The staff of SDSA are all highly trained and experienced in autism spectrum disorders and applied behavior analysis.  All staff members have at least two 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.  Additionally, both classroom teachers are pursuing M.A. in special education.  

 

 

Corinna Siegler-Ndolo, Special Education teacher/Director: Corinna graduated with her degree in special education and has worked with children with autism for the past 8 years. After 3 years of teaching at Chrysalis Academy, Corinna decided to pursue her dream of opening her own school for autism. 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 will graduate in the spring. 

 

 

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 certified to teach 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 excited for the year to start! 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, Instructional Assistant: 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 program at St. Dom's.  In his spare time, Ethan enjoys spending time with his friends, and music, especially drumming.

 

Kirklyn Zilke, Instructional Assistant: 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. 

 

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.

 

Maggie Jetty, Speech Therapist: Maggie earned her B.A. in Spanish and Linguistic at San Diego State University. While working with children at a Tijuana, Mexico orphanage during her undergraduate years, she realized she wanted to pursue a career that involved her interests in language and language development with her passion for helping children. This led her to pursue her M.A. degree in clinical speech language pathology from Northern Arizona University. She has been working in the field for 4 years and absolutely loves it. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family (she just got married this past September!) and loves to travel.