Our Team

Vesna’s professional career in education started in Baltimore City public schools two decades ago, where she held multiple roles, from classroom teacher to school principal. It continued at Sheppard Pratt schools, where she became passionate about special education. Throughout her professional experience at both public and non-public schools, she strived to support and reinforce the development and growth of each student, their relationship with each other, their school, and their community. Vesna firmly believes that every child has the potential to learn and meet individual goals, regardless of disability. Her dedication to working with neurodiverse students has been further enhanced by involvement in educational research focusing on students with autism spectrum disorder through the University of Notre Dame of Maryland and the Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. She holds a B.A and J.D. degrees at Belgrade University (Serbia), a M.A from Towson University, and a Ph.D. from Notre Dame University of Maryland. She has been an invited presenter to nationwide educational conferences, including American Educational Research Association Conference and Northeastern Educational Research Association, as well as various districts’ professional developments.

Sarah comes to the Children’s Guild with more than 15 years of experience working with students as a speech-language pathologist. Since moving to the Baltimore region in 2010, Sarah has shared her expertise in nonpublic schools including The Kennedy Krieger Institute-Greenspring Campus and The Arrow Center for Education-Tangram School, where she took on a leadership role as Clinical Supervisor. During this time she gained knowledge and experience in supervision, leadership, budgeting, and educational and behavioral programming.

Sarah is passionate about her work and the students she serves. As Director of The Children’s Guild Transformation Academy, she aims to provide high-quality special education programming with an emphasis on vocational skills to help autistic students reach their highest level of independence as they learn and grow.

Sarah holds a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in Boston and a Women in Leadership Certificate from eCornell University. As a lover of learning, she also completed the Inside Out Sensory Certificate Course for SLPs, guest lectures at Towson University, and has more than 500 hours of training as a Registered Yoga Teacher.

In 2012, Sam graduated from Frostburg State University where he received his Bachelors degree in Psychology and received his first job working at Sheppard Pratt Health System on the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit. It was here that he found his true passion by directly working with individuals from the ages of 5-18 who were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, with  psychiatric comorbidities, and often accompanied by intellectual disability. Sam was introduced to applied behavior analysis, worked under a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA), and obtained his registered behavior technician (RBT) credential.  He worked with psychiatrists and assisted families with behavioral strategies upon discharge from the hospital.  In 2017, Sam began as a behavior specialist at Arrow Child and Family Ministries where he also received his Masters degree in Psychology with a specialization in applied behavior analysis. Sam’s goal is to further assist families and students through the use of applied behavior analysis in the community setting and beyond!

Since graduating college, Theresa has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities in a variety of settings, including in-home, school-based, and community-based placements. For the past 6 years, Theresa has worked specifically with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or other related disorders, to acquire new skills with as much independence as possible. Theresa is passionate about working with neurodiverse individuals by creating engaging instruction and NET learning experiences that is meaningful to their everyday lives. When not working, Theresa can be found hiking with her dog, Lucy, cooking, or reading a book on the beach.

After Jacqueline earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from The University of Hawaii-West Oahu, she began educating gifted children from the ages of 3-18. That first job cultivated her passion for working with children and wanting to help them grow and prosper into young adults. Since then, she has had 5 years of working with children with special needs. In addition to her primary job functions, Jacqueline was recognized by the Children’s Guild for her commitment to helping and supporting families with children who have special needs.