E: jsipov2@illinois.edu
P: 217.244.9712
Jessica Sipovic is a training specialist with the Illinois Center for Transition and Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She has over 15 years of experience working with children and adults with diverse needs in school, home, and community settings. Most recently, Jessica served as the transition manager for Chicago Public Schools for five years supporting over 600 schools with approximately 24,000 students with transition services as a part of their IEP. As a former special education teacher, Jessica started her career teaching in the residential therapeutic environment and had the opportunity to teach in Australia before joining Chicago Public Schools in 2011. Her last three years in the classroom were spent at two of Chicago's transition centers, instructing students ages 18-22 in community-based classrooms to facilitate a seamless transition from school to post-school life. As both a classroom teacher and transition specialist, Jessica has focused her career on finding creative ways to address transition services for students with disabilities using an equity lens and a student-centered approach.