State of the Studio: Coding and STEM for Austin families

An Overview Of Exciting Developments at My Coding Place

From the desk of the CEO and Executive Director, I'm happy to share thoughts about our small business in a growing city. In this post, I review our 5 year plan from year 5 and discuss our progress. How far have we come and where are we headed? My Coding Place opened in Austin seven years ago, and Austin is key to our hearts and success story. We have lived in Austin for over 20 years, our kids were born here and now we have the privilege of contributing to our economy with jobs and to our community with education.

It is hard to believe 1.5 years have passed since I blogged about my goals in the post The Next Five Years. The five areas of growth were students, instructors, programs, partners and technology. I am happy to report that all these areas have seen exciting developments in the past 1.5 years.

Programs

There has been a lot of growth and development in MCP programming! Thanks to our program coordinators, our Coding Club program in the schools has expanded to include online assessments called Blookets and paper worksheets that we send with crayons to encourage discussion about safety and technology. We have also developed slides that our instructors can use to engage students and keep them focused as they participate in project-based learning. We are very excited about all our new tools. We also developed Student Pathways so that families can understand the different areas in which they can grow with us, both adults and children! Our free monthly events continue and have become an opportunity for us to try new topics and offer value to our students and those who may not be able to afford our programs.

Partners

We have formed new partnerships and offered more diverse programs at partner schools and community centers to attract more students. In Lakeway, we doubled the number of camps we are hosting this year at Lakeway Activity Center. We are seeing some growth with our camps at WAYA in Tarrytown and will continue growing our partnership.

Students

We have started running Coding Fairs at our studio to engage our community and to give students the opportunity to display their work and win cash and trophies. We have also rolled out a scholarship program to Coding Club and awarded two scholarships this year so far.

Instructors

For our dedicated team of instructors, we have started monthly team meetings where we train them on topics such as game development and classroom management. We have also developed an instructor bonus program to reward our on-campus instructors for punctuality, preparation, and teamwork.

Technology

In the past year, we have increased our Internet speed in the studio and have added an ethernet box up front so that our front desk staff can work effectively. We have also purchased a second 3D Printer and more laptops and tablets to take to schools. In the studio, we are assembling new desktops with light-up keyboards that excite the students and new tables as some of the existing furniture is showing its age.

While these 5 areas for growth will continue to see progress, the question always at the top of our mind is, how can we help Austin kids and the community? While we have students who take virtual classes from as far as California and the majority of our competitors are virtual, our main desire is to contribute to our local economy where we live, play and work. We enjoy meeting local families and introducing kids to other kids. I will remember one young camper who was picked up by his mom, who ran back in and asked if I could reach out to another campers' parents and offer her number so the boys could meet again and stay in touch. The idea that two adults one day in the future could say they met at a coding camp in Austin makes me happy. We can only cultivate community like this in-person.

We believe our unique value proposition is that we are passionate about our community and child development. Our competitors are typically one or more of the following: online-only models, franchised businesses, not in Austin schools or located in another city renting space in the community. When I think about growth options through new locations, formats, ages, or topics, I am most excited about reaching elementary school kids because I love to see kids excited about building things and having empowering moments. I want to nurture that sense of accomplishment and light that fire. I want to provide an incredible experience that can guide future development and pursuits.

In summary, our mission is to empower the next generation to develop critical thinking skills, engaging them in creative activities to inspire curiosity and confidence. We have made a lot of progress in creating processes and tools to support our instructors and our studio, and we have established new partnerships to help us reach more kids. Thank you again to the community for your support of what we are doing at MCP. We have exciting plans to engage more Austin families with AI, game development, and 3D printing. Stay tuned!