Penn High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

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 district includes all of Osceola and portions of Granger, Mishawaka, and South Bend.

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.

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. Penn High School offers up to 23

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

classes 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. Based on AP exam participation and passing rate, Penn students have a College Readiness Index of 30.0/100.0. For the class of 2015, Penn achieved a graduation rate of over 97%. 90% of students passed the state's English graduation exam and 90% passed Indiana's math graduation exam. 66% of Penn students scored a three or higher on an

exam. Penn High School students averaged an

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...

score of 1564 in 2010, compared to the

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

state average of 1496. Penn High School was recognized as a 4-Star School by the

Indiana Department of Education The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) oversees primary and secondary education in the U.S. state of Indiana. The department is managed by the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, an elected office most recently held by Jennifer McCo ...

for the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 school years. To achieve this rating the school had to receive an "A" on the state's A-F accountability system, have an excellent

ISTEP+ Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus (usually referred to simply as ISTEP or ISTEP+) was an annual No Child Left Behind test designed by the Indiana Department of Education to measure students' mastery of basic skills, particular ...

pass rate, carry on overall high graduation rate, and show that they were successful in closing achievement gaps.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 3,376 students enrolled for the 2014-2015 school year was: *Male - 50.2% *Female - 49.8% *Native American/Alaskan - 0.6% *Asian/Pacific islander - 5.1% *Black - 4.2% *Hispanic - 3.7% *White - 82.4% *Multiracial - 3.7% In addition, 17.3% of the students were eligible for free or reduced price 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. The following IHSAA sanctioned sports are offered: *Baseball (boys) **State champions - 1994, 1998, 2001, 2015 *Basketball (boys & girls) **Girls basketball state champions - 2016 *Cross country (boys & girls) *Football (boys) **State champions - 1983, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 *Golf (boys & girls) **Girls state champions - 1994, 2002, 2004, 2005 *Soccer (boys & girls) **Boys state champions - 1999 **Girls state champions - 2016, 2017 *Softball (girls) **State champions - 1999 *Swimming (boys & girls) *Tennis (boys & girls) *Track (boys & girls) *Volleyball (girls) **State champions - 2010, 2011 *Wrestling (boys) **State champions - 2015

Academic Competitions

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. 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. Additionally, the mock trial team advanced to the national championship in 2014 after winning the state championship. Penn High School also participates in Indiana Academic Spell Bowl, which differs from a traditional

spelling bee A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite ...

in that teams of nine individually spell 10 words each in written form. Penn has won or tied the State Spell Bowl Championship in 1999–2006, 2008–2010, 2012–2016 and 2019. As of 2016, Penn has established a Technology Student Association Chapter. Penn's TSA Chapter competes in both the National and Indiana State Leadership Conferences and has had numerous victories at the Indiana TSA State Leadership Conference.

Notable alumni

* Michael Alig - Prominent member of the Club Kids, charged with manslaughter in 1996. *

Braxston Cave Braxston Cave (born July 29, 1989) is a former American football center. He went undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. High school career Cave played for Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. Cave was one ...

- American football player * Bill Edgerton - Former professional baseball player ( Kansas City Athletics,

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

) *

Noma Gurich Noma D. Gurich (born September 26, 1952) is an American attorney and jurist who is serving as an associate justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Gurich was appointed the State's highest court by Governor Brad Henry in 2010 and assumed office on ...

- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma (2019) * Bryan Mattison - Former American football player *

Tim Roemer Timothy John Roemer (born October 30, 1956) is an American diplomat and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003 as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Indiana's 3rd congressional district ...

- Former

Member of Congress A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, representing

Indiana's 3rd Congressional District Indiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based in Fort Wayne, the district takes in the northeastern part of the state. In 2023, this district will include all of Adams, Allen, Blackford, ...

, member of the

9/11 Commission The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...

, former

United States Ambassador to India The United States Ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. Ambassador's office is situated at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Chiefs of Mission to India U.S. Ambassadors to the Dominion of ...

. *

Mike Rosenthal Mike Rosenthal (born June 10, 1977) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Notre Dame, where he was an All-American. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft, and playe ...

- retired NFL offensive tackle

References

External links

Indiana Department of Education School Snapshot

Penn High School webpage
{{authority control Public high schools in Indiana Schools in St. Joseph County, Indiana Mishawaka, Indiana 1958 establishments in Indiana