The Warren County R-III School District approved its calendar for the 2018-19 school year following a lengthy discussion.“We were trying to get as much feedback from the teachers as possible,” explained Assistant Superintendent Dr. Aaron Jones.The district revisited a method that had not been used in several years, reaching out to teachers for feedback on preferred calendar structure, start and end dates.“We did it a little different and had some volunteers on the calendar committee to help develop it,” said Jones.The 174-day school year will begin Aug. 16 and conclude May 17, 2019. If a student misses class while showing or performing at the state Fair, it would be considered an excused absence.One of the primary areas of focus is keeping each semester as equal in days as possible to provide fair distribution of instruction time for semester-long classes.In this scenario the first semester has 86 days, while the second semester has 88 days.“Most teachers want semesters to end before winter break,” said Jones. “We’re trying to get somewhere between 84 and 88 school days before Christmas. There are only so many days you can get in there. Second semester is always a lot easier, because you have more time to play with.”Students will have early release days on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.The first used snow day would be April 22, with the remainder added on to the conclusion of the regular school year.Students will have two extended breaks, from Dec. 24-Jan. 2 for holiday break and again March 18-22 for spring break.Warren County R-III School District