IOWA CITY — While Kevyn Doningueiz, 11, a sixth-grader at Mark Twain Elementary, focuses on his virtual learning, his younger siblings get help from volunteers who can teach them how to use the computer and access online classes — thanks to Neighborhood NESTS.

The Neighborhood NESTS — Nurturing Every Student Together Safely — is organized and operated by local not-for-profit groups for students in the Iowa City Community School District to access free Wi-Fi and get technical and academic support from volunteers, and for families to receive some child care services.

Doningueiz has been attending a Neighborhood NESTS operated by Open Heartland, a not-for-profit serving families in five mobile home communities in Johnson County whose residents are mainly Hispanic immigrants.

When Iowa City schools announced a virtual start to the school year, Open Heartland pivoted its mission to open a nest.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports the organization was founded just last year and visited mobile home communities to play with the children, drop off food, backpacks and school supplies, and coats, hats and gloves in the winter. Participants are operating the nest out of Parkview Church East Campus in Iowa City.

Doningueiz is enrolled in online learning and will not be returning in-person classes, even as the district transitions to standard learning on Sept. 28.

“I feel pretty nervous to do this the rest of the semester. I don’t want to have bad grades,” he said.

Coming to the nest is helpful for Doningueiz and his family, he said, because his mother doesn’t speak English. But at Open Heartland’s nest, volunteers are there to help Doningueiz’s nine- and five-year-old siblings as he focuses on his own classwork.

Open Heartland’s nest serves up to 25 students a day at no cost. Anyone who comes to the nest gets their temperature checked and is required to wear a mask.

Names are taken to help with contact tracing should someone test positive for COVID-19.

“Our goal is to get this family unit feeling empowered about how to use online learning,” said Deb Dunkhase, founder of Open Heartland.

The Iowa City Community School District is continuing online only classes until Sept. 25, with a waiver from the Iowa Department of Education.

On Sept. 28, students who registered for standard enrollment will transition to school 50 percent on-site and 50 percent online.

Alejandra Ibarra’s three children attend the nest at Open Heartland. Before coming to the nest, she said she didn’t even know how to turn on a computer.

“They learn, and I learn, too,” Ibarra said, speaking through interpreter Elizabeth Bernal, co-founder of Open Heartland.

Ibarra’s children, Carolina Pacheco, 10, Julieta Pacheco, six, and Romina Pacheco, four, are enrolled in online learning at Mark Twain Elementary. Ibarra chose online learning for her children as she watched cases of the coronavirus rise in Johnson County.

“I hope they can learn a little, and I hope they can succeed,” Ibarra said.

Missie Forbes, who is leading the Neighborhood NESTS initiative, said the idea sprung out of a concern for students who don’t have access to the internet and for English Language Learners. The organization also aims to address child care and provide academic support.