BY OLIVER MAUK

Last year, four different construction projects changed the blueprint of Mariemont education forever. As we watched Fairfax Elementary turn into the new Junior High, the Board of Education office, formerly located in the Dale Park building, suddenly had nowhere to go.

The high school’s reconstruction of the foreign language pod allowed for the Fine Arts room to move to the old Foods room, opening up the large area at the back of the building.

“We selected the location because it was only being used two periods a day and we had another area that could be repurposed for those periods,” says Mariemont Superintendent Paul Imhoff. This was the main reason behind moving the offices to the back of the high school.

This new office is getting rave reviews by the Board staff and has been received well by the high school.

“Everything is new, and being part of the High School is great,” says Lisa Churchey, a member of the board staff who works in Accounting.

This new office also has many new features that the old office did not have, and according to the staff, this has improved the working environments for everyone.

“We have an updated kitchen area, separate working environments for each person, quiet workstations for the copiers, and we have a better view of everybody coming in,” says Cathy Nelson, another Board of Education staff member.

“It’s a great new space, and it has plenty of storage,” says Churchey.

According to the staff, the old building had perks too, but doesn’t come close to matching the well-rounded space of the new office.

“I miss my big window in the old building, but now I have a new little window to the field and parking lot,” says Churchey.

“We are very pleased with the new offices and we are grateful to the district maintenance staff for doing such a wonderful job on the work,” says Imhoff.

“I am very happy because we now have a clean and updated business-type office,” Nelson said.