By Janine Davis Record Staff Writer For hundreds of Warren County R-III School District students, summer has included a fair amount of school work. During the July 10 school board meeting, district officials reported largely favorable trends in enrollment and attendance for the program held June 4-June 27. R-III Superintendent Dr. Jim Chandler told the board that summer school enrollment was up slightly from 755 in 2013 to 763 in 2014, thanks to gains in grades K-5 enrollment, which increased from 460 students last summer to 487 this year. Middle school enrollment was down from 125 to 107, while high school enrollment remained about the same as last year at 169. “We had a good program — all the principals were very pleased with how things went,” Chandler told board members.“Anytime we can get kids in to further their education in any way, we’re happy.” Average daily attendance also was strong for most grade levels, Chandler said, noting year-to-year attendance increases from 86.2 percent last summer to 90.53 percent at the middle school this year, and from 91.86 percent last summer to 91.74 this year at the high school. Kindergarten through fifth-grade attendance dropped from 90.27 percent last year to 85.77 percent this year, bringing down total district attendance from 89.97 percent last year to 87.93 percent in 2014. “Our lower grade level attendance numbers were down about 5 percent, which is an anomaly,” Chandler said. “We’re just not sure what was happening there.” Chandler said that summer school serves a range of purposes including credit recovery for high school students, along with fulfilling PE (physical education) requirements for freshmen wanting to clear the way for other academic choices once the school year begins. For students in grades K-8, course work concentrates on language arts and math (two hours each), along with two hours of exploratory, hands-on work in science and other subjects. “It’s structured to be fun and engaging,” said Assistant Superintendent Gregg Klinginsmith. Klinginsmith said high school credit recovery course work is focused on computer-based curriculum to help students gain credits they need for graduation. He said the school’s free summer meals program also has been successful.
R-III summer school finishes strong
