Mayor DeStefano tours new schools

New Haven (WTNH) - Mayor John DeStefano (D-New Haven) took a tour today at two new schools that are being built as part of a billion dollar construction program.

If you've driven into downtown New Haven recently, it's probably caught your eye - a new school building that definitely does not look like any old school buildings.

"With some of our buildings that are new, we've gone to nontraditional designs. This one's got a lot of angles to it, as you can see," Mayor DeStefano said.

When it's done next year, the Metropolitan Business Academy will be a magnet high school teaching students from several towns a curriculum that focuses on business. Mayor John Destefano toured two school construction sites this morning, both part of his long-term, $1.5 billion plan to renovate or replace every school building in New Haven.

Mayor DeStefano also toured the Worthington Hooker School, which will be opening this December. It's a new building, but it's adjacent to the building that was here all along, which used to be a Unitarian church, and they've incorporated elements of the church into the design for the school.

"And what we were able to save was the church building. This is the sanctuary, it's now the auditorium. The café is underneath us," Mayor DeStefano explained.

The new portion looks a lot more like a traditional, neighborhood school. But just like the school, this is a neighborhood made up of lots of different parts as well.

"We've got kids from 44 countries that attend this school. It's a neighborhood school. So for us the challenge was to deliver a school that the community wanted," said Mayor DeStefano.

The schools are also designed to be energy-efficient; they are expected to use 41 percent less energy than similar buildings.