JACKSON HOLE, WYO – The Children’s Learning Center is ready to unveil to the public its new Mercill Early Childhood Center in Jackson. A dedication and grand opening is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1 from 4-6pm.
“After years of dreaming, planning, hard work, and patience our new Mercill Early Childhood Center has become a reality,” said CLC executive director Patti Boyd.
The new facility is nearly triple the space of the building formerly on the site—15,000 square feet now compared to the 6,192 square feet, previously. The new Mercill School will allow CLC to expand the number of children housed onsite from 69 to 109. The school has seven classrooms and is also home to the offices of the Head Start administration team, the Early Head Start home visitors, and CLC administrative staff.
The facility also includes multi-use space that allows CLC to expand its community outreach, providing support, training, and resources to community parents and other childcare providers. The grand opening may be Tuesday, but the Mercill Early Childhood Learning Center actually began serving the community January 22, 2018.
The project got a jumpstart with funds from a Specific Purpose Excise Tax (SPET) designated for childcare, a significant grant from the Wyoming Business Council, CLC funds and fundraising efforts, and multiple private donors. Grants from the Teton County Energy Mitigation Policy and Energy Conservation Works allowed the school to upgrade mechanical and electrical systems; because of this the building uses about half the expected energy for structure of its type and function.
The Mercill Early Childhood Center cares for more than one hundred infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in CLC’s full-day, year-round early childhood program. Forty children are in its Head Start preschool. Forty-eight children are now served through CLC’s Early Head Start home-visitor program.
“Of particular importance to our mission is that the new facility brings children from our Head Start program into the same school with kids from our other early education programs for the first time. This presents great opportunities for enrichment and learning together,” Boyd added
The Mercill Center was designed by architect Greg Mason of Jackson-based KRIKOR Architects. Design challenges included significantly increasing the square footage while using the original school’s footprint and to create spacious classrooms that provided learning environments where children of all abilities and backgrounds can reach their full potential.
“Parents, teachers, and kids are delighted with the beautiful design and function of the Center,” Boyd said.
Dedication and grand opening of the Teton County Children’s Learning Center will be held from 4-6pm, May 1, at 145 Mercill Avenue in Jackson. Teton County Commissioners will help kickoff the dedication ceremony at 5:30pm.
