CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Remember that one time, when distance learning wasn't a thing?
Yeah, seems so 2019, but here we are. So, the folks at Life Time are adapting their business model to something a little more 2020-ish.
“We'll take the role of the parent, we'll get kids through it, then we'll also supplement the rest of their day with different activities and things that they might be missing from their normal school day. Things like STEAM. Science, technology, engineering, art, music, says Alicia Kockler, Vice President of Life Time Kids.
The company is not new to kids. They run day camps during the summer and already have a structure in place to support that moving into the fall.
“They even can take part in some of the activities in our clubs like swim lessons, or tennis, or basketball camps, to keep kids active but still allow parents to go to work,” says Kockler.
Full days, half-days, one day a week. The idea is to be flexible to what parents may need but also making sure kids get what they need too. But how do they know with kids being in different grades, classes and school districts?
“What we're doing is having parents really help fill out a form that kind of prescribes if there are certain calls that they have to be on. We have a home base for the kids in the gym, but then we have a whole separate classroom setting where they will go for their distance learning piece to really give them the quiet time to focus. We have a one to five ratio when they are in that learning room, really working on that distance learning, to make sure we're giving kids the attention that they need,” she says.
And why not? When life throws you a curve ball...you adjust your swing.
"Find ways to meet the customers where they are with what they need an this is a big piece of that,” Kockler says.
The distance learning camps are at about 10 Twin Cities lifetime locations. You don't have to be a member to sign up but members do get discounts.