With names such as Ruby and Java C++, confusion can easily occur. South Bend Code School hopes to make coding more accessible with a Bloomington location.
South Bend Code School is a technology organization focused on teaching children and young adults how to code through in-person lessons and activities. Bloomington’s receptive environment was a main factor in deciding to expand to the area, co-founder Alexander Sejdinaj said.
Alexander Sejdinaj, an IU alumnus, is returning to his Bloomington roots and launching an expansion of the school along with co-founders Chris Frederick, an IU graduate student, and Alexander's wife, Alexandra Sejdinaj, a Notre Dame alumna.
“We met some pretty great folks in Bloomington who immediately latched on to the idea and said how can we bring this here,” Alexander Sejdinaj said.
South Bend Code School also has locations in Elkhart, Fort Wayne and Bloomington.
The two first met at a coding conference in South Bend. Alexandra had already been running a few tech programs for children. Alexander Sejdinaj, Alexandra Sejdinaj and Frederick founded South Bend Code School in 2015.
Alexander Sejdinaj said the program is set to launch Sept. 10 at Cowork in the heart of downtown Bloomington. Once Dimension Mill at 642 N. Madison St. is finished with construction later in the fall, South Bend Code School will be moving to that location.
Alexandra Sejdinaj said the company wanted to expand to help make coding more reachable and accessible to everyone.
“We met a lot of students who didn't think that these types of careers and career pathways were very accessible to them,” Alexander Sejdinaj said.
Alexander Sejdinaj said they wanted to make sure the program was affordable. It is a monthly subscription for one lesson per week, costing $150. South Bend Code School also offers scholarships to make the program more affordable.
Alexandra Sejdinaj said coding can be seen as this complicated, convoluted mess. If started young, she said she hopes to reach children and adults to erase that perception.
Alexandra Sejdinaj said her overall goal is for children to be able to learn how to code and then use those skills to pursue whatever goal they want in life.
