Wired2Learn Academy pursues federal nonprofit status

POST FALLS — An independent therapeutic school in Post Falls is in the final phases of earning its federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Wired2Learn Academy, at 1800 N. State Highway 41, officially became an Idaho nonprofit in October, but is now waiting for pending documentation to go through at the federal level. 

"We wanted to become a nonprofit to help lower tuition and raise more money to provide scholarships and financial aid for students who want to come and need this kind of remediation and help," Wired2Learn founder and learning coach Alyssa Pukkila said Monday.

With annual tuition in the $25,000 range, the school serves third through 12th grade students with learning challenges. Its approach is tailored to addressing cognitive obstacles that affect reading, writing, spelling, math, memorization, processing, memory, organization and attention.

Pukkila said while the $25,000 may seem like a lot of money, effective remediation and therapeutic work can be costly. She said if a child goes for skill-based remediation just three times a week for an hour each time, a parent will usually spend between $200-$400 per week.

"In Boise, you will spend $1,200 a month in specialized tutoring and remediation for learning disabilities," Pukkila said. 

The most unfortunate thing for parents of children with disabilities is that insurance doesn’t cover any remediation or help, she said.

"It is always on the shoulders of the parents to pay for this intervention," Pukkila said. "It is so difficult for parents and out of the realm of possibility to other parents. We know it is expensive and that is why we want to help raise money to help students."

Other schools such as Wired2Learn Academy in Seattle cost $40,000 a year or more. In Boston, they cost $80,000 a year or more, she said.

"We are doing our very best to keep costs down," Pukkila said.

The Wired2Learn Foundation that partnered with Wired2Learn Academy to raise awareness and provide scholarships to help families access the school's specialized curriculum dissolved once it was decided to have the school itself be a nonprofit, which Pukkila said made the most sense.

"The Innovia Endowment was transferred to us by the foundation," she said. "The men and women who served on the foundation did a fabulous job and worked tirelessly to help kids with learning disabilities in our area."

According to Wired2Learn's March 5 news release, 20% of students face learning difficulties and 35% of those students drop out of school.

"We are committed to reshaping these statistics for the students in our community," Pukkila said in the news release.

The new Wired2Learn board of directors comprises Pukkila and son Noah Pukkila; Randy Oaks, Gregory Emerson and Trina LaRiviere. 

In other Wired2Learn news, the academy is hosting a dyslexia simulation at 5 p.m. Thursday.

“A lot of people have misconceptions about that particular learning disability, and it’s the one most people know of," Pukkila said. "We'll have six different stations with things students will have to do in a typical day."

The simulation will provide insight into the frustrations people with dyslexia frequently experience. 

"It’s to help create empathy for a student with any learning disability,” Pukkila said. "Things that come easy to you, they don’t come easy to everyone."

The dyslexia simulation will be followed by an open house at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free, but organizers encourage those interested to register at eventbrite.com as space is limited to 60 participants.

"We’re going to have our students here, they're going to be showing off projects, project based learning, they’re going to show people the exercises they do in our cognitive remediation class," Pukkila said. "They’ll really get an opportunity to see what it looks like and have an opportunity to talk to our students."

    Learning coach Katie Hoffman works one-on-one with student Cara LaRiviere in skill-based remediation at Wired2Learn Academy. Wired2Learn, which became an Idaho nonprofit in October, is in the final phases of earning its federal 501(c)(3) status.