Certified Educator Specializing in Dyslexia, Reading & Art

Jessica L.

I am a Connecticut-certified educator with 13 years of classroom teaching experience across art education and special education. I hold a Master of Science in Special Education and a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Southern Connecticut State University, and I am currently completing a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. My Connecticut certifications include Comprehensive Special Education (Pre-K through 12), English (grades 4 through 12), and Art (Pre-K through 12).

For eight years I taught art to students ranging from elementary through high school age, authoring curriculum that covered foundational skills through more advanced techniques, including digital art tools such as Adobe Photoshop, and building units on art history that connected historical movements to students' own creative work. For the past several years, I have worked as a special education teacher and case manager, providing individualized, one-on-one instruction to students with a range of learning needs, including students with dyslexia and other reading-related challenges. In that role, I design instruction tailored to each student's specific profile, drawing on structured literacy and multisensory reading strategies to build decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills, adjusting my methods based on ongoing progress monitoring rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Across both parts of my career, my teaching has combined classroom-wide instruction with direct, individualized support, including one-on-one work built into my caseload as a case manager. I am comfortable working with students across a wide range of ages, from elementary through high school, and I bring the same patient, structured, student-centered approach whether teaching a specific skill like Photoshop or art history, or helping a student build stronger reading skills through a dyslexia-informed approach.