NATCHEZ &8212; A full semester into the reorganization of the schools, things are running smoothly, Superintendent Anthony Morris said.

&8220;It has gone extremely well,&8217; he said. &8220;I think it will just continue to get better and better.&8221;

With the influx of students from Hurricane Katrina, all district schools faced overcrowding problems, and some of the optimism from the reorganization was challenged, he said, but things are starting to level out again.

Many evacuee students have moved back home or to other towns. The total count of nearly 600 at one point is down around 200 now, and expected to drop lower in January.

&8220;We lost a little bit of ground because of Katrina,&8221; Morris said. &8220;But in spite of that, our whole community really stepped up and made that work as well as it could possibly work.&8221;

Frazier Primary grew the most because of the reorganization and again after Katrina. The school has since added mobile units and a new classroom with a teacher from West Primary. Principal Lorraine Franklin got a helping hand when the district sent former Morgantown Elementary Assistant Principal Vera Dunmore over to take the same job at Frazier.

A few other support staff and custodial workers were tranfered from school to school.

Morgantown Elementary, once a 1,200 student school, lost a lot of students due to the changes and now has less than 1,000. Some rooms have been shut off, and things are a little quieter, Principal Fred Marsalis has said.

Morris said the coming months and years should be free of major changes and focused on perfecting the current system.