Penn High School

Penn High School
Address
56100 Bittersweet Road
Mishawaka, Indiana, St. Joseph County 46545
United States
Coordinates 41°40′44″N 86°06′32″W / 41.678802°N 86.108834°W / 41.678802; -86.108834Coordinates: 41°40′44″N 86°06′32″W / 41.678802°N 86.108834°W / 41.678802; -86.108834
Information
Type Public High School
Established 1958
School district Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation
CEEB code 152347
Principal Steve Hope
Teaching staff 153.09 (FTE)
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 3,400 (2013-2014)
Student to teacher ratio 22.21
Color(s)               
Athletics conference Northern Indiana Athletic Conference
Team name Kingsmen
Rival Mishawaka
Newspaper The Pennant
Yearbook Bittersweet
Website Official Website
[1]

Penn High School is a public high school located just outside Mishawaka, Indiana, United States, near South Bend. It is the only high school in the Penn-Harris-Madison (PHM) School Corporation. The school takes in pupils graduating from the PHM's three middle schools, Schmucker Middle School, Discovery Middle School, and Grissom Middle School, as well as some graduates from local private and religious grade schools and occasionally transfers from neighboring public school districts (primarily South Bend and Mishawaka and other schools). It is the largest high school in the South Bend metropolitan area.

History

Penn High School was opened on September 1, 1958, following a year of construction and a cost of $1 million. The first graduating class, the class of 1960, had roughly 200 seniors. Prior to the construction of Penn, students in the Penn and Harris Townships went to Mishawaka High School or Jimtown High School.

The 1962 merger of the Penn and Harris Township expanded the school system. The following year, Madison Township was also incorporated, creating today's Penn-Harris-Madison school district.

Penn High School continued to expand in the following years. By 1965, the school district was attended by more than 1,600 students. In the late 1980s, the school underwent renovations to enlarge the school.[2]

Academics

Penn High School students are divided into several academies. Freshmen are sorted into 6 freshman academies known as houses. Each house consists of roughly 160 students taught by the same core teachers. Prior to junior year, students choose to be a part of one of four academies: Fine Arts, STEM, Management and Business, and Health and Human Services.[3]

Penn High School offers 19 Advanced Placement classes[4] along with several Advanced College Project classes through a partnership with Indiana colleges. GPA is calculated on a 4.0 scale with college courses assigned a weighted grade that is on a 5.0 scale.[5] Based on AP exam participation and passing rate, Penn students have a College Readiness Index of 30.0/100.0.[6]

For the class of 2012, Penn achieved a graduation rate of over 96%. 93% of students passed the state's English graduation exam while 91% passed Indiana's math graduation exam. 26% of Penn students scored a three or higher on an Advanced Placement exam.[7] Penn High School students averaged an SAT score of 1564 in 2010, compared to the Indiana state average of 1496.[8]

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 3,400 students enrolled for the 2012-2013 school year was:[1]

In addition, 23.4% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Extracurricular Activities

Athletics

Penn is part of the Northern Indiana Athletic Conference. They compete under the name "Kingsmen" and the school colors are black, gold and white. Rivals include Mishawaka High School, South Bend St. Joseph's High School, Fort Wayne Snider, and Elkhart Memorial High School. The following IHSAA sanctioned sports are offered:[9]

  • Baseball (boys)
    • State champions - 1994, 1998, 2001, 2015[10]
  • Basketball (boys & girls)
    • Girls basketball state champions - 2016[11]
  • Cross country (boys & girls)
  • Football (boys)
    • State champions - 1983, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000[10]
  • Golf (boys & girls)
    • Girls state champions - 1994, 2002, 2004, 2005[10]
  • Soccer (boys & girls)
    • Boys state champions - 1999[10]
  • Softball (girls)
    • State champions - 1999[10]
  • Swimming (boys & girls)
  • Tennis (boys & girls)
  • Track (boys & girls)
  • Volleyball (girls)
    • State champions - 2010, 2011[10]
  • Wrestling (boys)
    • State champions - 2015[10]

Academic Competitions

Academic Super Bowl

Penn High School participates in the Indiana Academic Super Bowl, run by the Indiana Association of School Principals. The statewide competition consists of rounds of 25 multiple choice questions that students answer as a team.[12][13]

Teams from Penn have had several victories at the Super Bowl. They won in English in 2007, science in 2003 and 2010, and social studies in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008–2014.[14][15]

Band, Orchestra, Choir, and Guard

Penn has a marching band w/color guard, five concert bands, two jazz bands, three orchestras, several choirs, and winter guard.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Penn High School". ed.gov. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Penn High School. History Information Sheet. May 24, 2013
  3. ↑ "The Academies". Penn Harris Madison. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Course Menu for Penn Seniors" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Special Programs". Penn High School. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Penn High School Test Scores". US News and World Report. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Penn High School Achieves 90-25-90 Status". Penn Harris Madison. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Average SAT Scores". Averagesatscores.org. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "IHSAA 2014-2015 School directory" (pdf). ihsaa.org. IHSAA. p. 97. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "IHSAA State Championships by School". ihsaa.org. IHSAA. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  11. ↑ http://www.ihsaa.org/dnn/Sports/Girls/Basketball/2015-16/StateTournament/tabid/1863/Default.aspx#35191931-state-finals
  12. ↑ "Page Not Found - Indiana Association of School Principals". iasp.org. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Page Not Found - Indiana Association of School Principals". iasp.org. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "Indiana Academic Competition Results History". Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "2012 Indiana Academic Super Bowl State Finals Results". IASP. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  16. ↑ Owen, Frank (2013). Clubland the fabulous rise and murderous fall of club culture. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 126–128. ISBN 9781429979177.
  17. ↑ "US Ski Team". Retrieved April 21, 2008.
  18. ↑ Klimek, Marilyn, Students inspired by paralyzed skier, South Bend Tribune, November 1, 2001.
  19. ↑ "Rosenthal to headline latest class of Indiana Football Hall of Fame". WNDU. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
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