Penn-Harris-Madison's commitment to providing academic excellence is being recognized on the state and national level again. Penn Math teacher Dr. Richard Robinson was recently selected as an Indiana Finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Dr. Robinson is one of three Indiana secondary mathematics teachers eligible to receive a PAEMST award, the nation’s highest honor for U.S. K–12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers. The awards program is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. State Finalists represent the most outstanding teachers Indiana has to offer and serve as both a model and an inspiration to students and fellow teachers. This is the third time P-H-M has had teachers recognized as a PAEMST award winner. Elsie Rogers teacher Amanda Fox won in 2022 last year for Math; and Penn Biology Teacher John Gensic was recognized in 2019 for Science.

Grayson Greiner, Bronson Chapman, Cassidy Woolet, Harper Gay, Gretchen Gassman, Hudson Hayes, Aliyan Iqbal, Everly Brenneman, William Zebell, Lauren Rice (missing), Aubrey Kraus, Eleanor Roberts, Lane Petras, Gweyn Seiss, Sophia Cowsert, Xander Bonek, Faith Howard, and Jazlenne Rios

Greetings Mustang Families!

Welcome to April! What a joy it is to celebrate the coming of spring...and spring break....with warmer weather, trees budding, flowers blooming, and the return of baseball! I hope you enjoyed our month-long One Book, One School event in March. I think the kids LOVED the book, and we had a lot of participation in the at-home activities

Along with April comes the "big" test: ILEARN. It's over the course of multiple days for each grade level (3-5), and tests students in their knowledge of English/Language Arts, Math, and Science (gr. 4) and Social Studies (gr. 5). We had 97% attendance during IREAD-3, and we hope to keep that rate or better for ILEARN.

The testing window is April 17 - May 12. A more specific schedule for each grade level will be communicated by your child's teacher after spring break. While the window is open for 4 weeks, students test over the course of a few days each week. Keeping that in mind, please do not schedule appointments during testing dates. It is incredibly disruptive to your child to take them out of school on a date that is scheduled for a test unless it is a time-sensitive issue related to their health. There will be no days excused for family vacations during testing dates. If you must take your child to an appointment, the afternoon is better than the morning, when most of the testing occurs. We greatly appreciate your help with this. Again...our goal is 100% attendance during these days!

I wish you and your family a peaceful and enjoyable spring break filled with lots of memory-making experiences.

Mrs. Heerschop

April 3 - 7

Spring Break!

April 10

School Resumes

PennPALS Registration Opens

April 17 - May 12

ILEARN Testing Window Open (Grades 3 - 5)

April 18

Running is Elementary Practice begins (M, W for registered 4th & 5th graders)

April 26

Administrative Professionals Day

Information about our high-ability identification process can be found on our website: https://www.phmschools.org/high-ability-enrichment.

Parents may request test reports/results by emailing Cassandra Scarsella (cscarsella@phm.k12.in.us), PHM High Ability Coordinator.

Letters will be sent to the parents of the newly identified students in April. The date that the letters were mailed will be posted here https://www.phmschools.org/high-ability-enrichment after the letters are sent.

As spring comes, so does a change in how our students dress when coming to school. The student handbook outlines all of our guidance on page 23. But, I wanted to highlight a few things:

• Clothing should cover all parts of the body from neck to above the knee
• Sleeveless clothing is allowable, but shoulders should be covered
• Pants, jeans, skirts, and shorts should remain at the top of the waist (no undergarments should show)

I know there have been questions regarding hats & caps in school. The handbook states that students should remove hats or head coverings (eg. hoods) upon entering the building. (The exception would be for students who have religious reasons or a medical necessity to wear a head covering.) Other than hat/spirit day, the expectation is that hats/caps are off and hoods are down throughout the school. Hats, caps, and hoods are NEVER allowed in the cafeteria - this is just good manners. :)

If you have questions about the dress code, please let me know.

Popcorn Fridays

There is one popcorn Friday left of the school year. Each box is $2.00 a box. Flyers to order will be sent home with your student close to the dates. If you are interested in helping in May, please email us at MFMustangsPTO@gmail.com.

• May 5th

PTO Board 2023-2024

The PTO board is looking for new members for the 2023-2024 school year. If you are interested in serving on the board, please email us at MFMustangsPTO@gmail.com.

Email: cheerschop@phm.k12.in.us
Website: https://maryfrank.phmschools.org/
Location: 13111 Adams Road, Granger, IN, USA
Phone: (574) 272-0340
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryFrankMustangs/
Twitter: @MFESMustangs