New London — The city’s public school system this month unveiled a new welcome center inside a Shaws Cove business complex that offers families a suite of consolidated services.

“It’s a one-stop shop,” center receptionist John Giannini Jr. said on Wednesday in the second floor office at 3 Shaws Cove. “We want people to walk in here and feel at home.”

Inside the brightly lit center, which opened on Jan. 2, large photos of New London students ringed walls near a bank of three registration computers and a wall-mounted rack of brochures offering information on city homebuyer programs, early education options — in English and Spanish — and district employment opportunities.

The district’s bus coordinator and family engagement coordinator are now stationed at the center, as are special education and multilingual learning staff. Several of those departments’ previous locations were split between the central office building on Williams Street and the high school campus.

That geographical separation of services was unwieldy, Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie said.

“For years, we had elementary school registration at the central office with families of secondary school students going to the high school,” she said. “And the high school campus registration setting was not a great area; there were no computers and no private area for parents.”

Ritchie said the district entered a 2 1/2-year lease with the Shaws Cove landlord, listed as 3 Shaws Cove Associated, LLC, on city property records, for several reasons.

“The center’s located on a bus line to make it easier for families to get to us,” she said. “We’re also right above the (New London Adult & Continuing Education) center and next door to our birth-to-8 early childhood center.”

The district is paying $33,997 a year to use the 1,820-square-foot space, a cost that includes utilities and maintenance.

The space also includes a walk-in area with food pantry, diaper bank and donated items – books, school supplies, clothing – for families in need. A separate family engagement conference room is also the site of Board of Education meetings and bilingual translators will be on-hand to assist guests.

Ritchie said the move dovetails with a new partnership with Sacred Heart University that will offer college and certificate courses for district staffers at the building.

“We have eight staff members participating, paraprofessionals working toward their teaching certificates,” she said. “My big dream is to eventually move (some) birth-to-8 programming from B.P. Learned Mission to Shaws Cove.”

Board of Education President Elaine Maynard-Adams said visitors to the center will immediately notice one improvement.

“There’s parking,” she said. “Did you ever try to find parking at the central office? And it’s a place that’s close to families that need us the most, parents new to New London or with limited resources.”

Maynard-Adams says the center’s registration area is especially important for parents without home computers or a firm grasp of technology.

“They can just show up here with their kids, get them enrolled and look into an adult education or GED course for themselves,” she said. “It’s such a vast improvement on how we offer and deliver services.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the center is scheduled for Feb. 1.

j.penney@theday.com