Students enter Downtown Burlington High School through a giant storefront arch. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Students who once shopped at a downtown mall in Burlington, Vermont, are now attending high school in the former Macy’s department store.
Think gleaming white tile floors and escalators whisking them to and from classes.
The Downtown Burlington High School opened about six months after school administrators closed the existing school, just under two miles away.
Toxic industrial chemicals known as PCBs were found in the building and soil during renovations.
That left students stuck at home learning remotely for much of the school year during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Downtown Burlington High School. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Some students and faculty told the AP that the lack of windows can be an issue, and noise travels because the dividing walls don t reach the ceiling, but the temporary solution is working.
It s way better than being stuck at home on your computer all day long, Senior Lila Iyengar Lehman told the AP.
The cafeteria is in the space that once held Michael Kors products, and signs of the building s previous life as a mall are still around. Downtown Burlington High School.
Lunch buffets have replaced display cases. It s amazing to think that we are standing in what used to be a department store, Superintendent Tom Flanagan said at the opening ceremony.