This article was amended January 12, 2020, to correct the name of one of the students, Darius Joyner. We were given an incorrect spelling by the school system.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County Schools plan to open a new Center for Literacy Innovation during the 2021-2022 school year.

The new center will be located at Midtown Academy in St. Petersburg.

It will be designed to help elementary school students in 1st-5th grade who are struggling with dyslexia or other reading, writing, and math problems.

This follows the opening of the county's first Center for Literacy Innovation which opened at Elisa Nelson Elementary School in Palm Harbor during the 2019-2020 school year.

Darius Joyner, 11, is currently in 4th grade and attends that center.

After being adopted from a Haitian orphanage, Joyner was struggling with dyslexia and reading comprehension issues.

"It was very challenging, hard, and I thought I could never read," he said.

His mother, Stephanie Joyner, said they made the decision to enroll him in the program.

She's an educator herself and said she's been very pleased with his progress.

"This has been a positive experience for Darius. He's been able to read and write more. He's learning concepts to go around those areas that he's had issues with," she said. "They have taught him ways, the little skills he needs to learn how to pronounce the words and how to write the words, how to sound them out."

Administrators said the center provides a structured, multi-sensory, personalized approach to help children.

They said 79% of the students enrolled have showed learning gains.

"What we see when we're walking through those classrooms now are students that are talking to one another, they're reading together, they're going home and sharing their excitement about something that they've read in class, they're successful. That, to me, is the most exciting data," said Lynne Mowatt, Executive Director, Exceptional Student Education.

Stephanie said she's seen that first-hand at her house.

"Now I can hear Darius read full sentences and they're right on the money. He's doing a great job. It is such a path he has come, his journey. It's going to be a long one but it has been an amazing journey."

Families interested in attending the new Center for Literacy at Midtown Academy can apply January 25 through February 5.

A Facebook Live Info Session will be held on January 28.

For more information, visit ​https://www.pcsb.org/Page/29500​