JESSICA CASTILLO

Executive Director & Principal Therapist

Jessica holds a M.Ed. in Special Education from S.E.U., is a Professional Certified Educational Therapist (PCET) with the National Institute of Learning Development (NILD), and a Certified Dyslexia Therapist (CDT) with the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), but ALWAYS a Mom first! She continues to place the greatest value on remembering what it was like to walk in and through the struggle, AND especially the healing, of a learning disability as a parent.

Jessie, as she’s known, is the founder of Light Up Learning™ and Wonder Academy™, both educational therapy-based programs for supporting learners through homeschool and afterschool pathways. She strives to spark The Light in the heart and mind of every learner – student, teacher, and parent – and is particularly passionate about her mission: to embolden children with learning disabilities to appreciate their God-given uniqueness and move from self-doubt to resounding belief that they are wonderfully made, wholly valued, and boundlessly capable. She believes in, and has witnessed, countless transformations in the lives of learners and their families, and feels blessed to be a part of the healing process.

Jessie appears in various community venues since the opening of Light Up Learning™, is heard frequently on 90.9 Life FM, and was nominated as a 2016 Ford Mujer Legendaria. She has presented alongside local education and health leaders, and speaks professionally for parent-centered forums and educator training meetings. In 2016, she was trained as a parent advocate, endeavoring to ensure that students in public, charter, private and home schools receive the appropriate evaluations, accommodations and educational services they have the right to. She is committed to education that is deep, well-rounded, and authentic. She is driven to build-up inspired, insightful, and self-assured life-long learners.

SABRINA CASTRO

Lower School Instructor/Therapist

Sabrina Castro (Ms. Sabrina) first joined the Light Up Learning family in 2012 as a volunteer, observing Jessie’s Educational Therapy sessions. She loved how different ET interventions were from any other academic help or tutoring she had ever seen done before, and almost instantly knew that she wanted to pursue Educational Therapy after graduation.

In the summer of 2015, Sabrina completed her training for Reading RX. In the summer of 2016, she completed her training with NILD and became a licensed Level 1 Educational Therapist. She later graduated with her B.A., Summa Cum Laude, in Elementary Education with a Reading and ESOL Endorsement from Florida International University in the Spring of 2017 and became the elementary classroom teacher of Light Up Learning’s Wonder Academy for this school year of 2017–2018.

Sabrina feels privileged to be a part of the Light Up Learning family and looks forward to what the future holds for her and Light Up Learning.

MARGARITA CASTRO

Office Administrator

Margie Castro is Office Manager and a Board Director of Light Up Learning/Wonder Academy. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Social Work and has served as an elementary substitute teacher. She is a valued member of the community, is affiliated with home-school programs and volunteers as a youth group leader at S.W.C.C.

She is married, a mother of three children, of which one is developmentally delayed, and so understands the challenges of those who struggle to learn first hand. She homeschooled her youngest daughter, who graduated with an AA Honors Degree at the age of 17 years and BA Highest Honors in Education at the age of 20.