Bay Club, KinderCare Partner To Offer Distance Learning, Fitness

Liz Spear
·3 min read

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — With distance learning the new reality for most parents of school-aged children, two companies are partnering to offer families support via a "premier" distance learning program that includes fitness and wellness programs.

The nation's largest private provider of early childhood and school-age education and care, KinderCare, and The Bay Club Company are launching their new program combining KinderCare Education's nationally accredited Champions school-age education programs and "gold-standard" curriculum with fitness and wellness programs. The local program will be held at The Bay Club in El Segundo, a convenient location for many Manhattan Beach residents.

The new program, launching August 31, will feature dedicated learning pods grouped by age:

  • Kindergarten-5th grade

  • 6th-8th grade and

  • 9th-12th grade.

Teachers will lead students through online learning programs and Bay Club instructors will lead a wide variety of active lifestyle programming, "all within strict adherence to the health and safety guidelines of local, state and federal requirements for COVID-19," according to a news release from the two companies.

To ensure the learning pods are as safe and healthy as possible, students and their assigned teacher will remain in their pod for the entire school day. Pod sizes will be limited according to current guidelines, and the program will comply with all applicable local, state and licensing requirements.

"We know families are eager to find the right support when it comes to distance learning for their children, which is why we're so excited about this new partnership," said Tom Wyatt, CEO of KinderCare Education. "Our proprietary curriculum for school-aged children is based on the latest educational research and focuses on building the three critical abilities that have the most impact on a child's future success: social-emotional skills, executive-function skills, and inquiry-based learning. By combining our Champions school-age education programs with The Bay Club's leadership in active lifestyle programming and their world-class sports facilities, we'll give families peace of mind by providing their children with a safe learning environment that supports their children's academic, social and physical development."

KinderCare Education will implement its Champions program for children in the kindergarten-5th grade pods. The Champions program is designed to reinforce the local curriculum of area school districts. For junior high and high school students, The Bay Club will work with local universities to offer additional learning opportunities as well as fitness instruction and sporting activities for all interests and ability levels. Parents will be able to choose from full-day or two-hour after-school activity clinics for their children.

"In an effort to be a part of the solution in creating education equality for the children in our communities and as a way to close the digital divide, we are proud to announce a new Scholarship Program through Bay Club Cares," said Matthew Stevens, president and CEO of the Bay Club Company. Scholarships will be offered at each of the properties featuring the program. Scholarship information will soon be available on the Bay Club website.

KinderCare partners with schools through its Champions school-age education programs and operates school-age programs in the majority of its 1,500 centers across the U.S. With enhanced health and safety protocols developed in partnership with the CDC and a panel of medical and pediatric experts, KinderCare provides the safest environment possible for children, said the company.

This article originally appeared on the Manhattan Beach Patch