Site Content

“Leadership in education is hard. With hundreds of competing interests, many choose the path of least resistance. Sheila Kukstis is different. A consistent advocate for students, families, and teachers, she demands excellence from all stakeholders. She attacks challenges with creativity and resolve. She follows initiatives to their conclusion. The result is an education environment that helps everyone rise up. ”

When searching for an educational advocate for our son, Sheila Kukstis came highly recommended to us. From our first conversation, we knew she would help us navigate our challenging journey to ensure our son’s educational and social-emotional needs were met. Sheila is extremely knowledgeable and empathetic, with a professional career dedicated to helping students succeed. She helped us understand our son’s complicated IEP and the laws governing special education. Sheila was always available whenever we had questions or concerns and attended meetings to advocate for what we believed was best for our son. We are forever grateful for Sheila’s support.

"Without exception, we will never navigate the world of special education without Sheila as our family's advocate. Sheila provides, among other things, a compassionate, experienced, and professional approach to the advocacy process. As our advocate, Sheila ensured we understood our rights, worked diligently to ensure our child received the services they needed, and worked to collaborate with the school on the best solutions."

I am the mother of a 15 y/o sophomore in high school, who has struggled since 5th grade (covid) with separation anxiety, depression and ADHD. We had a long road with school administration in securing appropriate services for her: 504, IEP- in large part because I had no idea what end was up with the evaluations, assessments or the paperwork that dictates the process. None of it is intuitive.

I never would have gotten to the desired outcome without Sheila Kukstis. She rolled up her sleeves and created the pathway to help me understand the IEP process, while working with the team at school to ensure we received all of the considerations that made the most sense for my daughter's needs. The IEP process is complicated, far more complicated than I ever imagined- Sheila interpreted all of it for me into language that I could understand, and we got on to a better road as soon as she got involved.

I would say that parents who are not conversant in the language of education plans should ever go it alone. There is so much left to chance, because of a lack of transparency. If you are struggling to get your child help, RUN!... don't walk to Sheila Kukstis.

We found working with Sheila to be easy and stress free during a  stressful time in our child’s education. We were going through the IEP  process on our own and were not happy with the results. Sheila stepped  in and guided us through mediation, explaining our child’s IEP and the  process of how to get what we needed clearly and efficiently. We got the  out of district placement that we felt was best for our child’s  education. To say that Sheila knows her stuff is a massive  understatement. We highly recommend Sheila!