WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A new school, The Bilgrav School, just opened its doors in downtown West Palm Beach. The model is based on other schools throughout the country that operate solely for dyslexic students.
Sixth grade student Jack Bauer is one of only seven students attending. The hope is to grow the new school to 25 students in size. Like everyone else at the school, Jack is dyslexic.
"Everyone is dyslexic, so everyone has the same problems," said Hunter Patterson, the director of operations at the Bilgrav School.
"I'm more confident in school because everybody else here is dyslexic too," said Jack Bauer.
School staff said the difficulty to get accommodations for children drives the need for a school like this.
"Without proper accommodations and remediation, life is very difficult for dyslexic," said Patterson, who is dyslexic himself.
"A lot of dyslexics want to hide because kids see they are having trouble reading or spelling," he said. "Kids think they are not as bright and get made fun of or teased. Here it's open. Kids spell stuff wrong all the time."
The school focuses on hands-on learning.
"For a full blown dyslexic, this is it. There is nothing else around here for dyslexia," said Jack's father Dr. Richard Bauer.
He said Jack's growth this year has been priceless.
"He actually gets up early and is looking forward to going to school," said Richard Bauer. "While he was at the private school, not for dyslexic kids, it was a lot of work to try to get him up."
The school costs about $30,000 per student. They do offer financial aid and say they are weeks away from offering up full scholarships.
RELATED LINK: https://www.bilgravschool.org/
