The coronavirus pandemic has many Long Islanders thinking of creative ways to make ends meet and help out neighbors, coworkers and clients at the same time. The Broadway Dance Theatre on Main Street in Islip is another example of it.

It looks like a spot for learning how to dance – and it is – but during the day it is much more.

“We call it DLC at BDT,” explained owner Jessy Gill.

After months of being closed with a new lease on a big space, Gill, certified teacher and dancer, saw an opportunity. Turn the Broadway Dance Theatre into a distance learning center.

Gill explained, “We had a theatre camp over the summer, and it was mostly outside and just as school districts started to announce their plans, parents got worried. ‘Oh my gosh what am I going to with my kids if they are only going to school—in school 2 days a week?’”

One of those parents was Jennifer O’Hare, an essential worker.

“I work full-time, so really a lot of the time it was her figuring herself out during the day with whoever she was with,” said O’Hare.

Her daughter Carly and son Daniel now have support logging on to classes and with tricky assignments.

Nine-year-old Carly O’Hare said, “They help me with a lot of stuff. Like what I am doing now, which is reading. They help me with math, and they help me get on to my Google Meet.”

“It was really like a win-win,” her mom added.

Masks are worn any time social distancing isn’t possible – sanitizer stations have been installed for constant use and commonly touched surfaces are cleaned repeatedly.

“Dancers  and theatre kids come at night, and we do the same thing in between each class. We are just making it work,” said Gill.

Students taking advantage of a staff of certified teachers and helpers who can navigate everything from the internet connection to Zoom troubleshooting, range in age from kindergarten to college.

The distance learning center operates Monday through Friday, but some students only come two days a week and for two hours a day. Scheduling depends on the learning model they are following.

For more information and to sign up, click here.