LILLY Learning Center offers students new direction on path of education

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — A Pasco County entrepreneur is changing the perception of homeschooling.

Lexa Duno opened the LILLY Learning Center as an alternative teaching method for students with learning disabilities. The learning center is helping shape the young minds of tomorrow.

Hard at work inside a classroom are students, including mother and daughter duo Dacia and Julia Mitchell.

“She’s an incredibly gifted child,” said Dacia of her daughter, Julia. “Both of our kids really are.”

The center differs from your average school. It’s a smaller atmosphere focused on helping those students with learning disabilities.

“As a mom of six, I find that there’s a learning environment for every child and every child is different,” said Dacia.

Dacia said it was a struggle to find the right fit for her children — a struggle many parents go through.

“We’ve done public school, private school, homeschool, we have two in boarding school — I mean, literally, you name it. If there’s a school out there, we’ve given it a go. I think that a lot of parents are finding the same frustrations that there is not necessarily one right way,” she said.

Something that founder Duno realized while working as a literary specialist.

“I work with a lot of kids who need reading interventions and, at that point in time, I was getting a lot of kids who were homeschooled in the area,” said Duno.

That’s when she decided to open up LILLY, with the help of SMARTstart Pasco Incubators. It’s helping students who might need a little help on their path to education.

“A diagnosed learning disability or maybe because they, for some reason, aren’t fitting socially or emotionally in the traditional school system and their families are looking for a really small, safe environment beyond the school system for them to grow and thrive and to be able to learn amongst their peers in a social learning environment,” said Duno.

Now, already two years in existence, Duno is noticing a positive trend.

“We have parents who think (their) child is probably not going to interact or participate,” she said. “And then, in a short amount of time, they come and they’re able to just thrive, which is amazing.”

It’s changing the lives of Dacia and her daughter, and helping these students reach their full potential

“It’s just a great place for you to learn who your child is and for them to learn who they are, about themselves and really grow into that,” Dacia said.