The closing of Minot Forest Elementary School due to budget constraints has brought major changes regarding where students will attend classes in the 2018-19 school year.

Students head back to school on Aug. 29 with teachers returning the day before. With Minot now closed, students in grades three and four will attend Wareham Middle School. Eighth grade students, previously at the middle school, will attend Wareham High School. Pre-school students from Minot will attend Decas Elementary School.

Minot was closed in part because the district couldn’t afford to keep it open in light of lackluster municipal revenues. The decision followed months of debate.

The 50-year-old building is also beset with structural problems and would have requiresd significant upgrades for security, electrical wiring and fire safety.

Currently, officials are working to get plans approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a new, combined elementary school where Minot is located. Plans call for completing a design in time for voters to consider approving a debt exclusion at the October 2018 Town Meeting. If approved, Wareham voters would have to OK funding the school during the state’s Nov. 6 election as a ballot question. The debt exclusion would raise taxes on residents to pay for the project for the life of the debt.

At April Town Meeting in 2017, voters approved the borrowing of $1 million to fund a feasibility study. The feasibility study explored different options for revamping the school and is a requirement of the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

Principals at Decas, the middle school and the high school said they’re ready for the influx of students.

At the middle school, Interim Principal Tracie Cote noted third and fourth graders will be housed in a wing completely separate from other students.

“We have a good handle on accommodating the new students,” said Cote. “We have a great staff and good community support for the coming change.”

Cote, who will serve as interim middle school principal for the year, said: “It’s going to be a ‘school within a school.’”

Cote has worked at the middle school for 24 years, starting out as a special education teacher. Recently, she served as assistant principal for both Minot and Decas schools.

With the additional students, the middle school will house roughly 900 children, she said. Other changes are on the way for the new school year, Cote said. The library will be home to a “makerspace” for science, technology, engineering, art and math students.

Activities in the makerspace will encourage students to explore those fields by offering a place to experiment, build and invent, said Cote.

Eighth graders, previously housed in the middle school, will now be at the high school.

Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino said the move is a welcome one, and should better prepare students for high school and college.

“It’s important to get the eighth graders exposeded to a college-style schedule sooner. It better prepares them and gets them to understand the expectations of high school,” said Palladino. “Then they really hit the ground running in ninth grade.”

Adding eighth graders will bring the total school population to roughly 600 students. Palladino noted that’s how many students the school was built to accommodate. In total, there are about 180 eighth grade students. At one point, there were only 400 students attending the high school, he said.

Palladino also touted the high school’s International Baccalaureate program, now in its second year. Enrollment nearly tripled from last year. In total, there are roughly 100 students signed up. The International Baccalaureate is a nonprofit educational foundation that offers four programs of international education that aim to develop the “intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world,” according to the organization’s website. Students will have the option of enrolling in the full diploma program or taking selected courses which would lead to an International Baccalaureate certificate.

Some other high school changes include the hiring of eight new teachers and a revamped library, said Palladino.

Decas Elementary School made some upgrades too, in anticipation of the incoming pre-school students.

Principal Bethany Chandler, who had served as interim before being hired as the permanent principal this summer, noted pre-school classrooms and hallways were all re-tiled.

The addition of roughly 86 students will bring the total number of Decas students to about 620, she said.

Chandler credited office and custodial staff for getting the building ready in time for the first day of classes.

“We wouldn’t be ready without them,” she said. They got a lot done during a short summer.”