Students and educators in the Warren County R-III School District are celebrating progress as reflected by the latest annual performance report released by the state last week.

The district received an overall score of 95.4 percent, improving nearly 12 points from the 83.9 percent it was awarded last fall.

“It is a dramatic improvement and it’s a testament to the team of teachers and administrators that we have in place here,” said Assistant Superintendent Jill Schowe. “There’s never a down time to ride the wave. Our work is never done.”

This year’s score was the highest among the past five years, with the district receiving an overall rating of 82.9 percent in 2014 and 90.4 percent in 2015.

The numbers reflect performance from the previous school year, with the latest feedback being for data from 2016-17. The rating is derived from how the district is graded in five different MSIP (Missouri School Improvement Program) standards.

R-III performed best in the graduation rate category, receiving all 30 available points. It also excelled in college and career readiness, earning 29.5 of the 30 possible points.

Academic achievement was another solid area, with R-III receiving 54 of 56 possible points.

Schowe says data collection and archiving is critical for the school to both hold itself accountable and provide evidence to the state. Gathering some data, such as what graduates have gone to college versus entered the workforce, can be challenging.

“We are responsible for calculating our career and college readiness, so it’s critical that we check back in with our seniors 180 days after graduation to find out what they’re doing at that time,” said Schowe.

The lowest score for the district was attendance, in which R-III received 7.5 of the 10 available points. Teachers and administration continue working toward the school’s 90/90 attendance initiative.

“Where we fell short was in attendance,” said Schowe. “Our kids can’t learn if they’re not in schools, so we want to continue to educate the community on how important attendance is.”

Schowe says diligent efforts are being made to improve those numbers and get kids into the classrooms on a consistent basis.

“We’re always doing the attendance incentives, making phone calls and are willing to go pick kids up,” she said.

There also was a subgroup achievement area, in which R-III scored 12.5 of the possible 14 points.