Students who came back from Christmas break returned to a whole new school in the Poconos.
Stroudsburg High School students said they have been enjoying the simple things in the school now. They are raving about walking to class through a brand new hallway in a newly built and renovated wing of their high school in downtown Stroudsburg.
"Yes, finally!" said Senior Edidiong Antiaobong.
"It was like the first day of school coming back from Christmas break," said senior Taylor Secor.
"Right now this whole school is gorgeous. I like being in the gym and checking it out and everything," said senior Ben Matos.
Since June, 2010 the high school has been a construction zone, getting an upgraded appearance and upgraded technology.
"There are seven new science classrooms, there's a brand new library media center, several new technology education rooms and three new art rooms. We're able to occupy all of it," said Stroudsburg Area School District aSuperintendent John Toleno.
Just this Tuesday, the section of the school opened to students and teachers for the first time. Superintendent Toleno took Newswatch 16 on a tour inside the new building and into a biology class.
"We have so much space and the sky is the limit. Our new technology, especially the smart boards, are vastly better than anything we had before," said biology teacher Kurt Pfeiffer.
Now that the first phase of this major project is almost done, crews are already starting to work on the second phase. That includes tearing down the rest of the old high school building, which includes the old cafeteria, the old music area and the old gymnasium.
"We're tearing that off and that becomes a two-story classroom addition on the second floor and the first floor would be new administrative offices," said Superintendent Toleno.
The entire renovation and construction project at Stroudsburg High School is expected to be complete by 2015.