• Alison Novak ©️ Seven Days
• Kids signing the beam at the site of the new Burlington High School

Burlington's new high school and technical center is finally taking shape. The fenced-off Institute Road construction site shows no trace of the sprawling 60-year-old structure that once stood there. In its place is the frame of the 250,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art educational facility that will replace it. The new building is slated to open in fall 2026.

This month, the school district extended an invitation to community members to visit the burgeoning building to "sign the beam" — a 25-foot-long piece of steel that will eventually be incorporated into the new high school.

On a recent Tuesday morning, 40 fifth graders from C.P. Smith Elementary School walked over so they could add their signatures. Already, dozens of students, teachers and graduates had made their mark in Sharpie.

"Tom Jarvis 1969 Class President," one neatly written inscription said.

"RIP Macy's High — You Won't Be Missed," read another note, referring to the current downtown school in a former Macy's department store.

The elementary school students clustered around the beam, carefully inking their messages.

"I got the best spot!" exclaimed one boy as he wrote his name, Benicio.

A few students added cat faces and eyeballs to their signatures. One signer's name took up roughly a foot of space.

Two friends, writing in neat cursive on the top of the beam, proclaimed that they and their classmates would be part of Burlington High School's class of 2032.

"How do you guys know?" a boy asked.

"'Cause we did the math," one replied.

Before starting their walk back to school, the tweens convened on a patch of grass. Spontaneously and with youthful exuberance, they bounced up and down and clapped, joining voices in a rousing chorus of, "BHS! BHS! BHS!"

Community members can sign the beam through October 3. Visit bsdvt.org for more.