Archer Update #7

Within just one month of the start of the school year, Penn High School has received it's third straight recognition for providing academic excellence. On Thursday, September 15, Penn was named a 2023 Cognia® School of Distinction for excellence in education based on its 2022–23 Accreditation Cognia review. Penn has participated in Cognia’s rigorous, research-based Accreditation Engagement Review. The process involves 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. Click here to learn more about Penn's latest distinguished recognition.

P-H-M handed out it's first Teacher Impact Awards on Friday, September 15. New this year, the P-H-M Impact Award is being presented to educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time.

We are proud to share that Discovery 7th grade Math teacher Emma Zerfas for having the highest consistent 7th grade Math growth of all 7th grade Math teachers in P-H-M’s three middle schools! Click for more details.

In this edition of the Archer Update you will find the following information:

1. HOMECOMING WEEK - SPIRIT Week - Bring a $1 a day to support PHMEF!
2. #PHMEXCELLENCE
3. CHOIR Apparel - Paige's Store - Order until Oct. 5th
4. SKI CLUB Information and Oct. 11th Parent/Student Meeting Info
5. Play It Forward Equipment Drive Oct. 2nd-19th
6. PHM Homecoming - Sept. 29th
7. DMS PTO INFO!
8. Information for 8th Grade Parents - Washington D.C. Trip
9. Teacher Job Fair for PHM
10. PHM Community Connection Fair in October Tailgate
11. DMS CLUB/INTRAMURAL LIST
12. Reporting Student Absences

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Friendly Reminders:

• Drop-off begins at 8:50 am and students will be marked tardy if they aren't in their seats by 9:05 am. Dismissal begins at 4:00 pm for car riders and buses depart by 4:08 pm.
• Unless approved by the building principal, no visitors or guests are allowed in the building.

Discovery Middle School is ranked #2 in the State of Indiana for top performing middle schools (this is out of about 300). Our teachers continue to be prepared to provide the most targeted, engaging lessons to help all our students reach their fullest learning potential. Our students are some of the best in Indiana and possibly the world! Thank you for sending us your finest!

Any student interested in ski club should attend a meeting with a parent on October 11th, 8:00a.m. in the LGI. Please contact Donna Schau at dschau@phm.k12.in.us if you have any questions.

Alumni from DMS have decided to create an opportunity for students to donate their gently used sporting equipment. The Donation drive will run from Oct. 2nd-19th. Bins will be set up inside Doors A and E. This is a wonderful initiative by former students of DMS and an opportunity to share equipment for students in need! Thank you!

We hope everyone is planning on coming to the Penn Homecoming festivities which are available to the entire P-H-M community. Thanks to the P-H-M Education Foundation, there's a wide variety of family-fun activities planned from the parade, to the Fun Zone, to fireworks--they've even got dinner covered with the food trucks! Please click here for details on parking, event times, and all the details.

1. Staff Appreciation - October conferences

2. PTO 5 Minute Form

3. Facebook

4. Scrip - Fundraising for field trips

5. Box Tops

1. The Staff Appreciation committee will be providing dinners for our teachers during student led conferences in October. If you are a restaurant owner, or can assist with donations in any way, please reach out to us at discoverypto@phm.k12.in.us

Keep an eye on the PTO Facebook page for a signup for additional items needed (coming soon!).

2. Please take a few minutes to fill out this quick "5 minute form". This helps us get to know you and your areas of interest/involvement in the PTO.

3. Once you have filled out the 5 minute form, please join us on our closed Facebook page at “Discovery Middle School PTO” to stay up to date with PTO and school events. You must fill out the 5 minute form in order to be approved into the group.

4. Scrip is a national fundraising program for non-profit organizations. The PTO runs this program at DMS to help families save money toward their student’s trip(s) while at Discovery. The way it works is you buy physical or eGift cards at regular face value and earn a rebate between 2% and 20%. Of that rebate, 90% goes into your child’s DMS Trip Account and 10% goes to the PTO. It’s like earning free money! It’s a great way to save money without much hassle. Please see the form link below on how to get started.

School Trips for Free (23-24) info sheet. https://bit.ly/ScripInfo23-24

5. Please help our school earn money by submitting Box Tops. It’s all electronic and it’s easy! Download the app, add Discovery, and start scanning your receipts. It’s a quick, easy way to earn cash for our school!

Parents,

Click here to sign your child up for the DC trip this spring. Make an account and you will find details of the Discovery 8th Grade trip, links to sign up and pay your deposit.

If anyone has interest in traveling on this trip as a chaperone, please email Mr. Bontrager at dbontrager@phm.k12.in.us with your desire to accompany the 8th graders by 11/3/2023. He will respond to your email with information about the upcoming Chaperone meeting which will be held at DMS on Nov. 9th at 7:30 a.m. This is a mandatory meeting to complete the necessary paperwork needed.

EARN MONEY FOR YOUR CHILD'S DC TRIP

-To help with the cost of this trip, your son/daughter will be bringing home a box of The World's Finest Chocolate this week to sell. The profit they make will go towards their DC trip. Later in October and November 8th graders will have the chance to sell poinsettias and those profits also can be banked into their DC acct.

-Another way to offset the cost of this trip is using Scrip offered through the PTO. A great way to earn money without selling anything. Click link for the School Trips for Free (23-24) info sheet. https://bit.ly/ScripInfo23-24. On the sheet you can find information on how to sign up and get started earning money for your child's DC trip.

Get ready for the annual PHM Community Connections Fair. This will be the 7th year PHM has hosted this event. The fair is coming up in October!

The fair will also include cultural performances from P-H-M students and families. If you or any students would want to perform you can sign up at https://forms.gle/CB3Kxa5j85i2G1hw5

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

Website: https://discovery.phmschools.org/
Location: 10050 Brummitt Road, Granger, IN, USA
Phone: 574-674-6010