Owners of Plymouth’s theCoderSchool overcame daunting obstacles
Rajan Patel holds a photo of his wife Krupa and son Shaan inside Plymouth’s The Coder School, a franchise he owns and operates with Krupa.
Life was borderline perfect for Plymouth residents Raj and Krupa Patel heading into 2019.
Proud parents of then-3-year-old Shaan, and both thriving professionals, the Patels awoke each day with a Let’s Go! attitude.
“I was loving life,” said Raj Patel, an alum of Livonia Franklin High School. “The one thing I wanted to change back then was my extensive travel schedule. I was on the road for my (engineering-related) job a lot, so I was like a Facetime dad and husband. I also had a yearning to teach.”
While visiting friends in Atlanta in 2018, the Patels learned about an industry that would change their lives.
Life-changing discovery
“One day our friends told us they were dropping their child off at coding school,” Patel recounted. “I thought that was fascinating that there were schools that taught children how to code.
“Krupa and I did some research when we returned to Plymouth and discovered there were no coder schools in the state.”
The ambitious couple connected with the Silicon Valley-based founders of theCoderSchool and, following a lot of detailed planning, they signed a lease in July of 2019 for a property located at 41624 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth.
“There was a six-month build-up of the space, so we opened Michigan’s first school for coding in February of 2020,” Patel said.
Hurdles emerge
Approximately one month after opening theCoderSchool, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, forcing the Patels to pivot to a virtual model for their newly-opened business.
More daunting news followed: In May of 2020, Shaan was diagnosed with an extremely-rare form of brain cancer.
“It was like Krupa and I hit a brick wall when we heard the diagnosis,” Patel said. “The doctors told us that Shaan’s cancer was literally a 1-of-1 — he was the only one in the world at the time with this type of cancer. Shaan is such a great kid … it was a very difficult time.”
Thanks to exhaustive treatments and rehabilitation, Shaan is now cancer-free, Patel revealed, and a student at Cooke School in Northville.
Reasons for success
The Coder School is also thriving, thanks largely to the business’s learn-at-your-own-pace teaching model, individualized instruction each student receives, and the vast career opportunities for accomplished coders.
“Once we were allowed to re-open after COVID, our number of students started building,” Patel said. “Our students and their parents love that we have one instructor for every two students. The instructor literally sits between his or her two students.
“We also have a customized curriculum to meet each student’s interests. For instance, if Johnny likes race cars, we can help him code, let’s say, a racing-themed website and a database for the top 30 drivers.
“Coding is not easy, but if it involves something the kids are interested in, it helps.”
Always hustling
The Patels are constantly hustling to market the brand they believe so deeply in. They feel community outreach is vital, so they’ve connected with several southeast-Michigan school districts to aid school robotics programs.
“Coding literally touches every industry now, so learning what they can when they’re young is advantageous for our students,” Patel said.
Patel said students from as far away as Grand Rapids have registered for theCoderSchool’s programs, all of which are led by accomplished instructors.
theCoderSchool teaches multiple programming languages, including Python, which Patel described as “the language of the future. For example, Ford and Tesla are running Python now.
Making learning fun
Patel proudly stated that theCoderSchool’s students thoroughly enjoy attending the classes, which range from website design to building robotic cars.
“The feedback we’ve received from parents has all been good,” Patel said. “We do not put time limits on anything; your son or daughter will dictate at what pace they want to work at,” he said.
The moral of the Patels’ success boils down to two assets: hustle and positivity.
There’s not an app for those.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
