MIDDLEBORO — While Middleboro students have been away for the summer, the school district has been busy with facility updates that include improvements to the high school’s Innovation Lab, classroom carpet removal and the installation of filters that remove PFAS chemicals from water bottle fill stations. 

During a recent school committee meeting, Superintendent of Middleboro Schools Carolyn Lyons stated that “the work really ramps up when school closes in June,” contrary to the perception that summer is an “off” time for school district employees. 

Students in first through twelfth grades will return to school on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Kindergarten students will go back a day later, on Sept. 5, while the first day of school for pre-K students is Monday, Sept. 9.

High school students will see updates to the school’s Innovation Lab— the school’s dedicated engineering space— including new machinery such as 3D printers, said Middleboro High School Principal Paul Branagan. A new course called “Introduction to Innovation and Manufacturing” will be taught in the lab. 

The course will be offered in the fall and spring, with the spring course serving as a continuation of the fall semester class. 

Students throughout all the schools in the district will benefit from an update to the water bottle filling stations in buildings that now are equipped with filters that remove PFAS chemicals from the water. 

Facilities Director Jim Hutchinson said this change was in response to the notification the schools received that PFAS had been detected in the town’s wells. 

Hutchinson added that many classrooms in Nichols Middle School will have a new look now that the carpets in all classrooms have been removed. 

The district welcomes a total of 22 new staff members, according to coordinators for the new teacher orientation program. 

Walking the halls of the high school will be two new English teachers, a new history teacher, two Spanish teachers and a Russian teacher, according to Branagan, who said he is thrilled to welcome these new faculty members. 

“I’m really excited about this dynamic group of strong educators joining the faculty staff at the high school,” Branagan noted, adding that the high school will welcome 14 new staff members in total. 

The high school is continuing to expand its career-planning initiatives to help give students a better idea of how what they’re learning in the classroom can be applied in a job setting, said Branagan.