Attendance and test scores provided reason for optimism in the first semester at Warren County R-III School District, but administrators say there’s still plenty of room for improvement.With the first half of the school year behind them, administrators are evaluating where the district finished in relation to the goals it had set.“The high school attendance is continuing to make improvements,” said Assistant Superintendent Jill Schowe. “It’s still not where we want it to be, though. The middle school has made huge improvements in that area.”Schowe says incentive programs have helped cut down on student absences at Black Hawk Middle School.The district used the Evaluate tests during the first semester, which test second grade through high school students on math and ELA (English and Language Arts), to monitor student proficiency.“We continued to make progress based upon the scores we saw last year at this time,” said Schowe.R-III will begin its preparation for the 2017-18 school year promptly into the second semester.On Jan. 26-27, counselors from the high school, as well as agriculture, business and FACS teachers, will go to the middle school to meet with eighth-graders.“We want to make a more concerted effort to make sure the courses they take, specifically electives, match up with their interests they think they might want to do for a career,” said Schowe. “We want to allow time for parents to ask more questions and gain a better understanding of their child’s options.”Incoming freshmen and current ninth- through 11th-graders also will be signing up for classes during January.Schowe says the district has already plugged in its spring testing windows.Also, each level of the district is working on various tier levels in the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS).“The high school is trying to shore up Tier 1, while the middle school is moving into Tier 2,” said Schowe. “The three elementary schools are all working hard to improve all three tiers, 1 through 3. We still feel that positive behavioral support is the way to go for addressing kids disciplinary needs. We are trying to look at being safe and responsible.”In terms of its calendar, the district didn’t lose any days in the first semester to inclement weather, so the district is still on pace to finish session May 17.Warren County R-III School District