Pathways School Center offers specialized K-12 curriculum individualized to support about 20 students with special needs.
The non-profit private school supports students with learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, autism, and attention deficit disorders.
Tucson residents Lara Scott and Kory Gray made sacrifices to rent a home in the Phoenix area to have their 11-year-old daughter Greta attend an educational and therapy school in Mesa.
"We saw almost immediate changes once she started the Mesa program," said Scott. "Those most immediate changes were in her confidence and a reduction in her stress level."
"The key to these children is to unlock the secret to their learning because they can all learn," said Gray. "It's just how do you do that and how do you get through that puzzle and for some reason they just have the amazing ability to do that."
The couple teamed up with other families to bring this Mesa school to Tucson. They said that mostly everything in the school has been donated from families, businesses, and organizations.
The school provides individual or small group services. Tuition costs $25,500 per year, but the director says most students are on scholarship.
"When we improve the life of a child, we are not just improving that child's life, we are improving the entire family," explained Debra DeLabio, Director at Pathways School Center. "We aren't just helping students graduate one grade to the next, we are helping students prepare for life outside school."
The school opens August 17th and is currently enrolling students. For more information, check out Pathways School Center's website or GoFundMe page.
