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ESCANABA -- Escanaba students will be starting school the Tuesday after Labor Day, but their teachers are already hard at work preparing for them. The Escanaba High School Principal says the school will have 1,140 students. That's in the high school and the new junior high portion. The school’s new name is Escanaba Senior High School and Escanaba Junior High School.

Junior high will consist of grades seven and eight.

The halls are empty right now, but classrooms were busy as teachers unpacked Tuesday.

“Well, it's busy, but it's exciting,” says Escanaba High School Principal, Doug Leisenring. “We're working on things like school improvement goals, working on curriculum, the things we should be working on. We’re not worried about what room are we going to teach in? What temporary place am I going to be? What construction wall am I putting up by Tuesday?”

That construction is complete. What you see now are improvements that benefit everyone.

“We've upgraded three computer labs,” Leisenring said. “We've also put in three iPad carts around the building that teachers can check out and use in their classes. We also have a document camera and a short-throw data projector in every classroom."

The expansion and new additions cost just over $22 million.

Escanaba School Superintendent, Michele Lemire, says the high school alone has $19 million worth of improvements.

“So, every building will have a different mindset,” says Lemire. “They'll be working on that to try to make it their own. That’s the goal for this year."

The school will host a Business after Hours on the first Wednesday of November. It’ll be an open house for the whole community and a chance to thank them for their support.