According to the Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE) data released on December 29, 2023, Penn High School’s graduation rate is 98.12%–among the highest in the state!

The IDOE says 88.98% of Indiana students in the Class of 2023 graduated last year. Penn’s rate is 9.14 higher than the state!

Overall, the 2023 statewide graduation increased by nearly 2.5 percentage points. A spreadsheet with statewide-, corporation- and school-level graduation data is available here. 2023 represents the third-highest graduation rate since Indiana began collecting data in 2012.

Read more from the IDOE on the state’s increased graduation rates.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign, Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker have generously donated $10,000 to the Education Foundation to have the basketball court in Penn High School’s Main Arena named after Hall of Fame and Penn’s legendary coach, Al Rhodes, renaming the court “Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court.”

The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees voted to approve the sponsorship agreement at the Monday, October 9, 2023, Board meeting. The donation will be paid in one lump sum to the Foundation.

Coach Rhodes retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, with a 28-2 record. The Kingsmen reached the Final Four led by Rhodes protégé and standout Markus Burton who won the coveted Mr. Basketball Award. Burton is only the third player from St. Joseph County to be named Mr. Basketball. Now at Notre Dame, he was the MVP of the 2023 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series.

Rhodes also played for the Kingsmen from 1966-1970. He went on to play for Tri-State University (now Trine University) before embarking on his coaching career.

Starting his head coaching career at Warsaw in 1980, Rhodes coached the Tigers through the 2002 season. His 1984 Warsaw team claimed the State Championship.

Rhodes and his Kingsmen teams cut down the nets six times as Sectional or Regional Champions. Penn reached the Final Four in Indiana’s revered Hoosier Hysteria state tournament for the third and fourth times in the school’s 65-year history. Rhodes posted an overall record of 693-320 in 42 seasons, including an overall state tournament record of 101-41. The Kingsmen won 18 Sectional Championships, nine Regional Championships, four Semi-state Championships and one State Championship. Coach Rhodes retired as the winningest coach in Kingsmen Boys Basketball history with a record of 239-128 in 15 seasons.

Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s donation to name the court after the Hall of Famer was a natural decision, said Dr. Thacker. “It’s only fitting that the hardwood where Kingsmen student-athletes racked up so many wins under Coach Rhodes’ leadership would be named after him. This is an excellent way to commemorate and celebrate Penn Basketball’s winningest coach ever!”

The unveiling of the new court signage is scheduled to take place at the Penn-Clay game on December 1, 2023. The new court name will be displayed above the scoreboard.

Per PHMEF’s naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation will go into the Foundation’s endowment, which will in turn provide alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing the education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in the School Corporation by strengthening partnerships between the community and the District. PHMEF supports education through awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Dr. Thacker has been superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation since 2006 and has supported the Education Foundation wholeheartedly. Over the course of 17 years, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker have donated $202,500 to the P-H-M Education Foundation, including this most recent donation of the naming rights. Most of this money has either been unrestricted donations or used as matching funds for fundraising initiatives. This is the second time they have made a donation to the naming rights campaign. In 2021, they donated $25,000 to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center renamed the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center after Penn’s legendary football championship coach. Click here to see pictures and video of the dedication.

“The Foundation Board and I are so appreciative of Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s generosity through the years,” said Jennifer Turnblom, Executive Director of the P-H-M Education Foundation. “Their unwavering support has been a tremendous help to us fulfilling our mission. The Thackers’ donations alone have made it possible for the Foundation to fund approximately 20% more classroom grants, activities and programs possible for the students of all P-H-M’s 15 schools. Their impact has been nothing less than incredible!”

The Arena is still available for naming rights.

Penn High School was named a 2023 Cognia^® School of Distinction for excellence in education on Thursday, September 15. Penn achieved this accreditation based on its 2022–23 Accreditation Cognia review. The Schools of Distinction program recognizes schools and systems that truly stand out in their service to learners, as demonstrated in meeting the Cognia Performance Standards. Cognia is a global nonprofit school improvement organization grounded in research-based performance standards. 

Penn High School first earned Cognia Accreditation in 2008 and reaccreditation in 2013, 2018 and 2023. During the 2022-2023 school year, Penn participated in Cognia’s rigorous Accreditation Engagement Review process, which is grounded in research-based performance standards. The process includes a third-party review of evidence by education experts, interviews, and classroom observations. The review evaluates institutions and seeks evidence of growth in learning, a healthy culture for learning, engaging and high-quality instructional environments, and effective leadership for learning—all characteristics Cognia expects to see in quality schools that also demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement. 

Penn Principal Dr. Sean Galiher presented Penn’s Cognia results as part of his 2022-2023 End of School Year Report at the June 26 Board of School Trustees Meeting.

Penn High School is among 33 schools and school systems in the United States and in four other countries across the globe named as 2023 Cognia Schools or Systems of Distinction.

The full list of 2023 Schools and Systems of Distinction and the Cognia news release are listed on the Cognia website. Cognia^® is a global, nonprofit improvement organization dedicated to helping institutions and other education providers grow learners, teachers, and leaders. Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, and improvement services within a framework of continuous improvement. Serving 40,000 public and private institutions from early learning through high school in more than 90 countries, Cognia brings a global perspective to advancing teaching and learning. 

Tonight (Friday, September 8, 2023) in Indianapolis at the Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE) second annual Educational Excellence Awards Gala, Penn High School received the Excellence in College Readiness Award along with a $250,000 grant!

The Excellence in College Readiness Award as described by the IDOE is as follows:
This award recognizes an individual school that has demonstrated a commitment to helping students earn a credential of value before graduating high school. One or more of the following must be demonstrated by the award recipient: completion of high-value postsecondary credentials for graduating seniors, implementation of strategies that support students reaching their highest potential on ACT and SAT examinations, and expansion of scholarship opportunities for students entering into a higher education institution upon graduating.

For back-to-back school years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, Penn High School has been the top Indiana high school with the highest number of students earning ICC (Indiana College Core) or AGS (Associate of General Studies) certificates earned! Click to read more of Penn High School’s state and national recognition.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Penn administrators Principal Dr. Sean Galiher, Associate Principal Rachel Fry, Assistant Principals Josiah Parker and Jeanie Mitchell were on hand to receive the award. Other P-H-M honorees recognized at this evening’s Gala included:

• Penn AP History Teacher Eric Bowers, Indiana History Teacher of the Year
• Amanda Fox, 2022 Top 10 Finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year
• Ryan Towner, 2022 Milken Educator 

This is the second year in a row P-H-M has been honored at the IDOE Educational Excellence Awards Gala. At the inaugural event September 2022, Towner and Fox were honored. Fox for being Indiana’s Finalist for Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Towner for being last year’s Milken Educator.

At this year’s Educational Excellence Awards Gala, the IDOE awarded nearly $5 million to schools and educators across the state! The black-tie event focused on celebrating and elevating the work of Indiana’s educators as they support student learning.

“The heart of the Educational Excellence Awards Gala is focused on the impact of our educators and schools. We know that we have continuous improvements to make for our students…and we also know that we have shining examples of success existing across our state,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education.

“Our goal was to host a red carpet event to celebrate our very best educators, on a level similar to how we celebrate movie stars and professional athletes, because their incredible impact deserves to be celebrated at the grandest level we can,” Dr. Jenner continued her praise of Indiana’s teachers. “Many of the educators tonight have positively impacted hundreds of students over the years and are leaders in their local communities. So, bringing them together for an awards night to roll out the red carpet and provide surprise monetary awards is one small way we can spotlight the massive impact they continue to make on our state.”

Click to read the IDOE’s full news release on the 2023 Educational Excellence Awards Gala.

Last Friday (August 25, 2023) night’s big 28-7 Kingsmen win over the Mishawaka Cavemen also gave Penn Football Coach Cory Yeoman his 200th career win (click to watch a video that captures the magic of that night)–making him Penn High School’s second football coach to receive 200 wins. Penn is now the ONLY high school in Indiana to have two coaches meet this milestone. The first was longtime legendary Kingsmen Coach Chris Geesman, who Coach Yeoman played under and coached with at the beginning of his career at Penn.

So it was only fitting that Hall of Famer Coach Geesman be on hand this morning (Wednesday, August 30) when the Indianapolis Colts presented Coach Yeoman with the award for Colts/NFL Coach of the Week for Week 2, presented by Corteva Agriscience, headquartered in Indianapolis. Click here to read the Indianapolis Colts news release. Former NFL player and current Youth Football Commissioner for the Colts, Mike Prior, presented Coach Yeoman with the award and a $2,000 check that will go to Penn Athletic Department. Prior gave Coach Yeoman his award and check in Penn High School’s Strength & Conditioning Weight Room with Penn’s senior football players applauding him.

The student-athletes got a chance to hear from Prior who talked about his commitment and dedication through challenges in high school and college football, his choice to play pro football over baseball, and how it eventually paid off. Prior played for Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Colts and the Green Bay Packers. For the Packers, he was a punt returner and a defensive back. He played in Super Bowl XXXI and XXXII. Prior showed the players one of his Super Bowl Championship rings and they had a chance to ask him questions.

On an interesting note, Prior is an assistant football coach at Cathedral High School, who Penn plays this Friday, Sept. 1, in Indianapolis. Coach Yeoman joked and asked Prior if he “wishes every team good luck this week?” Prior said that “Yes, he does!” 

Penn High School has once again been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s best public high schools. Penn ranks 1st in the South Bend area, 22nd in Indiana (out of 377 schools ranked in Indiana), and #1,581 in the national rankings (out of 17,680 nationally ranked high schools). This puts Penn in the top 8.9% of the nation’s best high schools for 2023!

In coordination with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, U.S. News ranked approximately 17,680 public high schools out of nearly 25,000 reviewed. This is the count of public high schools that had a 12th grade enrollment of 15 students or greater, or otherwise had sufficient enrollment in other high school grades. Data from the 2020-2021 school year was used in the analysis. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Based on last school year, 2022-2023 the most recent school year, Penn’s students achieved a 98% graduation rate.

For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, Penn High School ranked FIRST in the state with the highest number of students earning ICC (Indiana College Core) or AGS (Associate of General Studies) certificates earned! Penn is also the State leader (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) for Ivy Tech dual credit completions!

Highlights from the Class 0f 2023 include:

• $15 million in scholarships
• 446 earned Academic Honors diplomas
• 253 earned High Honors diplomas
• 41 earned Technical Honors diplomas
• 119 Early College Students
  • 106 earned ICC through Ivy Tech Community College
  • 89 earned Associates Degrees from Ivy Tech

The Academies at Penn High School provide the framework for student success. Through their work in each academy, students find relevant and meaningful coursework taught in a supportive environment where each student is known well by his teachers and peers. Through these “smaller learning communities,” students build relationships while engaged in relevant learning experiences.

Early College Academy was endorsed in 2019 as an “Early College High School” by The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis. In 2022, the Academy was endorsed as a Level 2 program WITH DISTINCTION. Penn High School is the first and only Early College High School in Indiana to achieve this level of distinction!

The IDOE named the Early College Academy a “UCAN Mentor School” 

Click to see the full list of Indiana High Schools as ranked by US News & World Report in 2023. 

This year’s annual Community Tailgate will be a great way to kick off the return of the Backyard Brawl between the Kingsmen and the Mishawaka Cavemen. 

All fans are welcome, Cavemen and Kingsmen! There’s plenty of food for fans on both sides.

Gates open at 5:00 p.m. You must have a ticket to the football game to enter. Once inside the stadium head down to the white tents in the South End Zone, near the Zolman’s Tire & Auto Care South Concession Stand.

For $6 you get your choice of hot dog, hamburger or brat served with a bag of chips, choice of drink, and a cookie. Food tickets for the Tailgate are purchased at the Tailgate.