sweeney, Grace Waddell, Reagan Hoke and Peter Sullivan.

The Huntington University Middle School Mathematics Competition is provided as a means of fostering mathematical interest and expertise among students, 8th grade and below. The competition consists of three parts:

Written Exam: The written exam consists of 20 multiple choice questions from mathematics topics ranging from general arithmetic through algebra and geometry. Competitors are given 40 minutes to complete the exam. The questions allow the use of a scientific calculator. The score for each team member on the written test will be added to the team score and to the individual score.

Individual Ciphering: During the individual competition each competitor is given a problem to complete without the aid of a calculator within a two minute time interval. Each individual completes the problem as quickly as possible. Competitors only have one chance to turn in a solution.

Team Problem Solving: During the team problem solving portion of the competition, a set of harder problems are given to the entire school team to complete. These problems are designed to encourage participation from the entire team. The team is responsible to work together to distribute the tasks to complete the problem. Teams can only submit one solution.

Congratulations to the Discovery Math Competition Team on this outstanding achievement! 

Parents, show your support for P-H-M’s middle school leadership AND help raise money for Discovery!

At the P-H-M Education Foundation’s 20^th Anniversary Gala on April 23, P-H-M principals will perform Vaudeville-style acts, competing against other P-H-M school teams. 

All the acts will be unique and definitely entertaining, but only one team—the one with the most votes—will win the PHaMmy award!

Here’s how you can help raise money for your school:

• Votes cost $10 each and you can cast multiple votes between now and the evening of the Gala.
• 50% of what each team raises will go directly back to that team’s schools!
• The first 100 votes for each team will be matched dollar for dollar by Gary Fox of Crowe Horwath.   (Mr. Fox is P-H-M Board of School Trustees President and an Education Foundation Board Member.)
  
   

Do DMS principals Sheryll Harper and Troy Kauffman (and their talented teammates) deserve your vote?

You bet they do! Just watch the video.

►START VOTING TODAY & give TEAM FOUR a head start! Follow these easy steps:

1. Click "Browse, Bid and Buy – View Items"
2. ​Click "Register” to create a Gesture account 
3. Vote for TEAM FOUR  (Auction Item #104)

Check here daily to see how the votes are coming in, and which team’s in the lead!

►WATCH LIVE STREAM OF THE GALA PERFORMANCES (Sat., April 23, 7:30 p.m.) on the Penn News Network—then vote again! Votes will be tallied and a winner announced at the end of the evening.

►PARTICIPATE IN THE SILENT AUCTION at the same “Browse, Bid and Buy” page where you cast your votes. Check out the many attractive items being offered, then stay on top of the bidding to get what you want and benefit the Foundation.  

The P-H-M Education Foundation has many reasons to celebrate its 20 years of service to the P-H-M community.  Since 1996, the Foundation has distributed more than $520,000 to our schools and classrooms via innovative teaching grants. The Foundation also uses proceeds to underwrite district activities with widespread impact such as “Running is Elementary” and the “Summer Visual Arts Academy.”  Its mission: To support excellence in education.

 A vote for TEAM FOUR is a vote for excellence in education!

Remember that we will be having school on Friday, April 29 as it’s a make up day for the February 25^th snow day. At DMS, it will be a GOLD day. See you then!

Parents, as your 5^th graders prepare to enter middle school at Discovery, don’t forget to change your school code at Martin’s Supermarkets. This will shift your Martin’s Advantage Points to Discovery Middle School. You can do this online at https://martins-supermarkets.com/saving-rewards/advantage-card or stop by the customer service counter at your store.