Public sees new ECS headquarters at grand opening

CELINA - The Mercer County Educational Service Center welcomed a robust turnout at a Tuesday night open house of its new headquarters at 540 E. Market Street.

The public was invited to view the spacious, fully reconfigured and remodeled facility that allows officials to gather under one roof and provides plenty of room for professional development and direct student services such as therapies and assessments.

"It's been working really well and we continue to say, 'We don't even realize the possibilities yet of how this space can be utilized,'" said ESC superintendent Shelly Vaughn. "But I would say some of my favorite moments this summer were having multiple events, professional development meetings happening at the same time and there was adequate space for everyone to meet and to convene and to learn."

Last week the ESC's roughly 110 employees gathered for the beginning of the school year.

"This is the first time we've ever been able to be together in our own space so that was also a highlight of the summer," Vaughn said.

Also on hand at the Tuesday night open house was State Rep. Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield.

"I am thrilled to see the Mercer County Educational Service Center in this new beautiful space. I know that Shelly Vaughn has done a tremendous job of leading this organization and I am so excited about the potential here," Manchester said. "The students of Mercer County are going to be well served."

The ESC had grown during the last five or so years, and administrators had been looking for a new space that could accommodate continued expansion. The ESC's new site, the former home of Fanning-Howey, offered just that, Vaughn said.

Earlier in 2021, the ESC governing board purchased the nearly 20,000-square-foot facility for $888,000.

Vaughn said she was excited at the sight of so many people filing through the building on Tuesday night.

"We wanted people to see the space and to know how it could be utilized and also a better understanding of who we are," she said.

Mercer ESC prides itself on providing high-quality, cost-effective services to school districts in the county and beyond, Vaughn has said. It serves Coldwater, St. Henry, Fort Recovery, Parkway, Marion Local and Celina school districts in Mercer County and Versailles school district in Darke County.

All in all, the county ESC does business with roughly 20 school districts.

The county ESC offers a slew of services and programs, including academic, administrative and operational support to school districts.

It coordinates gifted and special education services, helps teachers with license renewals, holds a resident educator program to support new teachers in the county and provides professional development for instruction and curriculum.

It furnishes speech therapy and school psychology services and employs all substitute teachers in Mercer County's public schools, among numerous other service offerings.

In a nutshell, Mercer ESC works behind the scenes to help schools, families and students be as successful as possible, Vaughn said.

The new headquarters has ample room to provide professional development opportunities in-house, such as speaker-led sessions and workshops.

Multiple meeting spaces with wirelessly connected video boards have been carved out within the building. No longer will the ESC be forced to rent out other spaces to conduct events and activities, putting to an end what at times had been a logistical nightmare.

The main conference room can be configured in a myriad of ways and can hold as many as 130 people.

The building contains numerous offices that give staff privacy that was lacking at the former site. It also has dedicated rooms for occupational and physical therapy and preschool play space set up for professionals to observe and evaluate children's abilities, skills and interactions.

"To have a place that is comfortable for students to come in not only for evaluations but therapies … is wonderful," Vaughn said.