AUBURN – Principal Thomas Martellone has heard all of the Wal-Mart jokes.

Prices are falling but standards are rising. The salon sinks in the principal’s office would be great for a shampoo.

“People joke, Where are the kids, in hardware or housewares?'” he said.

So on the first day of classes for Greene Central School – temporarily in the former Wal-Mart building in Auburn – Martellone decided to embrace the silliness.

His staffers greeted kids and parents wearing red Wal-Mart vests emblazoned with “How may I help you?”

“Welcome to Wal-Greene,” said Volunteer Coordinator Sheila Martel with a laugh.

Toting brightly colored backpacks and fresh notebooks, 370 students strode through the big front doors Tuesday morning, grinning at the novelty of school in a store. For the next few months, the 115,000-square-foot building will be theirs while the real Greene Central is being renovated.

As their teachers herded them into their new classrooms, enclosed by high cubicle partitions rather than walls, the kids marveled at two things: their new school still looked a little like Wal-Mart. And, to the disappointment of some, the hulking military vehicles that had been stored in the building were gone.

“He talked a lot about going on the big trucks, the Humvees,” said Suzette Morin, whose 6-year-old son, Logan, started first grade.

In Pauline Mateyko’s class, a few of the 19 fifth-graders gazed across the building at the empty space that once held the vehicles, but most were more interested in finding their friends and choosing their desks.

While every classroom was designed to be 500 square feet, slightly smaller than the classrooms at Greene Central, the fifth-grade space seemed cramped. After introductions, a few students had to crawl under their desks to get to their seats.

“We’ll have to move the desks around,” Mateyko said.

During a class tour, the rest of the building seemed massive.

“It looks pretty fun,” said 10-year-old Scott LaGace, eyeing the large open space that will be used for gym classes. “It’s pretty big for a school.”

The shelves and cash registers were gone, but the building kept its distinctive Wal-Mart-blue trim. As they circled around the 40,000 square feet set aside for Greene Central, the fifth-graders had little trouble picking out signs of the old store.

The nurse’s office was set up in the former photo lab. The assistant principal put her desk in the “shopping cart corral.” The principal placed his office in the old hair salon, near the shampoo sinks.

Among the usual questions about snack time and recess, Mateyko’s fifth-graders came up with something new.

“Someone asked what the Rx means,” said Mateyko during the tour, looking at the two faded pharmacy signs flanked by a new “Welcome to physical education” poster.

By noon, the morning kindergartners had boarded a bus home. Since the old Wal-Mart building was about 8 miles from Greene Central School, their journey would last a little longer than normal.

In the makeshift cafeteria, hot lunches were brought in from Turner Elementary School. After that, there would be recess. Because there was no way to install playground equipment, officials set up areas for soccer, volleyball and playground games behind the building.

“The day’s half over and we haven’t had any spills in Aisle 9,” joked Assistant Principal Kim Spencer.

With renovations taking longer than expected, Greene Central students will likely remain at the old Wal-Mart until December. That’s just fine with some.

“It’s comfy. It’s cozy,” said LaGace. “It feels like a regular classroom.”