MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) – It is one of the newest, and most high-tech, middle schools in Connecticut. Middletown’s Beman Middle School also carries on the legacy of an important family name. Some of the state’s top officials got a look inside Thursday morning.

Beman Middle School is home to an innovation center to get kids interested in technology and engineering.

“We had the opportunity to meet a robot that talked to us,” said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (D-CT), after the tour. “We had the opportunity to use drones, to see 3-D printers.”

All to be used by sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The state contributed almost $46 million in state bond money to build the school to serve a student body half comprised of minority students.

“They deserve to have state-of-the-art spaces in which to learn where they can really get a head start on what the world of work looks like,” said Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker of the Connecticut Department of Education.

The school is named for the Beman family, part of the underground railroad that helped people escape slavery in the south.

“We’re celebrating the family of Back abolitionists who were really central to Middletown’s history,” said State Sen. Matthew Lesser (D-Middletown). “It’s a way of looking at Middletown’s history and celebrating it, and you can see that all throughout the school.”

The school emphasizes learning after school hours, with the knowledge not everyone has access to this level of technology at home.

“Learning continues, not just in the school building, but when they go home,” explained Dr. Alberto Vazquez Matos, the superintendent of Middletown Schools. “So, there is that connection between school and home constantly.”

The school is just a couple of weeks away from welcoming its second year of students.