A local developer wants to open the area’s first public school for dyslexic children.
“It’s a constant battle teaching teachers every year about dyslexia and proving to the teachers that (students) are actually working hard,” said Curtis Kossman of Kossman Development in Green Tree, who is dyslexic.
His son, 9, and daughter, 13, who also are dyslexic, receive up to 10 hours of tutoring a week before or after school.
“The intention of the school is that by the time they get out of eighth grade, (students) have a strong grasp of the written language, so they mainstream with a set of tools that allows them to overcome their learning disability,” Kossman said.
Provident Charter School would educate about 350 children in grades 1-8. A child would need a formal assessment and a diagnosis of dyslexia to gain admittance. the curriculum will be based on an intensive multi-sensory approach geared toward teaching reading and writing skills to the dyslexic.
Kossman said he’s still seeking a location but wants to open the school in an area accessible for families throughout the region. He anticipates the charter application will be ready for submission by summer. the school district in which the school is located must grant a charter to operate.
His charter would be the first public school for dyslexic children in Western Pennsylvania, according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America in Castle Shannon, a national nonprofit, advocacy organization for individuals with learning disabilities. there are several private schools in the Philadelphia area specifically for dyslexic children and a few local private schools for children with learning disabilities.
Charters are public schools, funded by a portion of a school district’s per-pupil state subsidy, that are run by an educational or community group. the state’s charter school law permits limiting admission to a target population such as “at risk” students, which includes those with academic difficulties.
Dyslexia, which runs in families, is considered a learning disability.
About 5 to 10 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, according to the Dyslexia Research Institute. Severity varies, and symptoms include more than inverting letters, but also slow or inaccurate reading and poor spelling and writing due to a lack of understanding of phonics.