You teach your children to wear helmets when they ride bikes and sunscreen when they’re outside, but are you also teaching them to be safe online?

June is Internet Safety Month, a perfect opportunity to talk with your kids about online safety.

The Internet is a great way for children to have fun, learn new things, and stay in touch with their friends, but it also exposes them to online dangers. As summer vacation kicks off – and your kids start to spend more time on their devices – make sure your kids know the importance of these five online safety tips:  

Don’t share too much information. Create a list of things your kids should never post online – like their birthday and year, full name, address, or phone number – and make sure they understand why it is important to keep this information private.
Be careful about what you post. The Internet isn’t private. Once your kids share a post, picture, or video, they can’t control how others will use it, and it can never be permanently deleted. Teach them to be thoughtful and cautious in what they post and share online.
Connect only with people you know. “Don’t talk to strangers” is a good rule for the real world and the cyber world. Predators and stalkers can easily create fake profiles to hide their identities, so instruct your kids to only connect with friends they know in “real life.” Also, check your children’s privacy settings to make sure strangers can’t see their profiles. Sometimes privacy settings are reset to default settings during program updates, so check their profiles regularly.

Keep your location private. Many apps, networks, and devices have geo-tagging features that broadcast your location. This information could lead a stalker directly to your kids, so check that these features are completely off. 

Protect your password. Show your kids how to create strong passwords, and make sure they know to never share them with anyone (except their parents or a trusted adult). For guidance on how to make a strong password, see the “Best Practices for Creating a Password” tip card at https://www.dhs.gov/stopthinkconnect-toolkit.

If you’d like to learn more about protecting your children online, check out the Parent and Educator Resources from the Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign or visit www.dhs.gov/stopthinkconnect for more resources.

 Penn Harris Madison Schools will be providing coverage to student Chromebooks during the summer. Please note the following:

• You will be responsible for the proper care and use of your Chromebook over the summer.
• Please note that while we allow you to keep the Chromebooks over the summer, they are still the property of Penn Harris Madison Schools.
• Please take care to ensure that your Chromebook does not get damaged over the summer and is ready for use in August. Here are a couple of quick tips:
  1. Do not pickup the Chromebook by the screen
  2. Always have your Chromebook cover on.
  3. While charging, be sure to put it in a place that it will not get tripped over, and the charger chord will not get tripped over.
• You may use your Chromebook during the summer for your own use, for summer school use, and any other use that meets the guidelines of the acceptable use policy in the student handbook.

If you Break Your Chromebook during the summer:
 In case of accidental damage, please bring the Chromebook to Penn High School, Door 'A', Monday-Friday during summer school hours (8:00 AM-12:00 PM). The Chromebook help desk is only staffed during those hours!  We will fix or replace your Chromebook, and you will receive an email or phone call when the repair is complete. You will pick up your Chromebook at Penn High School. Chromebook Insurance  is good through  the summer so if you have paid for insurance your accidental damages will still be covered.

If you are transferring out of the district:
  You will need to return your Chromebook to Penn Harris Madison if you are transferring to another school. You may return the Chromebook during withdrawal at your previous school, or to Penn High School Door 'A'.  Failure to return the Chromebook will result in a charge for replacement of the device, so make sure you get them in!

If you are moving up to Penn next year (8th graders going to 9th grade in the fall)
Please hold on to your Chromebook and bring it to school at Penn in the fall.  You will be able to trade it in for a new device at the beginning of the school year. Please note that the returning Chromebooks must be in proper working order when returned.

The Silver Mile was held this past weekend (Saturday, May 6).  The first place overall male race winner was Colton Shail, Junior track and cross country runner at Penn High School, with a time of 16:29.9. First place overall female was Erin Moore, 13-year-old Niles student, with a time of 20:07.6.

Meadow's Edge Elementary earned the top participation P-H-M school prize and will receive a $5,000 grant to be used for a fitness/health program.

Coming in at second place was Northpoint Elementary. They will receive a $1,000 grants. The school with the third most student participation was Madison, and they will receive a $500 grant.

Overall there were 500 participants in this year’s race.

This year’s Health and Fitness Fair was a huge success featuring health screenings by Saint Joseph Mishawaka Medical Center.

Healthy post-race snacks were provided by Whole Foods Market. Urban Swirl also helped runners cool off with frozen yogurt cups.

Penn Robotics Team 135 setup robot test drives so that younger children could learn to drive robots. And the Kingsmen Cheerleaders lent their face painting talents to make some prettier faces even prettier!  Click here to see a full gallery of pictures.

The 2017 NJHS Induction will be held on Wednesday, May 10^th in the cafeteria. Inductees should be in the DMS commons no later than 5:45 PM. The ceremony will begin at 6:00 PM SHARP!

The final segment of this year's Conversation Series will take place immediately following the brief PTO Meeting at DMS on Monday, May 8, at 9:30 am.  Becky Savage, mother and nurse, will share her story of personal loss and perseverance.

On June 14, 2015, Nick (19) and Jack (18) Savage died of acute alcohol and oxycodone overdoses after attending an underage party. Through her work with the 525 Foundation, Becky speaks out in the hopes of preventing other families from having to endure the pain of such a tragedy.  Partnership for Education and Prevention of Substance Abuse (PEPSA)  members will also be in attendance to discuss the community work of the coalition and to provide information on the resources available to combat underage drinking and substance abuse. Please join us for this important conversation.

ISTEP Part 2 will be completed at Discovery Monday, April 17 – Friday, May 5.  Make-ups will occur during the last week.  Please help get your child off to a great start each day with a hearty breakfast and a good night’s sleep!  These two things greatly affect the brain’s ability to function and be alert.

Download the block schedule for these 3 weeks here.

Early Summer School starts today from 4:10 – 5:30! Parents of car riders should pick up their students at Door A off Ash Road. Parents must pull all the way forward along the sidewalk in front of the school. Thanks for your cooperation!

Due to the unseasonably warm temperatures this winter, Discovery Ski Club only attended three out of the seven scheduled trips for this season.  Therefore, a transportation refund of $31.44 will be mailed to all Ski Club members soon.

The refund is calculated as follows:

Transportation Fee $55.00

Price per trip $7.86

Four trips @ $7.86 = $31.44

Here is some important information regarding your 2016/2017 Club Card:

• Please be sure to keep your 2016/2017 Swiss Valley Club Card.  

• You may use your club card for a free visit to Swiss Valley next season (any day, any time). Rental is included if you purchased a rental package.

• The deadline to use this free visit is January 10th, 2018.  

• Also, you can use your club card at Caberfae Peaks in Cadillac, Michigan and receive half off for a full day ticket price.  

• Shanty Creek Resorts (in Bellaire, Michigan) are offering 50% off Supertickets from Wednesday to Friday.  

• They will also honor your Swiss Valley Club Cards as Season Passes for the remainder of this ski season.

Any questions can be directed to Jamie Stafne, jamie@skiswissvalley.com.

Thank you!

Mr. Braunsdorf will be out of town for a PLTW conference in Indianapolis on Monday March 13 and Tuesday March 14. Therefore, there will be no class those two days. In order to give students the most of this Design and Modeling experience, he will extend the end date from March 16 to March 20.

NO CLASS March 13 and 14 (Monday and Tuesday)

LAST DAY = March 20 (Monday)

Discovery principals and 6^th grade ambassadors will visit each elementary school to present information to 5^th grade students. Each corresponding evening each elementary will host an evening meeting so that Discovery principals can share more information and answer parents’ questions.

February 15 – Horizon Elementary – 7:00 P.M.

February 21 – Mary Frank Elementary – 7:00 P.M.

February 23  – Northpoint Elementary – 7:00 P.M.