Ocean City Biz Opens 'Kid Coworking' Space For Remote Learning

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Caitlin Quirk wishes she could return to hosting birthday parties and community events at Bowfish Kids. She would love it if kids could all return to school safely. But in the meantime, Quirk adapted her business to meet a new need during the coronavirus pandemic: remote-learning setups.

Quirk runs two Ocean City businesses: Bowfish Kids — a children's speciality store — and DriftSpaces — a place for adults to work remotely or independently. The new "kid coworking" space in Bowfish Kids combines both concepts.

"I think what we saw in the spring is that remote learning can work," Quirk told Patch. "But not leaving your house, not having a sense of community, not being able to get into a routine was really detrimental to a lot of kids’ mental health and also the parents’ mental health."

Many New Jersey school districts opted to begin the year with some aspect of remote learning. Ocean City students physically attend school two days a week, unless their families opted for them to learn completely virtually.

Quirk says some businesses have offered space for virtual learning and provided a teacher for small groups. But that can get expensive, she says.

Bowfish Kids collaborated with OCNJ CARE — a nonprofit assisting people around Ocean City during the pandemic — to figure out a way to set up a more affordable space.

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The space is only open for children in sixth grade or higher. Elementary school-aged children also significantly different needs. And certain setups would require Bowfish Kids to certify the space as a child care facility, which would trigger different legal requirements.

"We actually found two things in the codebook where if you are operating with children above the age of 13 or in groups less than six, you’re not required to be considered a child care facility," she said. "So we were really trying to stay within that realm."

They're still figuring things out with the setup. But for now, Bowfish Kids offers two packages. Pod Remote Learning gives a group of five a private dedicated space for $195 a month, plus $40 for each additional student.

Then there's Flexible Kid Co-Working, where kids get private desks in a shared space with up to three students for four hours at a time. This option costs $15 per student per four-hour time slot.

But each setup offers limited capacity, for good reason.

"We’re just trying to be really safe and make sure it’s not defeating the purpose of us not being in school," Quirk said.

Coronavirus closures and precautions have created a difficult climate for many businesses in Ocean City and throughout. Ocean City Patch created a business directory where owners can tell their customers whether they're open or closed, and how the coronavirus has affected operations.

Read more: Ocean City Businesses: Open or Closed? Let Your Customers Know

Read more: NJ Coronavirus, Reopen Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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