The Panther Post
September 1, 2023
#PHMExcellence
We're all Kingsmen! So we're all celebrating Penn High School Head Football Coach Cory Yeoman's who reached his 200th career with the victory over Mishawaka Friday, August 25th. For that milestone, Coach Yeoman was named Indianapolis Colts/NFL Coach of the Week for Week 2. Click for more details. We wish the Kingsmen luck as they take on Indianapolis Cathedral this Friday, Sept. 1. Watch for game updates on The Pennant X (Twitter) account; click here to follow.
Important Dates
September 4
Labor Day (No School)
September 15
PTO Meeting 1:00 PM
September 20
Picture Retake Day
September 29
P-H-M Homecoming Parade (more details coming soon)
P-H-M Safety and Security Update
We are happy to share with you the addition of safety and security personnel for the 2023-24 school year. The safety and security of our schools are a priority as we foster optimal learning environments and aim to prepare your child(ren) for college and career readiness. Three (3) certified School Resource Officers (SROs), recently retired from local police departments, have/will join us as P-H-M Safety Agents in our schools. These officers will be housed in each of our middle schools and also serve feeder elementary buildings. The new P-H-M Safety Agents collaborate with our Principals, St. Joseph County School Resource Officers, and other off-duty police officials to further enhance schools as safe learning environments, prepare for emergencies, and ensure that all schools comply with safe school plans and practices as required by law.
New Safety Agents:
Retired St. Joseph County Police - Officer Kent Wickham
Retired South Bend Police - Officer Britton Pratt
Officer TBD (will announce later this fall)
Current Safety and Security Staff:
P-H-M Director of Safety and Security - Officer Tommy Teeter (tteeter@phm.k12.in.us)
P-H-M Lead Safety Agent - Officer Antwon Jones (located at Penn HS)
St. Joseph County School Resource Officer - Officer Mike Reppert
St. Joseph County School Resource Officer - Officer Ben Wilkey
Off-Duty Police Officials: Officer Greg Howard - South Bend Police
Officer Avery Minor - Roseland Chief of Police
Officer Scott Moniz - Osceola Police
Officer Corey Calvert - South Bend Police
VSS Security (contracted service) for Hallway Monitors at Secondary Schools.
Safe School Helpline
If you see something, hear something, say something! The Safe School Helpline is a convenient, confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at any P-H-M school or building. You can call the number any time of the day or night to report concerns about unsafe or potentially disruptive activities or situations including drug or alcohol abuse, weapons, harassment, bullying or threats.
All calls are completely confidential.
800-418-6423 (800-4-1-VOICE, ext. 359)
TEXT: 66746, TIPS
SAVE the DATE - PHM Homecoming
Penn High School Homecoming 2023 is a community event for all P-H-M students and families. So, mark your calendars for Sept. 29. All the fun starts at 5:00. For all the details, visit https://www.phmef.org/homecoming/. Last year's event was so much fun, and this year it will be even better. You won't want to miss it!
P-H-M Homecoming Spirit Wear
All Kingsmen, future Kingsmen, families, and community members will have a chance to show their Penn Pride with three t-shirts options - Homecoming Spirit Wear
1.) Penn High School Students & Staff - $12.00 Each
*This shirt was designed by one of our Penn High School students.
2.) Kingsmen Families & Community Members - $10.00 Each
3.) Future Kingsmen - $10.00 Each
Orders must be placed online by Friday, September 15th. All orders will be delivered to your student’s school. Please select the school from the dropdown menu and fill in your student’s name (along with grade, teacher / homeroom teacher) information that would be helpful to the middle and elementary schools’ office staff for delivery. Penn High School students can pick their orders up in the bookstore.
Community Connections Fair
Visitors and Volunteers
We will begin allowing visitors and volunteers into the building in October. This will allow our staff adequate time to get procedures, routines, and rules established with our students. Thank you for your support and understanding!
If you are interested in volunteering in one of our classrooms you will need to complete a background check (see below) and the PHM Volunteer Bullying and Harassment Training for Madison. You have two options for completing a background check.
- Option 1 - Pay $12.95 for SafeVisitor to conduct the background search, which Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation will honor for 3 years. Click here to visit SafeVisitor’s website to complete the online electronic search.
Using this link is the preferred method to reduce search time and fingerprinting requirements. If out of state records are located, additional fees may apply.
- Option 2 - For those preferring not to pay and/or use SafeVisitor’s expedited electronic background check services, Penn-Harris-Madison Schools offers another option to complete the paper Volunteer Background Check form. Click here to fill out the form as a fillable pdf or download and print it.
As always volunteers are needed and appreciated!
Textbook Fees Eliminated and Instructional Material Information
We are hoping you have heard, but we have great news to share regarding student book fees! The Indiana General Assembly passed a bill (HEA 1001-2023) that eliminated textbook and curriculum costs at public schools, which includes school supplies like pencils, paper, and notebooks. Parents will no longer be asked to pay school fees for curricular materials. For more information on the specific details, click here.
We wanted to share that legislation was passed (HB 1447, effective January 1, 2024) that all schools prepare a catalog of materials found in the school library Alexandria and a response and appeal procedure for materials parents find questionable.
We have that process in place already and it is posted on all school websites Instructional Material Feedback. In addition, secondary teachers will provide their syllabus to you with listed materials and classroom teachers have been asked to create a master list of titles in their classroom libraries. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your classroom teacher or me.
Our goal is to support teachers as we move toward classroom libraries being cataloged. We believe classroom libraries are within the scope of recent legislation, and that providing parents with a list of classroom library books provides an opportunity for greater transparency and partnership and is a proactive measure. Teachers do not need to have a completed inventory by the start of school. We ask that they be completed prior to Winter Break.
Breakfast and Lunch
An important part of every student's day is lunch! Below are the times in which Madison students will eat:
Preschool & Kindergarten: 11:00 - 11:30
1st & 2nd: 11:30 - 12:00
3rd, 4th, and 5th: 12:00 - 12:30
We certainly encourage student guests for lunch throughout the school year; however, we do ask that you refrain from having lunch with your child until routines and school comfort levels are established. We welcome all guests beginning in October! Meal prices for the school year are listed below:
Student Breakfast - $1.35
Reduced price of $.30 for those who are eligible.
Student Lunch - $2.35
Reduced price of $.40 for those who are eligible
Adult Lunch - $4.50
Please be mindful that the student cafeteria cannot accept debit/credit cards. Below are two links to guide you with payment options:
https://www.phmschools.org/food-service-payment-options
https://www.phmschools.org/pay-meals-online
Parents that think they may qualify for free or reduced lunches need to apply ASAP at www.schoolcafe.com.
Reporting Student Absences
If your child will be absent for any reason, please notify our office as soon as possible! Our office staff records all absences beginning at 8:00 am and must phone any student's home who does not report to school without notice.
Another option is to go to your Skyward Family Access Account and follow these steps:
- Click on the Attendance Tile for the child who will be absent.
- Click on the Absence Requests Tab
- Click Add Absence Request on the right side of the screen
- Enter Start and End Date
- Check All Day if the absence will be the entire school day
- Attendance Reason - Choose from the drop down menu
- Comment - Add any information regarding the absence reason
- Click SAVE in the upper right hand corner
Skyward Information
This year we look forward to seeing more of our families in the building and working together to build positive relationships that support academic and overall growth. I will continue to communicate with you often, as well as your child's teacher. The ability to communicate immediately and efficiently with parents is a priority. Please ensure that you have an updated email address on file with us, through our Skyward student information system. I will be sending our school communication/newsletters through the Smore platform.
All families should be connected to Family Access in Skyward. Families that are new to PHM will receive an email from Skyward Family Access that will give you a username and you can establish a password. Forms such as Free/Reduced Lunch Applications, School Fees, Emergency Contacts, Consent To Publish, and many more are housed in Skyward. Please take time the first week of school to login and complete these online forms. If you need assistance with Family Access, please email familyaccess@phm.k12.in.us.
Outside Organizations
P-H-M no longer distributes paper flyers or other promotional items of outside organizations through our schools. Please do not print and send flyers to our schools for distribution.
Instead, we now post digital flyers on our Community Events & Activities section of P-H-M District website at this link: https://www.phmschools.org/community-events-activities (linked below, as well) There is also a link back to this page off all 15 school websites.
The principals promote this link to parents through their school newsletters, as do some of the PTOs.
Helpful Links
The Safe School Helpline® is a confidential way to report student concerns about threats, suicide, drugs, bullying or anything that threatens the safety of our schools. It's Available 24/7. Click to watch a video on how to get in touch with Administration anonymously 24/7/365.
Four Ways to Report to the Safe School Helpline®
Call: 1-800-418-6423 ext 359
Text: TIPS to 66746
Online: SafeSchoolHelpline.com
Mobile App: Download the FREE app from the GOOGLE PLAY STORE and the APPLE APP STORE
The app makes it easy to anonymously report a safety or mental health concern using your mobile device to text, call, or submit an online form.
A Note from PTO
Announcing this year's PTO Officers:
President: Mary Schori
Vice President: Ellen Beehler
Secretary: Abby Lusk
Treasurer: Betsy Bartholomew
More information coming soon !
Madison Elementary Contact Information
Email: lschirripa@phm.k12.in.us
Website: https://madison.phmschools.org/
Location: Madison Elementary School, Dogwood Road, Wakarusa, IN, USA
Phone: (574) 254-2816
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadisonPanthersPHM