This rendering by Barton-Coe-Vilamaa Architects and Engineers of Fort Wayne shows what a proposed new Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. administration building would look like, including space for a child care center.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

MENTONE — The Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. is looking at a design for a proposed new administration building, which would include space for a child care center.

At its regular meeting on Monday, July 15, at Mentone Elementary School, the TVSC Board heard from Adam Weesner with Barton-Coe-Vilamaa Architects and Engineers in Fort Wayne.

The design he presented before the board was a 11,000-square-foot building with a 6,500-square-foot basement. Along with office space and conference and board training rooms, there would be three classrooms meant for students in the Valley Early Learning Academy. VELA serves infants and toddlers.

No decisions were made at Monday’s meeting, with TVSC Superintendent Blaine Conley stating later the corporation has budgeted for a new administration building as part of its capital projects plan “for multiple years due to the age and state of the existing building.”

Under the proposed plan, the existing building would be torn down and the new one built next to it.

VELA, created two years ago, is currently housed at Mentone Elementary and only serves kids of TVSC staff right now.

In an update given to the board during the meeting, VELA Director Meagan Wilks and Coordinator Courtney Kindig noted the child care center is working on licensing to allow clients from the general public.

The women mentioned VELA served 13 Valley staff families recently, with 10 toddlers and five infants in the program.

Thus far, the corporation has received more than $300,000 in local grant funding from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation and LaunchPad for VELA.

It’s seeking $660,000 in additional grant money from LaunchPad for building expansion for VELA and other smaller items related to it.

In other business, the board:

• Welcomed and approved the hiring of Jennifer McQuinn and John Franklin, who will serve as a bus driver and Mentone and Tippecanoe Valley Middle School mental health therapist respectively.
• Approved the hiring of Akron Elementary School Speech Language Pathologist Jen Shank and bus drivers Rhonda Hardy and Victoria McCarthy.
• Accepted the resignation of Mentone Special Education Instructional Assistant Jaida Conley.
• Approved meal prices for the 2024-25 school year. They are: $1.50 for breakfast for those in kindergarten through 12th grade; $1.60 for breakfast for adults; $2 for lunch for those in kindergarten through fifth grade; $2.50 for lunch for those in grades 6-12; and $4.80 for lunch for adults.

The board’s next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, at Mentone.

The Tippecanoe Valley School Board hired several people at its regular meeting on Monday, July 15, at Mentone Elementary School, including bus driver Jennifer McQuinn, left, and Mentone and Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Mental Health Therapist John Franklin. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.