• National Training Consultant
Email
swirt009@umn.edu
Address
Inst On Community Integration
2-315e [map]
2025 E River Pkwy
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Jessica Swirtz is a national trainer for Check & Connect at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), University of Minnesota. Ms. Swirtz provides support and training to districts and community-based organizations implementing Check & Connect across the country. She also provides follow-up trainings in the form of fidelity of implementation workshops for sites already implementing Check & Connect. As a national trainer, she partners with sites to assess their needs and customizes training to meet their strategic plans. 

Prior to working at ICI, Ms. Swirtz began her career in education with Teach for America as a high school math teacher in North Carolina. While teaching, she developed inclusive curriculums, led state-wide staff professional development trainings, and implement over 120 accommodations for special education students. These initiatives resulted in her students exceeding their expected academic growth by 54% and aided in the school’s academic report card increase from a D to a B. Most recently, she worked at Walden University as an Academic Advisor cognitively guiding Nursing students through their graduate degrees until she moved into an Operations and Training Specialist role. As an Operations and Training Specialist she focused on the success of over 200 staff by developing, implementing, and evaluating programs for numerous topics including new hire onboarding, technology launches, and professional development opportunities. 

Ms. Swirtz holds a Master’s degree in Education from Johns Hopkins University where she graduated with distinctions for transformational student impact. Her undergraduate degree was completed at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities where she majored in Psychology and minored in Management. When she's not working, Ms. Swirtz can be found playing board games, running by the Minnehaha Falls, and spending time with her friends and family. 

Projects

Project

Check & Connect: A Comprehensive Student Engagement Intervention

Provides training in use of the Check & Connect student engagement intervention model to promote students' engagement with school, reduce dropout, and increase school completion. The Check & …