Ark Institute of Learning

The foundation of ARK began in 1968 when Carol Stockdale started researching the field of learning disorders. In 1980, Carol’s research led her and others to found Another Door to Learning, Tacoma’s first clinic devoted to treating learning disorders. This clinic was a non-profit venture funded through fees, grants, and donations. It trained its own therapists and provided continuing education for many teachers in the community. After Carol’s retirement and 16 years of serving children and adults, internal changes led to the agency’s dissolution. The teaching tools and the instructional methods became unavailable. Sometime later, Carol decided to start ARK Institute of Learning to save the instructional methods and teaching tools that had been created over so many years. At this time several of the Educational Therapists employed by Another Door to Learning were offering their services to the community by starting private practices. Today, those individuals are known as “ARK Associates,” and together with the ARK’s employed staff, they carry on the methods and programs originated by Another Door to Learning.
ARK Institute of Learning was incorporated in 1996 as a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Washington. ARK stands for Applied Research Knowledge – an acronym that speaks to a commitment to apply research and knowledge to the field of learning disabilities.
ARK addresses the educational needs of underserved children and youth by assessing and instructing more than 200 individuals a year with special learning needs and offering training to therapists, classroom teachers, and parents. ARK provides formal and informal assessment and one-on-one intensive intervention for clients with a wide rage of disabilities and learning differences including dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), academic difficulties, language processing problems, low academic self-esteem, and poor social, organizational, and study skills.
The individual assessment and instruction that these children receive is life changing. Students are empowered when they grow to understand that they struggle with learning - not because they are less smart but because their brain processes information differently than others. ARK offers a number of services and programs to help support children, teens, and young adults and their families including collaborative partnerships with school districts. ARK’s assessment and instruction have helped Pierce County public and private school students struggling with learning disabilities to read, write and learn more effectively. As a result of what they learn at ARK, self-esteem and confidence in children and youth notably rise. Students successfully completing ARK instructional services leave with the tools they need to overcome the challenges of learning. They also have a better ability to achieve success in school and in life. ARK offers scholarships to low-income individuals with learning problems who would otherwise not be able to utilize its services.