Type Public High School CEEB code 152347 Teaching staff 153.09 (FTE) Number of students 3,400 | Established 1958 Principal Steve Hope Phone +1 574-259-7961 Colors Black, White, Gold | |
School district Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Address 56100 N Bittersweet Rd, Mishawaka, IN 46545, USA District Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Profiles | ||
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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.
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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 19 Advanced Placement 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 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. Penn High School students averaged an SAT score of 1564 in 2010, compared to the Indiana state average of 1496.
Demographics
The demographic breakdown of the 3,400 students enrolled for the 2012-2013 school year was:
In addition, 23.4% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.
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:
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.
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.
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.