When students begin frantically flipping through their summer reading assignments, it can only mean one thing: Summer is over and school is about to begin.

Tri-town schools are gearing up for the new year, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 1. Sippican Week spoke with local principals to see what’s new for parents and children this year.

At the high school, Principal Mike Devoll said he’s most excited about the new AmbassadOR Club, what he hopes will be a group of students who will be the face of Old Rochester Regional, encourage school spirit and take on some leadership responsibilities.

Otherwise, Devoll is expecting a pretty normal start to the new year. Despite enrollment numbers jumping at Sippican School, likely due to a new housing complex, the high school is holding steady with 787 students

The common planning time that gives teachers extra school time to meet, now in its third year, will continue. The planning time means students get a later start to the school day once or twice a month.

Improving student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships is a primary goal at Old Rochester Regional Junior High, said Principal Kevin Brogioli.

This year, the school is implementing a new, twice weekly advisory program that gives small groups of students the opportunity to meet with a teacher.

“The purpose of advisory is to provide adult support for every child in the building,” Brogioli said.

By reducing each period by four minutes on meeting days, a 24 minute slot will be created for the new program.

Other changes this year include new sets of Chromebooks for students. Five to six classrooms will be outfitted with the laptops, totaling 200 Chromebooks.

“It’s another step on our way to have one-on-one devices,” said Brogioli. “We’re a year or two away from that.”

While Sippican School students took a break from the rigors of the classroom this summer, a handful of their teachers continued their education at the Teacher’s College at Columbia University.

Principal Lyn Rivet said educators MJ Menezes, Cathy Furtado, Julie Bangs and Leanne Dineen attended the four-day professional development seminar in New York for the Teaching of Reading and Teaching of Writing institutes.

“They immersed themselves in the workshops and will be leading some of our half-day workshops and other professional development days,” Rivet said. “They are so excited to share what they learned.”

The workshops are designed to help educators turn classrooms into reading and writing workshops.

Rivet noted that the School Committee and administrators made it a point to focus on an increased awareness of literacy this year.

“There is a big initiative to push reading and writing workshops in the school,” she said. “The best teachers are the ones who are constantly seeking professional development.”

Also, nationally recognized author and former Teacher’s College staff member Kathy Collins will be a keynote speaker during one of the school’s professional development days.

Collins is the author of “Growing Readers: Units of Study in the Primary Classroom” and “Reading for Real: Teach Students to Read with Power, Intention and Joy in K-3 Classrooms.”

“We are extremely excited that she will provide a keynote address for us,” Rivet said.

Rochester Memorial School fifth and sixth grade students will be on the move this year for lessons on math, science, English and more.

Principal Derek Medeiros said the fifth and sixth teams will start teaching by subject area, instead of the one classroom, one teacher model used by the lower grades.

“It’s really to help the kids make a successful transition to the junior high,” said Medeiros. “This is more of a middle school approach. The kids will move from class to class.”

More importantly, Medeiros said the new approach allows kids to focus on individual subject areas.

“It’s a one person show at the elementary school,” he said. “Now we can zone in and get someone with the expertise in one area to teach.”

Medeiros said at Mattapoisett and Marion elementary schools, fifth and sixth grade students had been using that model for awhile. Using the same method across the district provides a uniform experience for students entering the junior high.

There are no major changes happening at Center School and Old Hammondtown School this year, said Principal Rose Bowman. As for day-to-day procedures, those will stay the same.

“It’s been very smooth. We don’t rock the boat with that stuff,” said Bowman.

Kindergarten through grade three students will benefit from an updated reading program. Center School has a new version of Reading Street, the curriculum that has been used for some time. The upgrade adds a technology component not in the school’s previous version.

“We’re very grateful to the town for supporting this,” Bowman said.

Old Hammondtown will also have more technology. The sixth grade class already has one-on-one access to Chromebook laptops, and the goal is to give fifth graders the same access with additional computers.

“Those are the initiatives that are in progress,” said Bowman.