Our School

Who We Are:

Elm Road Elementary School is an “A” rated K-5 elementary school part of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, where excellence in education is pursued and achieved at all levels. We are one of P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Our students feel supported and encouraged to reach their full potential. 

Elm Road has also earned the distinction of being among Indiana’s Top 30% of Public Elementary Schools by U.S. News & World Report (data is based on the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years). Click here to learn more.

We provide a positive learning environment in which students develop their potential as life-long learners and responsible citizens. Our school culture is captured in our  Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) plan and school motto, which is Putting Dreams Into Flight. We affectionately refer to ourselves as the Eagles, proudly sporting the school colors of green, white and gold.

Elm Road was named a STEM Certified School in early May 2020. STEM is a major focus of the Excellence in Education that we provide to our students. We are elevating the math and science curricula along with creating engaging co-curricular activities for students. Curriculum enhancing programs include Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and Mystery Science. Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is in all 15 P-H-M schools at all levels—elementary through high school. PLTW’s computer science and engineering activities are integrated into our regular curricula at the elementary level helping to develop those critical thinking and problem solving skills. Mystery Science supplements the existing science curriculum by providing additional experiments, strengthening the connection to the Indiana Science standards.

Other STEM co-curricular activities include the Girls Coding Club and First Lego League. In the female after school club, students are taught coding and learn to program robots. Elm Road’s First Lego League partners with Grissom Middle School to compete in area competitions (Elm Road is a feeder school to Grissom).  

To help Elm Road students realize the application of STEM skills to everyday life, we have a “Community Partner” for each grade level. Together with guidance from the partner and the teachers, students work to solve the real life problems posed to them. Building these community partnerships also has the added benefit of providing access to community resources to the school.

Our staff of compassionate and engaged teachers receive ongoing professional development in everything from the IDOE state standards to utilizing social emotional learning and restorative practices in the classrooms. Students are connected to each other and the greater school community so they realize the are part of the Elm Road family. 

P-H-M is a 1:1 Technology district, which means that every student at Elm Road, as well as every student in the P-H-M school district, has access to their own Chromebook that they use every day in the classroom (kindergartners use iPads). At Elm Road, we just don’t use our Chromebooks for instruction; we also using them as opportunities to teach the students about hardware repair. With the school’s Chromebook Club (click to see activities offered at Elm Road), students in grades 4 and 5 during lunch learn how to repair student and staff Chromebooks.  Having Chromebook carts for every first through fifth grade classroom has freed up the school’s computer lab areas. At Elm Road, that space is now being used as a “Maker Space” area where students use “STEM Bins” to create and build using STEM materials. Teachers also have the ability to check out additional materials to use in their classrooms.

History

Elm Road School was built in 1953.  It was completely renovated in 1987 when Boner and Fulmer Elementary Schools were closed and students were consolidated at the present facility. 

Grades: K-5

Click for most recent enrollment data      

Elm Road students will attend Grissom Middle School and Penn High School.

Special Facilities/Resources:

  • PennPALS Preschool Program
  • Kids Club (before and after school care)
  • Chromebook carts providing 1:1 Technology for every student
  • Four Extended Learning Areas
  • Television broadcast studio
  • Sensory Room
  • Literacy room
  • Speech and hearing room
  • Outdoor environmental lab

School Activities:

  • Student Council 
  • Art Smart
  • After-school Enrichment/Tutorial programs
  • First Lego League
  • Chromebook Club
  • Girls Coding Club
  • Elm Road Jumpers
  • Academic competitions
  • Circle the State
  • S.O.A.R. Program
  • Music programs
  • Intramural sports
  • Recycling teams
  • PTO events