Walnut Hills space offers co-working for parents, co-schooling for kids

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - A Walnut Hills co-working business that got off the ground offering childcare services is now expanding into the co-schooling space.

Gather Cincy is the brainchild of mother/daughter co-founders Meg Cooper and Peggy Bustamante, who set out in 2018 to provide work-from-home parents a place to do their job with a childcare option built in.

But in the age of COVID-19, Cooper says she saw an opportunity.

“We’ve pivoted our model a little bit to help those parents who are now dealing with working and schooling their children at home,” she said.

The co-schooling program offers facilitated virtual learning for a small pod of students while parents work onsite.

It starts Aug. 24 for elementary through high-school aged children.

Each room of five or six students will have a college student tutor assisting with assignments and technology challenges for students enrolled in blended face-to-face learning, virtual academies and homeschooling.

The rooms will practice social distancing with 6 feet of space between each student and dividers between each desk.

Childcare hours can be added based on space availability for children preschool-age and younger.

Parents will have access to the co-working space, and they must remain onsite the majority of the time.

“We are a co-working space,” Cooper explained. “So parents would primarily need to remain onsite while their students are there, but if they needed to go offsite to take a meeting or run out for lunch or have an appointment, they are welcome to do that.”

The sessions are $50 each.

“As things continue to change, we are going to continue to adapt to try to meet the needs of the parents of Cincinnati,” Cooper said. “I think it’s going to be a partnership between us and parents to make the most of it through this crazy school year.”

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