Learning the A-B-Cs of new Middleboro school year

MIDDLEBORO – As the summer season fades, Middleboro Public Schools students are returning to the classroom on Wednesday, Sept. 2. 

Students in grades 1 through 12 will start class on Sept. 2, while kindergarten students will have orientation that day and start class on Thursday, Sept. 3.

After two months off from school, the first few days will be focused on getting back into the swing of things. “Getting them back into the routine of being in a classroom is important,” said Middleboro Public Schools Communications Director Sean Siciliano.

The district has a new superintendent this year: David Thomson, who was hired as interim superintendent on July 1. He brings 10 years of experience as a full-time and interim superintendent to Middleboro. 

In the classroom, elementary school students will use a new standardized reading curriculum from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The district will send more of its communications through the app Parent Square, which provides classroom and emergency information to parents on their phone.

“Our goal is to give information to families at their fingertips,” Siciliano said.

Families will continue to receive weekly newsletters from their schools over email.

The district is also launching a program called Pickup Patrol for K-5 students, which lets parents notify the school how their children will get home.

Siciliano said that the district had to cut five positions – three teachers and educational coaches, one paraprofessional and one district administrator – after this year’s budget cuts. Siciliano said that the school has adapted to the staffing changes. 

“We’ve taken measures to make sure that every kid’s going to get the services they need, that every kid’s going to get the education that we want them to have,” he said.