Close to 100 District-level employees work in one centralized location because East Aurora School District 131 recently opened a new administrative center at 310 Seminary Avenue, Aurora.
July 7, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in front of the renovated building now serving as the District’s administrative center. Aurora’s mayor Richard C. Irvin accompanied Board of Education president Annette Johnson and superintendent Dr. Jennifer Norrell in welcoming guests and celebrating the new headquarters for East Aurora School District 131.
Before the new administrative center opened, district employees worked from four service centers throughout the district.
The new administrative center will provide families on the East Side of Aurora with a one-stop service location for student registration, screenings, appointments, and business with the District.
School Board president, Annette Johnson, who helped cut the ceremonial ribbon at the event, was especially delighted to see the completion of the new center.
“Now our administration can work collaboratively as one team, with one plan,” she said. “For many years, we had a vision that everybody would be under one roof and that we would provide a space for professional development for our staff. Now we’re all together.”
The new facility includes a meeting room where Board of Education meetings will take place. The meeting space will serve as a training location for District employees to receive professional development.
Ms Johnson said that mayor Richard C. Irvin, a Tomcat and graduate of East Aurora High School, knew the District was looking for a building. The mayor suggested the former Copley Hospital site as a possibility and introduced district officials to Fox Valley Developers.
“When great Tomcats work together, look what happens,” said Johnson.
Mayor Irvin, who praised the Aurora City Council for their support of the project, shared how proud he was to “bleed black and red” and his pleasure to stand in front of the new East Aurora School District 131 Administrative Center.
“This is the largest project the East Side of Aurora has seen in generations, with East Aurora School District 131 as the anchor,” said Irvin.
Dr. Norrell thanked the Board of Education, ranking them among the best Boards in the State. “Not only because you built us this beautiful new space, but because of your understanding and support of all of us being more efficient and productive under one roof.”
Dr. Norrell said the new administrative center reflects the School board’s desire to provide greater convenience for thousands of families who no longer have to drive or find transportation across the East Side from multiple service centers to conduct School District business.
The renovated building has a unique origin.
Since its inception, Copley Hospital has had a history of training medical staff and nurses. By 1951, the hospital operated training programs for X-ray technicians and medical laboratory technologists in addition to the nursing school, which offered three and five-year nursing degrees. Nursing school students were housed in seven buildings near the hospital, and a purpose-built dormitory became a priority.
Construction began in July 1956 and the brick three-and-one-half-story Georgian Revival-style building opened in 1957. The first floor featured three classrooms, a library, and nursing offices, with the dormitory rooms on the second and third floors.
The Nurses’ Dormitory remained open until 1980.
—East Aurora School District 131