District reports PD Palooza turnout, preschool move after WEC fire and encouraging preliminary test results

District leaders updated the Warwick County School Board Aug. 11 on summer professional development, a preschool relocation after a program-site fire, and preliminary student assessment results. Missus Wagner and Mister Fisher summarized PD Palooza (July 22'25), reporting more than 219 staff attended sessions and the district offered a half-day stipend for staff who used a July 25 work day to plan in their home buildings. The presenters said the district moved four preschool classrooms to Castle South after a fire at the Warwick Education Center and that staff, volunteers and community partners set up classrooms and materials in time for the first day. "You would have never known we had a fire at the Warwick Ed Center," the presenters said, showing photos of furnished classrooms in Castle South. On assessments, the district said preliminary results were "very encouraging" and noted the State Board of Education will finalize scores Aug. 13. Superintendent Redmond reported that 74.4% of the district's current third-grade students had met the minimum third-grade reading proficiency requirement in the iRead assessment; staff contrasted that with roughly 60% the prior year and attributed part of the increase to an additional testing window offered last year. Other program updates: PD sessions included training by the Indiana Department of Education on the new three-window checkpoints for grades 3'8 (ELA and math), and the district is offering a new computing foundations course aligned to state diploma requirements. Staff said computing foundations will be available to middle-school students for high-school credit at Castle South, Castle North and Boonville Middle School this year. Next steps: the district will present finalized testing data at the August board meeting; staff will continue professional development and course-implementation activities this fall.