Published September 4, 2025
BY TULLAH MCCOLL
For 23 years, Jessica Moore has focused her work on young people with special needs, building strong connections and helping them accomplish their goals. She now joins the Carmel High School staff as an aide for the Special Day Class.
“My role is to help the kids engage in daily activities and provide them with the tools necessary to survive in life outside of school,” Moore explains, “whether it be going shopping or simply following instructions in public.”
After receiving a degree in criminal justice from Lincoln University of Missouri, Moore worked with adolescents in rehabilitation centers and jails.
“I realized that I wanted to go back and work with the kids before they reach that point,” Moore says.
Ten years ago, the educator moved to California to work with students in a school setting. Now Moore works alongside Federico Garcia-Hernandez and the team supporting the SDC on the CHS campus full-time. Moore also coaches with the track team and seventh-grade volleyball at Carmel Middle School, where she worked the previous school year.
“I love seeing how happy the kids are,” Moore says, “and the SDC kids being a part of everything, interacting with the general education students, is really awesome.”
