This Macy’s In Vermont Was Turned Into A High School, With Toilets In Fitting Rooms And Kids Riding Escalators To Class

On Tuesday, both educators and students in Burlington, Vermont, celebrated the opening of a temporary high school in an old Macy’s department store.

The original Burlington High School building was closed due to chemical contamination concerns.

But as students entered the new “Downtown BHS,” they were happy to resume in-person learning. Also, their school’s new home still had many original features revealing it was a place to shop, and providing content for quite a few amusing social media posts.

Burlington High School was closed due to chemical contamination concerns

Image credits: mirandaljunggg

But it reopened in an old Macy’s building

Image credits: mirandaljunggg

“I’m definitely excited,” sophomore Daniel Gibson told NECN of the new school building opening. “It’s just harder to do school online.”

Gibson and his fellow students haven’t been able to attend the city’s regular high school since last March.

Both teachers and students are pretty excited about the changes

@mirandaljunggg ♬ baby one more time x levitating – Adam Wright

At first, the pandemic closed it to in-person learning. But then, right before this academic year, word got out that potentially harmful chemicals linked to old construction materials were found in the air inside.

This combination meant far more remote learning for BHS kids than just about anywhere else.