Teens are attending COVID-era school in mall department stores they once shopped in
Erin Snodgrass
- Students at a Vermont high school returned to in-person learning in an unexpected new location.
- High schoolers at Downtown Burlington High School are attending school in a former Macy's department store.
- Photos from the Associated Press show the students learning and living in the former retail space.
Many of the Downtown Burlington High School students used to do their family shopping at the downtown mall in Burlington, Vermont. Now they do their learning there, too.
The Downtown Burlington High School opened earlier this month in a former Macy's department store.
The unusual move came six months after school administrators closed the previous school building after finding toxic industrial chemicals in the building and soil during a renovation, according to The Associated Press.
That discovery left Burlington students learning at home, remotely, like millions of other American students this the past year.
As a return to in-person schooling started to seem possible, school officials began to look for a nearby space where the high schoolers could attend in-person.
According to the AP, officials learned the former shopping mall, less than two miles from the former school building, was a possibility for a new school space.
The state of Vermont supported a $3.5 million renovation to the building.
During the retrofit, partial walls were added in the former Macy's store for classrooms, according to the AP.
But some of the department store's signature features remain, including the white tile floors and red carpeting.
A large-scale Levi's jeans photo adorns one classroom wall.
The school's library is housed in the former china department.
The cafeteria was built in the former Michael Kors retail space.
'It's weird but cool at the same time,' said one freshman.
The district has leased the building for 3.5 years.
The students are just happy to be back learning amongst their friends and teachers.
READ MORE ARTICLES ON
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement