Penn’s Graduating Class Earns $9 million in College Scholarships!

Posted on May 26, 2016

Boasting 850 graduating seniors, Penn’s Class of 2016 showcased remarkable academic success, earning a combined value of college scholarships exceeding $9 million!

Penn High School and Principal Steve Hope will host the school’s 57th Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 27 (7:00 p.m.) at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

Boasting 850 graduating seniors, Penn’s Class of 2016 showcased remarkable academic success, earning a combined value of college scholarships exceeding $9 million!

This year’s graduating class has 16 Valedictorians who will be studying everything from finance and business science to biomedical engineering. With GPAs ranging from 4.3103 to 4.4655, Penn’sValedictorians will be attending such schools as University of Notre Dame, Harvard University, Purdue University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, Northwestern University and Cornell University. The three Salutatorians will all be attending Indiana University in the fall. To learn more about Penn’s top academic students, please click here.

More than half of the graduating class – 432 seniors – earned Academic Honors Diplomas, and 72 are receiving Technical Honors Diplomas.

One-third of Penn’s graduates – 296 seniors – earned High Honors (a 3.5 grade-point average or higher).

The Class of 2016 also has nine National Merit Finalists.

Senior Recognition Night was held May 10. The Senior Class chose Brooke Conrady as the Kingsman of the Year! Awarded annually since 1970, the Kingsman of the Year Award is the highest form of respect classmates can show to a leader in their class. Conrady is a member of Penn’s Health & Human Services Academy. She will continue her education at Indiana University. 

Camden Bohn, who will be attending Harvard University to study engineering, was named the winner of the Schmucker Award! The outstanding student award is voted on by the Penn faculty. Camden is a remarkable student-athlete. Not only is Camden one of this year’s 16 Valedictorians, he was also quarterback leading Penn to the Class 6A Football State Championship last fall. While Penn finished Runner-Up, Camden was awarded the prestigious Phil N. Eskew IHSAA Mental Attitude Award and also made 1st Team All-Conference and MVP.

Click here for logistical information about Commencement for general attendees. 

In two recent rankings—the Washington Post’s “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” and U.S. News & World Report’s “Best High Schools”Penn High School ranks high for college and career readiness. Penn High School’s graduation rate exceeds the state of Indiana’s with a 97% graduation rate and is rated a 90-25-90 school by the IDOE.  Penn is also one of the District’s six “Four Star schools” for the 2015-2016 school year, as named by the IDOE. In order to achieve this designation, a school must be in the top 25th percentile of schools in two ISTEP-based categories. Additionally, a qualifying school must have earned the highest designation in the state’s accountability system and be accredited by the Indiana Department of Education. A total of 287 schools received the award throughout the state. The other P-H-M “Four Star schools” are: Horizon Elementary, Mary Frank Elementary, Prairie Vista Elementary, Northpoint Elementary and Discovery Middle School. P-H-M has been rated an “A-rated” school district by the Indiana Department of Education, six years in a row. 

For the 2015 ISTEP+, P-H-M earned an 81.4% pass rate for ELA (English/Language Arts); 78.0% pass rate for Math; and an overall combined pass rate of 72.1% for both subjects areas. P-H-M now ranks 10th in the state among 293 public school districts. 100% of P-H-M teachers rank either highly effective or effective. To learn more about our school district, click here.

Last Modified January 12, 2022