In March, Superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Dr. Jerry Thacker announced his retirement after 19 years. Under Dr. Thacker’s leadership, P-H-M has achieved extraordinary milestones, including raising the graduation rate from 79% to 98%, ranking in the top 4% of the state academically, and helping students earn more than $200 million in scholarships. He also prioritized school safety, leading P-H-M to be ranked sixth in the nation for school safety initiatives. Click here to read more about P-H-M student success achieved during Dr. Thacker’s tenure.

Dr. Thacker has had a remarkable 53-year career in education working in leadership roles across Indiana and Michigan. As the school year wrapped up and in gratitude for his many contributions to the field of education, Dr. Thacker has received several honors.

These five prestigious awards were conferred upon Dr. Thacker:

• May 4, named IAPSS – District II Superintendent of the Year
  
• May 9
  
  Ivy Tech Community College presented him with an Honorary Degree in College and Community Service at their Commencement
  
• May 9, Head Start Consortium gave him the “Making a Difference” award for his loyal dedication, unwavering commitment, and his indispensable support of Head Start’s mission at Head Start’s 60th Anniversary Celebration and Board Meeting
  
• May 21
  
  Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood presented him with a Key to the City and a proclamation declaring May 21st “Dr. Jerry Thacker Day”
  
• May 30
  
  State Senator Linda Rogers presented him with the Circle of Corydon award on behalf of herself and Governor Mike Braun. The award honors Hoosiers who have made remarkable contributions that have bettered Indiana, and who have demonstrated the qualities exemplified by our state’s greatest citizens

Internally, P-H-M school principals, teachers, and students also wanted to thank Dr. Thacker for his years of service and dedication to the district. Several came up with meaningful ways to express their appreciation:

• May 1, Penn High School Bands recognized him for his “caring leadership and service” at the Spring Concert
  
• May 16
  
  Grissom Middle School students and staff lined the hallways to applaud him as he walked through the school’s hallways
• May 16
  
  Penn High School Building Trades program presented him with a Golden Hammer for recognition of his Outstanding Support and Service 
• May 22
  
  Bittersweet Elementary School students and staff lined the hallways to applaud him as he walked through the school’s hallways
• May 27
  
  Walt Disney Elementary School establishes the “Dr. Jerry Thacker Achievement Award” to recognize students who exemplify persistence, good citizenship, and positive competitiveness
  
• May 30
  
  Schmucker Middle School principal presented him with an Elevation Award for 53 years of service in education to students, teachers, and parents
• June 2
  
  
  Prairie Vista Elementary students performed a “We are your Triangle of Success” presentation and gave him a planter with all the thumbprints of students (grades K-5) and staff to illustrate the impact he’s had on their lives
  
• June 3
  
  Retiring Penn Band Director Glenn Northern, leads the Symphonic Winds section of the Kingsmen Marching Band in the Penn High School Fight song outside Dr. Thacker’s office at the Educational Services Center. Click here to see the video on Facebook.

Before the end of the 2024-2025 school year came to a close, Dr. Thacker shared the video message below with P-H-M students, teachers, and families.

In a special meeting held Tuesday, May 27, the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees unanimously (7-0) approved the appointment of Dr. Heather Short as the district’s next superintendent effective July 1, 2025.

Nearly 50 P-H-M teachers, administrators, staff, family and friends showed up to express their overwhelming support of Dr. Short’s appointment.

Dr. Short, a lifelong educator who has dedicated her entire 31-year career to P-H-M, will succeed Dr. Jerry Thacker, who is retiring after 19 years of transformative leadership. Dr. Short has served as Assistant Superintendent for Instruction since 2017. During her tenure, P-H-M students have experienced consistent academic growth and achievement.

“I am deeply honored by the Board’s confidence and grateful to Dr. Thacker for his mentorship throughout my career,” said Dr. Short. “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to grow as a leader within this incredible district. I’m excited to continue working alongside our talented staff, dedicated families, and exceptional students to expand opportunities and ensure every child thrives.”

Under Dr. Short’s leadership, P-H-M ranks in the top 4% of Indiana districts based on ILEARN scores. The district also outpaces the state average by 20 percentage points in overall percent passing rates.

“There is no one better—or more qualified—to lead P-H-M’s continued path of academic excellence than Dr. Short,” said Chris Riley, President of the Board of School Trustees. “Her academic expertise and visionary leadership in developing rigorous, relevant curriculum have been key to our students’ success. Dr. Short was the Board’s clear and unanimous choice for superintendent.”

P-H-M is home to some of Indiana’s highest-performing public schools in both English/Language Arts and Math. Prairie Vista Elementary ranks #3 in the state, while Discovery Middle School ranks #2. In Spring 2024, P-H-M’s IREAD pass rate was 86.8%, surpassing the state average of 82.5%. Three P-H-M elementary schools—Prairie Vista (97.7%), Northpoint (95%), and Horizon (95.3%)—achieved pass rates above 90%.

Included in her district-wide academic strategy was a robust Response to Intervention (RtI) program and expanded summer offerings that support both enrichment and remediation.

Dr. Short’s leadership journey reflects deep roots and unwavering commitment to P-H-M. She began her career as a classroom teacher before serving as an Instructional Leader and High Ability Coordinator. Click here to learn how Dr. Short and Board Trustee Katie Bell’s paths crossed when Dr. Short was a 3rd grade teacher at Northpoint. In 2004, she became principal of Prairie Vista Elementary. Recognizing her talent for professional growth and instructional excellence, Dr. Thacker appointed her in 2007 as P-H-M’s first Director of Professional Development—a role she held for a decade before being named Assistant Superintendent.

Throughout her career, Dr. Short has been deeply committed to developing others. She co-created a nationally recognized leadership development program designed to build internal capacity among P-H-M educators and administrators. Her strategic focus on professional development has empowered teachers at every level—from new educators to veteran principals—through initiatives like the annual Literacy Summit and the New Teacher Series.

As Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Short has combined her instructional leadership with strong fiscal stewardship. She has overseen the management of multimillion-dollar budgets and successfully secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants—investments that have directly enhanced classroom instruction, expanded student programs, and strengthened districtwide operations.

“Dr. Short possesses one of the most valuable qualities a leader can have: the ability to build genuine relationships,” said Dr. Thacker. “She makes personal connections with teachers, principals, staff, families—and most importantly, students. She understands the P-H-M culture because she helped build it. There is no one more fitting to serve as the next superintendent.”

After the Board approved Dr. Short as the district’s new leader, Board members shared well wishes and comments. Trustee Katie Bell (elected in November 2024) talked about how things have come full circle for her as a former student of Dr. Short’s when she taught 3rd grade gifted and talented students at Northpoint. The two were actually featured in an article that ran in the South Bend Tribune in March 2003. The article featured Dr. Short teaching her students how to use PowerPoint for their Geography reports on Asia. Click here to read the original story.

Fast forward to 2013 to when Dr. Short was P-H-M’s Director of Professional Development, she interviewed Bell for a teaching position. Bell was hired as a kindergarten teacher in 2016 at Prairie Vista Elementary School and Dr. Short led the professional development for all new teachers. 

“Dr. Short and I are a testament that it’s never goodbye, it’s always see you later,” Bell said. “And I think that shows the true impact of a teacher, that they are in your lives forever, and that you will always remember them.”

Media Coverage

• South Bend Tribune
• ABC 57
• WSBT-TV
• WNDU-TV

For the 12th consecutive year, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation was named among the 2025’s Best Communities for Music Education (​BCME) in the country by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation! P-H-M has received this recognition more than any other school district in Indiana!

This year NAMM has named 935 school districts as the nation's Best Communities for Music Education, and P-H-M is one of them! The award program recognizes and celebrates outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education. Designations are made to districts that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment to and access to music education. 

In P-H-M elementary schools, music class is part of the regular curriculum following state standards. Students are instructed in both vocal and instrument classes. Beginning in 6th grade, P-H-M students at our three middle schools (Discovery, Schmucker and Grissom) have the opportunity to choose choir, orchestra or band as their music elective. Students at Discovery also have the option of choosing Piano Lab. Schools from elementary all the way up to Penn High School also perform musicals.

Penn High School offers the Fine Arts & Communication Academy as part of its unique academy structure. The seven academy design provides Penn students with relevant and meaningful coursework taught in smaller, supportive environments where each student is known well by his teacher and peers. Nearly a third of Penn’s total 3,500 students are enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy with the majority being involved with music programs, either Choir, Orchestra, Band or another music program.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, P-H-M answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music.

In a series of landmark studies by scientists and researchers at Northwestern University a link was found between students in community music programs and life-long academic success, including higher high school graduation rates and college attendance. In another study from the University, it was discovered that the benefits of early exposure to music education improves how the brain processes and assimilates sounds, a trait that lasts well into adulthood. Beyond the Northwestern research, other studies have indicated that music education lays the foundation for individual excellence in group settings, creative problem solving and flexibility in work situations, as well learning how to give and receive constructive criticism to excel.

Students took ILEARN in the Spring. The students’ results are more than just a reflection on how well they know and retained what they learned in a particular subject area.

Teachers work very hard to help their students review and retain the knowledge, and when necessary interventionist educators use RtI (Response to Intervention) tools.

The Fall 2024 P-H-M Teacher Impact Awards are given to educators who had the most significant individual student growth with Spring 2024 ILEARN (grades 3-8 and high school Biology), AP Testing at Penn, and highest RtI growth.

Mr. LA (Kriss) High was quite surprised when P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Principal Sarah Smith walked into his classroom to let him know he’d won an Impact Award. Mr. High had the highest growth for 8th grade math, as measured from Spring ILEARN to Fall ILEARN Checkpoints. Mr. Krupa and Ms. Irons showed up to applaud his accomplishment. Mr. Krupa was recognized last fall with an Impact award. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

Three other awards were given out on Thursday, December 12:

• Grace Blanchard, 6th grade, ELA/Reading, Discovery Middle School – Highest ELA/Reading growth in 6th grade when measured from mean fall ILEARN to ILEARN Checkpoints Achievement.
• Dawn Boulac, AP Statistics, Penn High School – Increased enrollment and qualifying scores on the AP Statistics Exam in May 2024 and an impressive 103 students met that benchmark! In addition, Penn AP Statistics students outperformed their peers at that state and global level in both mean scores and percentage passing. 
• Hollie Truckowski, Reading Specialist, Elsie Rogers Elementary School – Highest growth for all students in reading specialist interventions programming. Mrs. Truckowski’s students made well above average growth in two important measures of early literacy, oral reading fluency and NWF, a standardized measure of decoding ability. Mrs. Truckowski works with students who are academically at-risk in reading, and her work puts these students on an important pathway for growth.

With the help of the building principals, Dr. Thacker surprised the teachers with the Impact Awards. He was accompanied by other members of P-H-M Administration Dr. Heather Short, Asst. Superintendent; Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null; and Ryan Towner, Director of Literacy. P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom was also on hand; PHMEF covered the cost for the beautiful awards which teachers can proudly display in their classrooms.

While all P-H-M teachers make an impact with their students, dedicated to helping them achieve personal academic success, the Impact Award shines the spotlight on educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. The first-ever Impact Awards were handed out in September 2023 and recognized the teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year.

Schmucker Middle School is one of P-H-M schools that has a long tradition of honoring our nations heroes and heroines on Veterans Day. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

Our 8^th grade students are involved in the annual program as part of their Social Studies unit. The history and importance of honoring Veterans is also interwoven into the musical curriculum. The 8^th grade Choir, Orchestra and Band classes provided the music for the celebration.

The students who have family, friends, and neighbors who are Veterans are encouraged to invite them to the program. Students with honored guests introduce their veteran and then present them with a red poppy, which became a symbol of the blood shed by those who fought and those who continue to fight for our country. It was response to the wartime poem “In Flanders Fields.”

This year’s program speaker was Schmucker parent and University of Notre Dame Director of Military and Veterans Affairs Kenneth Heckel. He is a 23-year veteran and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Heckel served in operational organizations and assignments across the world. Heckel received numerous awards and honors for his military service, most notably the Legion of Merit medal, multiple Bronze Star medals, and the Senior Parachutist Badge. He was also Assistant Professor of Economics and the Director of Academy Advancement at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Henkel talked to the students about the importance of leadership, trust, and honor in the military, but also every day life.

After the program, students and their veteran guests enjoyed some breakfast treats and a chance to visit with students and other guests.

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker started handing out the third and final round of district Impact Awards on Wednesday, May 22. The awards were given to teachers who had the most significant individual student growth with DIBLES, ILEARN, and SAT assessments for Spring 2024.

Dr. Thacker, along with Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development and Student Learning Dr. Lavon Dean-Null, visited four schools to surprise five teachers letting them know that they were the latest winners.

Here at Schmucker, Mrs. Monicah Fratena was honored for having the two class sections with the highest student growth on ILEARN for 7th grade Language Arts, as well as four out of the top eight sections! Congrats to Mrs. Fratena and her students!

As this school year comes to a close we want to thank all our teachers and students for their commitment to academic excellence this school year. The hard work really paid off!

Thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards for purchasing the beautiful crystal awards given to the teacher award recipients.