. >> reporter: finishing touchesa under w at al andria's fern dan day elementary.inside gives you that new school feel, but step outside, and you realize this is not your typical academic setting. >> the building is unbelievable. i mean, when you go and you walk the halls, you can't tell that you're actually in a fmer offi building. it is a school where learning is taking place, kids will be it's an inviting atmosphere. >> about transforming from a commercial todutional. the school system and city movee it classroom ready to focus on s.t.e.m. studies and a space dedicated to a perm and a times painful past. >> i know this would be just -- he would be elated. >> reporter: gwendolyn fuller's dad is the first face you see, the school carries his name, ferdinand t. day. i bo 1918 he grew up in a segregated society and pushed r a mar integrated alexandria. following brown verse the board of education day later became the first african-american inin vi elected chair of apublic sch story that alexandria'ssu newestrintendent. >> the fact that ferdinand t. day is now ay sch