SCRANTON, Pa. -- With one snip, the Carriage Barn Academy officially opened on Wednesday.
Scranton’s mayor, along with teachers and pre-school students, were on hand for the first day of school.
Christine Fryer says to make sure the school was ready for the first day of classes took two years.
“We worked on this on weekends, in evenings after work, for two whole years, renovating this building and converting it into a school,” said Fryer.
For years, the 5,000-square-foot building served as a barn for horses. It was eventually turned into a garage, then a house.
Now, the Carriage Barn Academy is a place for 3-to-6-year-old children to learn.
“It is really rooted in bringing in whatever is in the community into a classroom environment and into the program,” said Fryer.
The academy offers a science lab as well as a science, technology, engineering, arts, and math education.
Fryer showed us the open classrooms full of learning experiences for children.
“We have this floor decorated with creatures that live in northeast Pennsylvania and we call this room the NEPA Nature Room,” said Fryer.
As a realtor, Wayne Evans sold the barn twice. This time as Scranton's mayor, he cut the ribbon.
“Where we are standing right now, it was a garage, actually. It was full of a dozen cars. To see what Dan and Chris have done to this space is amazing,” said Mayor Evans.
Educators hope the newly renovated building will soon transform the lives of students of the Carriage Barn Academy.