Two Penn-Harris-Madison schools make the grade in national rankings of the nation’s top public schools … Discovery Middle school came in at #50 of “50 Best American Public Middle Schools” and Northpoint Elementary came in at #27 on the 2015 list of “50 Best American Public Elementary Schools” by TheBestSchools.org.
Discovery is also an “A” rated school and has twice recieved the National Blue Ribbon School Award (2006, 2013). 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 (one a scale of 10) by Education.com
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
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.
