Sylvan Learning Center of Cape Coral owner Terry Hiduke, left, with his wife, Joanne Bell, second from right, and granddaughters, Emilia Feliciano and Iliana Feliciano, right. PHOTO PROVIDED

Sylvan Learning Center, which for more than 40 years has worked with children from K-12 nationwide to help them learn better and succeed where they might have failed, is expanding its presence in Cape Coral at 2612 Santa Barbara Blvd. with a larger office in the same mall.

Terry Hiduke, who has owned the Cape location since 1988, said Sylvan loves to get kids caught up in the classroom and build their confidence, especially in the core subjects.

“We tutor and do academic coaching. Maybe the parents don’t have time to do homework with them, so we help with study skills, how to organize, help them with their homework,” Hiduke said.

Sylvan was started in 1982 by a man in Oregon who wanted to get his students who were behind get caught up. It has grown to more than 700 locations in the U.S. and Canada, using technology to help them do the things they used to do manually, Hiduke said.

Hiduke has owned locations throughout Fort Myers and Estero for some time. It had a center in Cape Coral that closed during the recession in 2009. However, they opened it back up in 2015 and business has been strong ever since.

“We had a satellite office with 1,000 square feet, and we were at that same office at Veterans and Santa Barbara behind Five Guys and on April 1 we doubled our space and improved a space and built it one,” Hiduke said. “As a satellite we just taught there, though we didn’t do our testing or a group SAT there.”

Hiduke said the expansion made sense, since the city is growing quickly. They looked at the demographics and saw they were serving more kids in the Cape than in Fort Myers, that’s why more resources were needed in Cape Coral.

“We believe in convenience to the parents because they have to juggle schedules and get kids there,” Hiduke said. “We try to be as close to a local market as possible.”

Sylvan blends teachers with technology for an engaging learning experience. Sylvan also features STEM and accelerated courses and college and test prep courses.

“Now, we’re in all kinds of places where we used to be just a brick and mortar. We can have satellites and be in schools and do programs,” Hiduke said. “The school district gets grants to use any of our programs.”

Sylvan has programs with the Lee County School District where they teach their reading programs after school at four elementary schools and they have a contract to help homeless kids.

“The kids come to us, we teach them on-site at a shelter and some we can do online,” Hiduke said.

As for the future in Cape Coral, Hiduke said they may have to either expand again or put in a second office somewhere else, but that isn’t in the cards right now.

“We’ll have to look at the demographics like you would as a business person to find the right location. You want to be convenient to everyone,” Hiduke said. “The Cape has two central pockets, but they’re so close together. The Veterans location had more plusses to it then on Pine Island.”

They could still be seen in the area at special events, such as Touch-A-Truck, Hiduke said. Occasionally, he will come across someone, either a parent or a former student, whose lives were transformed by Sylvan.

“They say their kid was struggling, so I took him there and now they’re a doctor or a lawyer,” Hiduke said. “Then I have parents who went to Sylvan and are now bringing their kids to Sylvan. That’s the fun of being around so long with it.”