As the dog days of summer come to a close, that means one thing: It’s time for students to head back to school in Old Saybrook.

Though it seems like just yesterday when the class of 2023 was crossing the stage in the Old Saybrook High School auditorium on a rainy evening, it’s already time for students in Old Saybrook to head back to school on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

In anticipation of that day, the Harbor News caught up with Executive Assistant Trent Gerbers about what new changes are coming to the district. Here is a rundown of what is new this year.

The first item that parents should be aware of is the Kathleen E. Goodwin School is moving its starting time by five minutes. The school will be starting at 8:55 a.m. and ending at 3:15 p.m.

In the run-up to the beginning of the year, the school system is hosting several orientation events. New student and grade nine orientation at the high school is on Aug. 24 at 9 a.m. Preschool and kindergarten classroom visits are on Aug. 29 at 9:30 a.m. Classroom visits for grades 1 through 4 are on Aug. 29 at 11 a.m. Visits for grade 5 students are at the Middle School on Aug. 29 at 1 p.m.

The freshman class will have a retreat at Camp Hazen on Aug. 31 all day.

There are also new curriculum changes in store for this year. The state mandated a personal finance course be offered, but Gerbers said that Old Saybrook had actually already been offering that course.

“We have actually been offering one for a couple of years because we believe that this is incredibly important for students,” Gerbers said.

Additionally, the town will be piloting a new reading program. “For the 2023-2024 school year, several classrooms at Kathleen E. Goodwin School will be testing out a new literacy curriculum as part of the State of Connecticut’s Right to Read legislation. The American Reading Company curriculum was highly selected by the teachers of Goodwin School and is one of six literacy curricula selected by the CT SDE. As we pilot this new program, we look to build on the success of our students and teachers at Goodwin School.”

On the athletic front, the football team will now be a combined co-op program with Westbrook High School and The Morgan School, Clinton’s high school.

On the infrastructure front, the Goodwin School will have air conditioning running by the first day of school, and the high school gym has new paint as well as new scoreboards.