With school reopening plans in apparent flux, Omaha coworking space Populus is teaming up with TheirSpace to offer tutoring sessions for students and coworking space for parents starting September 8. Reservations are open now and can be made online.
Populus will provide two tutoring sessions to choose from each weekday in 4-hour intervals, one from 8 a.m.–12 p.m. and another from 1–5 p.m. Each session will abide by COVID-19 safety precautions. Masks will be required for both students and tutors, desks and work areas will be cleaned in between sessions, and attendance will be limited to approximately four to six students per room. At all times, six feet of space will be maintained between each person.
During sessions, students will be grouped into rooms by age, with elementary students in one group and middle school and high school students in another.
The idea is to take some of the burden off of working parents who may be saddled with helping their children with homework and virtual learning, particularly if schools return to virtual, online-only as they did during the spring 2020 semester, said Populus founder Micah Yost.
“Interest has been almost overwhelming,” Yost said. “There’s so much uncertainty about what school is going to look like even three weeks from now when it opens.”
Located near downtown Omaha at 25th and Farnam, Populus offers a wellness-focused coworking environment to support the physical and mental health of entrepreneurs. Amenities include an onsite gym, free access to licensed therapists and nutritious snacks in addition to modern office staples like standing desks, fast Wi-Fi, coffee and beer.
TheirSpace provides on-site homework help and interactive programming for school-aged youth so parents can focus on work during the business day.
The partnership between Populus and TheirSpace emerged from a discussion between Yost and TheirSpace founder Kate White about the common frustrations each entrepreneur experienced this past spring with their respective families. Yost recalled feeling overwhelmed trying to help his children with their homework on top of his duties as a startup founder adjusting to the challenges of COVID-19.
“My sense is this is going to be quite a need for working parents as we move through the semester and the virus starts closing things down,” he said.
The cost of tutoring is $50 per student per session. Admission includes one 4-hour session per child and a day pass to Populus coworking for the parent. While students meet with tutors, parents can work in the Populus space and take advantage of amenities such as gigabit internet, local coffee, healthy snacks, fitness center, counseling and meeting rooms.
Yost said parents are already booking up sessions through the end of the semester out of fear that everything will be shut down again come September or October if the pandemic keeps surging.
“I hope that’s not the case, but it’s kind of looking that way,” he said. “Parents are trying to do the best they can to hedge their bets and plan, and it’s just really hard to plan right now.”
More information about Populus tutoring and coworking sessions can be found at https://populus.co/omaha-tutoring/. More info about TheirSpace can be found at https://www.theirspaceomaha.com/.
