The staff of SDSA are all highly trained and experienced in autism spectrum disorders and applied behavior analysis.  All teachers have at least three years experience working in ABA based classroom settings with students with autism and the teachers of SDSA will complete 20 hours per semester of continuing education hours in topics related to autism education. 

Corinna Ndolo, Director/Special Education Teacher: Corinna graduated with her degree in special education and has worked with children with autism for the past 8 years. After several years of teaching children with autism, Corinna decided to pursue her dream of opening a school. For years, Corinna saw a need in the community for a program that would meet the complex needs of students with autism, while giving them the skills they need to be independent, in a traditional school environment.  Three years later, St. Dominic Savio Academy was born.  She is pursuing her M.A. in special education and board certification in behavior analysis.  She enjoys music, travel, and spending time with her husband.

Sarah Korfonta, Special Education teacher: Sarah graduated with a dual degree in Special Education and Regular Education from Franciscan University of Steubenville.  After hearing about the vision for St. Dominic Savio Academy in it's planning stages, Sarah felt so passionately about the mission that she relocated to Phoenix from Virginia to teach at SDSA. Sarah is trained in the Lindamood-Bell reading curriculum, which is implemented at St. Dominic Savio Academy.  She has worked as an ABA therapist serving many children with autism for the past 6 years.  She is an enthusiastic teacher and passionate about seeing students progress! In her spare time, Sarah spends time with friends and family and volunteers as a leader in a high school youth group at her church.

Ethan Siegler, Lead ABA Therapist: Ethan was born in Arizona and has lived in the Phoenix area for the past 15 years.  He graduated from Saguaro High School in 2007 and has worked for the past 3 years as an ABA therapist for children with autism in both school and home-based settings.  He has completed multiple ABA trainings in various subjects, and demonstrates and applies his incredible knowledge in the classroom everyday.  As an instructor, Ethan makes every session fun and reinforcing for the students he works with.  Ethan organizes the Singapore Math and Touch Math programs at St. Dom's.  In his spare time, Ethan enjoys spending time with his friends, and music, especially drumming.

Kirklyn Zilke, Lead ABA Therapist: Although Kirklyn was born in Connecticut, she has lived in the Phoenix area for the past 17 years.  She graduated from Desert Mountain High School and has spent the past 6 years working with children with autism in both school and home based settings.  Kirklyn is trained in the "Handwriting Without Tears" curriculum and enjoys organizing and running the writing classes at St. Dom's.  In her spare time, Kirklyn enjoys spending time with family and friends, working out, and traveling. 

Debbie Egan, Lead ABA Therapist (preschool): Debbie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of San Francisco.  Debbie came to SDSA after a long career in sales, but has been actively involved with children as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for over 10 years.  Debbie began volunteering at St. Dominic Savio Academy when it opened in 2009 and fell in love with both the children and the atmosphere.  In addition to independent reading on autism, Debbie has attended both formal and informal ABA training classes and has been mentored by the SDSA teachers.  Debbie was thrilled to be given the opportunity to work as an instructional assistant at SDSA when the preschool program was added in January of 2010. In her spare time, Debbie enjoys spending time with her husband and son, reading, and advocating for children in foster care as a CASA.

Brooke Gauvin, Instructional Assistant: Brooke was born in Missouri and has lived in Arizona for the past 16 years. Currently, she is working towards an undergraduate degree in Art Education at ASU. Brooke became interested in studying autism in high school and began picking up books in the library to read during her free time. Last year, Brooke met the St. Dominic's director, Corinna, and found out about St. Dominic's. Soon after hearing about the school, she began volunteering and was eventually hired on staff as a classroom aide alongside her twin sister, Erin. Brooke feels thoroughly blessed to have been given such a great opportunity to be able to work with children with autism in such a loving environment where the children's needs come first. Brooke is also interested in illustrating children's books, enjoys watercoloring, creating things, reading, and being with friends. 

Kate Makris, Instructional Assistant: Kate graduated from high school in Sidney, Nebraska.  She has worked as a habilitator for children with autism since 2008.  Kate has been working with autism for sixteen years, as she has twin younger brothers with autism.  She moved to the Phoenix area in January and really enjoys being a part of St. Dominic's.  She loves the fun atmosphere of the school and the challenge of never knowing what kind of day to expect that comes from working with autism.  Kate has taken on instructing students in daily science lessons.  Kate is working toward her undergraduate degree in Special Education and Psychology.  She wants to get a Master's Degree in developmental psychology and become a BCBA to help children with autism reach their full potential.  In her spare time, Kate likes to read, to spend time with her family, to paint, and to travel.

Nick Bowland, Instructional Assistant: Nick joined SDSA in October 2010 as an Instructional Assistant in the preschool classroom.  Nick is currently attending college, working toward a degree in Applied Behavior Analysis.  He is a certified Division of Developmental Disabilities provider and has been an in-home habilitation provider since July, 2010.  Outside of SDSA, his family, school and music keep him busy.

Allison Schneider, Speech/Language Pathologist: Allison Schneider, M.S. SLP-CFY graduated from the University of Arizona in 2011 with her Master of Science Degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Throughout college, she provided habilitation and respite care services for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Allison has experience working with children with various speech, language, and communication impairments. Her main goal as a therapist is to help children communicate more effectively with the world around them.

Anna Blocher-Rubin, Yoga Instructor: When Anna is not at SDSA, she teaches P.E. at the Awakening Seed School.  In addition to teaching PE, her teaching career has consisted of working as a special education teacher in both a regular school setting and virtually, and she has been a children’s yoga instructor for both regular and special needs children, for two years. She graduated from ASU in 2004 with a Bachelors in Special Education, and then completed her yoga certification through Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in 2007. She completed her Masters through Grand Canyon University in Education and Technology. Anna is married and has two children, ages 3 and 5. She has always loved working with children and enjoys sports, yoga, Tai Chi, hiking, dance, traveling, music, movies and exploring other cultures. Her goal is to expose children to a healthy lifestyle through being physically active in team collaboration, yoga, creative movement, techniques to decrease everyday stress, and learn about healthy choices when eating.

Jay Cleveland, Music Therapist: Jay Cleveland has been providing music therapy services throughout the state of Arizona since 1992. He graduated from Maryville University in St. Louis with a degrees in Music Therapy and Secondary Education. Jay completed his internship at the Children's Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies in Glendale, AZ. Jay's agency, Music on the Move, was established in 1998. When not providing music therapy services in the classroom or in-home setting, or teaching music two days a week at the Awakening Seed school in Phoenix, he enjoys reading and spending time with his family.