How did you find room space for your coop or homeschool group?

[Cindyz]

Our group needs a place to meet multiple times per week.  How did your coop or group find a space?

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

[mom2att]

Churches are your best bet, as they generally have classroom space that is not used during the week. But some churches are more community-friendly than others, and your reception when you inquire at some may be quite frosty. I've found that churches differ as to their view of their role in the community.  Some see their building/facility as a great place for community outreach and will offer it to many types of non-church groups, while others see it as a stewardship issue to protect the investment of the church members and keep the building nice by limiting outside use. For the second group, you'll either get a "no" answer or you'll be asked to pay a fair amount to meet there.  But other than churches, there aren't a lot of community-type buildings that have classroom space at an affordable price. In our area the libraries do allow groups to use rooms for free, but they are limited to once per week (or once per month at some locations), and they only have one or two rooms at a time.

[Melissa B]

We meet at a city-owned community center. They provide free afterschool care, tutoring, art classes etc. from 2-6 or so. But, it basically sits empty during the morning hours. They've tried to run pre-school type programs in the mornings, without much attendance. There are classrooms, a playroom and a playground. It is free so long as we clean up after ourselves and donate some basics every few months - paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies.

[RootAnn]

Ditto the church idea. Best bet is often to have a homeschooler who goes to that church ask about availability and policies.

 

If that doesn't work out, think "outside the box" and check with long-term care facilities or nursing homes. They sometimes have meeting rooms and will gladly let you use them -- sometimes in exchange for interactions with their community members - a concert, playing cards or games with them, etc. It can actually be a great learning experience for the kids if they do a history project & present it -- and then have some of the community members talk to them about it later. (WWII vets, for example, before/after a project on WWII.)

[athomeontheprairie]

What about a library meeting room? Hee the court house and city offices also have rooms.

 

But agreeing with the above, all a church, preferably one where some of your members attend. They work well, as you can storage groups out. More space, etc

[Lori D.]

Here's a recent past thread with more ideas: "Meeting rooms". Good luck in your search for space! :)

[happypamama]

We were fortunate that some of our members attend a church that used to have a school attached to it, so the school space is available and very nicely suited for us, with a nursery, a preschool classroom with little chairs, a gym and indoor play area, a kitchen, and tables and chairs and classrooms for older kids. It's a huge blessing. We've used other churches too.

 

Other ideas: library, grocery store community room, community center, township building (especially if any of those are housed in old school buildings). We have had people teach classes out of their private home too. If you have a dining room, a living room, and a family room or playroom, you could have three classes going, although maybe it wouldn't be ideal. Where we used to live, there was a shooting club that was based at a banquet hall, which had at least three rooms available, so that might have worked; maybe there's a sporting club nearby that might have meeting space available. Or maybe some sort of site (like a historic site) that has a hall or something for weddings and corporate meetings who would be willing to rent out the space during the week for a reasonable price as a "give back to the community" thing.

 

If I were looking for a place, if churches weren't an option, I'd probably contact local townships and explain what I needed, to see if they had any suggestions.

[kiwik]

Don't know about where you are but here some clubs have infrequently used clubrooms. A group I was in used a hall belonging to the deerstalking association. I have seen things in halls belonging to tgd Masons, scouts, bridge, athletic clubs etc. The problem is though you would have to be careful with art etc. I would ask my church first but it has something on every day so it may be hard to fit round them.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Our coop was considered a small group ministry of the church.

 

I've wondered if commercial tutoring companies would rent out their space during school hours.

 

For meetings of just one group, what about a restaurant with a private room. Think older style family restaurants. I had my eye on a Chinese restaurant that was really quiet in the early afternoon lull between lunch and dinner service. I was considering doing an AP lit class with tea, appetizers and book discussion.

[maize]

There is an after school tutoring center (like Kumon) in our area that has welcomed homeschool groups during the day.