The South Country School District welcomed its 4,000 students back to school on Sept. 3 with several new changes, including building improvements, new or revised curricula in several courses and a revised code of conduct for students at Bellport High School.

“We are looking forward to a year filled with Clipper Pride and high-quality academic and extracurricular experiences for our students,” superintendent Antonio Santana said in a press release.

Twenty-seven teachers—25 full-time and two part-time—joined the district this year. South Country also has a new athletic director. Martino Sottile joined from the Brentwood School District, where he was a physical education teacher and head coach of the girls varsity soccer team and assistant coach of the boys varsity wrestling team.

On the academic front, the district is introducing a citizenship course at the high school, revised computer courses at the middle school and an updated physical education and health curriculum for several grades, according to Santana’s letter to the community on the district website.

Several building projects were completed over the summer, including a redesigned main office at the high school, a revamped kindergarten wing and new kitchen floors at Brookhaven Elementary School and re-surfaced tennis courts at the high school.

Bellport High School’s sports teams will be looking for another successful season, including the football team, which made the playoffs, and the girls basketball team which made it to the Suffolk County championship game.

Also, in May, voters approved a $147 million budget that, among other things, expands bus service for high school students living more than 1 mile from school. Previously, bus service was available only to high school students living more than 1.5 miles from school.