New Marion County daycare to serve approximately 220 children

Andrew Carter, Marion Star
·5 min read
Officials from Advantage Early Learning Academy (AELA) and Marion First Church of the Nazarene talk about the possibilities for one of the rooms at the church that will be used for a new daycare scheduled to open in April. AELA and the church signed an agreement on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, that creates a partnership for the church to be home to one of the regional daycare provider's locations in Central Ohio. Including Marion, AELA has five daycare centers in Columbus, Gahanna, and Marysville.

A partnership between a Marion County church and a regional daycare provider based in Columbus has resulted in the creation of a new daycare center to fill a need in the local community.

Officials from Marion First Church of the Nazarene and Advantage Early Learning Academy (AELA) signed an agreement on Thursday to house the facility on the church campus at 233 W. Church St. in downtown Marion. The daycare center will occupy an 8,000-square foot space on the lower level of the church facility that is already being used for children's ministry activities, according to Rev. Steve Estep, lead pastor at Marion First Church of the Nazarene.

Advantage Early Learning Academy is owned and operated by New Republic Industries LLC, whose CEO is Scott Weigand. The company, formed in 2018, currently operates four state-licensed daycare centers: two in Columbus and one each in Gahanna and Marysville. Marissa Abbott is the executive director of AELA.

Coming out of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marion County lost several major daycare providers, including church-based facilities at Epworth United Methodist Church and Berean Baptist Church. Outside of independent providers operating out of their homes, options for daycare in Marion County are limited.

At the present time, only Emanuel Lutheran Child Care, the Marion Family YMCA, and Head Start (under the umbrella of the Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission) operate state-licensed daycare centers in Marion County.

Rev. Estep said the new partnership with AELA perfectly dovetails into the church's mission of "restoring hope through the life that can only be found in Jesus."

"A big piece of that is not just with individuals, but looking at our place in the community and leveraging the resources that God has entrusted to us to make an impact," he said. "Whether it's the recovery ministry or just looking at other needs in Marion. In the community health assessment that came out a few months ago, child care was identified as one of the big needs in the community. In light of that, as soon as this opportunity presented itself, we were all over it because we knew it could help meet that need."

Weigand said that AELA's goal is to provide "great quality service" for the communities where its centers are located and the company is always seeking to partner with local organizations and businesses to provide better service. He said the growth occurring in Marion County right now presents a good opportunity to help fill a void in child care service.

"Right now looks like a really good economic tipping point for Marion," Weigand said. "But we need to get people to work and that's what child care (centers) do. Our mission is to open up larger centers so that people can have a safe place to send their kids so they can go to work. Most families today need dual incomes and you can't do that without child care. It's important to have consistent, open child care that you trust and feel safe with, and that's our goal and we try to provide that the best we can. We never stop moving forward."

Officials from Marion First Church of the Nazarene, Advantage Early Learning Academy, and Downtown Marion, Inc. are shown in the lobby of what will be a new daycare center in Marion County. The church, located in downtown Marion, is serving as the host site for the new daycare. Shown from left to right are Rev. Brandon Estep, executive pastor at First Church of the Nazarene; Rev. Steve Estep, lead pastor at Marion First Church of the Nazarene; Steve Weigand, CEO of Advantage Early Learning Academy; Marissa Abbott, executive director of Advantage Early Learning Academy; Jordan Whitehead, an assistant director at Advantage Early Learning Academy; and Vaughn Sizemore, development director for Downtown Marion, Inc.

Weigand said AELA is in the process of obtaining licensing from the State of Ohio for the Marion location. He said the company hopes to begin operating "on a limited basis" in Marion on April 3 of this year. As the daycare grows, he said it will be able to accommodate up to approximately 220 children. Depending on enrollment, the daycare will employ anywhere from 18 to 40 people, he said.

Advantage Early Learning Academy offers part-time and full-time daycare services for children ranging in age from 6 weeks up to 12 years old. Preschool is offered as part of the daycare services. Before and after school care is also provided for school-age children with transportation.

Abbott said the vast majority of AELA's leadership staff members are parents themselves, so they understand the issues and struggles that parents go through in finding and maintaining quality daycare for their children. She said they use that knowledge to provide the best facility and environment possible for the children and families they serve. Her own children are enrolled at the Marysville location.

"We always want to generate somewhere that's warm and welcoming, that's comfortable for parents to come in and out of, but also a fun place for the kids," Abbott said. "My kids are at our Marysville location and they cry because they don't want to leave at the end of the day. And that's what I want other kids to experience, that they love school so much - their friends, the art work, the music, the dancing, whatever draws that kid in - that they're so happy to go to school and they're so sad to leave school. We want every kid to feel that way and we also want the parents to feel supported."

Abbott said AELA seeks to provide resources for families and has partnered with Nationwide Children's Hospital to offer parenting classes for parents whose children are enrolled at the daycare.

Rev. Estep and Weigand credited Vaughn Sizemore of Downtown Marion, Inc. with facilitating the initial meeting between the church and AELA and helping to foster the relationship that has since blossomed.

"Vaughn knew Scott and his work with these child care facilities in the Columbus metro area and he was aware that Marion had a lack of those services here," Rev. Estep said. "And Vaughn knew that we had space. So he was able to get us at the same table and it didn't take long at all for us to feel like it was a really good fit for meeting a need in the community by using their expertise and their resources to serve the families here in Marion."

For information about Advantage Early Learning Academy, go to its website advantage-ela.com. Information about registering children for the Marion location can be obtained by emailing contactus@advantage-ela.com.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: New Marion County daycare to serve approximately 220 children