AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. now has $500,000 more to help meet child care needs in the Kosciusko and Fulton counties area.
At its regular meeting on Monday, the TVSC Board accepted the half million dollar grant from Early Learning Indiana.
"I know in my time at Tippecanoe Valley, I believe this is the largest grant that we've ever received," said TVSC Superintendent Blaine Conley. "It's very exciting."
The grant will help pay for the child care side of a combination administration and child care building Valley will construct at the site of its current administration building.
Through the building, kids of Valley staff and the public will be cared for through an expansion of the Valley Early Learning Academy (VELA). VELA currently serves infants and toddlers at Mentone Elementary School.
Also at the meeting, the board awarded the project to Schenkel Construction, who had a bid of $6,771,315. Barton-Coe-Vilamaa Architects and Engineers did the construction design.
Along with grant money, Valley is using some saved funds for the building. Conley said after the meeting markers have already gone up at the site, with construction to start this year.
The board also approved the hiring of Ashlie Schlemmer as the new TVSC director of communications, marketing and grants.
She replaces Kiira Churchill, who left to become executive director of Combined Community Services in Warsaw.
Schlemmer comes to Valley as the director of Bowen Health in Wabash. She has a Master of Business Administration degree.
"I'm really glad to join such a great school corporation," she said.