Academics

Joy Bacon

After four years at other BCPSS schools, Joy Bacon started at BSA in 2013. She loves instilling passion for reading and helping students find their authentic voice. She came to Baltimore in 2009 after finishing bachelor degrees in English and journalism from Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. She also holds a master of arts in teaching from the Johns Hopkins University and a certificate of instructional leadership from Towson University.

Gerad Bandos

Gerad Bandos joined the Baltimore School for the Arts family in 2017, after four years teaching in Howard County, Michigan, and Ohio. He is passionate about science and committed to helping children move forward in life. Bandos received his bachelor’s degree in science education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He focuses on making scientifically literate citizens and artists, and dabbles personally in art, whether building his own furniture or introducing his own children to music.

Megan Bremer

Megan Bremer has split her professional career between human rights advocacy and classroom teaching. Her teaching career began in a high school in Boston, but soon led her to non-traditional venues. She taught “know your rights” workshops to detainees and psychiatric patients in federal and state custody, and taught undergrads how to interview survivors of torture and conduct human rights research. For more than a decade, she worked outside of the classroom as an advocate, including her work as a legal services attorney representing non-citizens in immigration detention.  She also briefly served as a Child Protection Consultant with UNICEF in conflict and post-conflict zones before returning to the classroom. A graduate of McGill University, Bremer holds a juris doctor/master of public health joint degree from Northeastern University School of Law and Tufts University as well as a master of education degree from Harvard University.

Daniel Conway

Daniel Conway joined Baltimore School for the Arts having previously taught in Harford County and Boston, MA. Originally from New Hampshire, Conway graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education and is currently working toward a master’s of science in applied mathematics through Towson University.

Rachel Duffy

Rachel Duffy has been teaching Spanish at BSA since 2004. She received her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and her MAT in Spanish from SIT Graduate Institute. Duffy’s love of the Spanish language and cultures stems from her Rotary International experience as a high school exchange student in Copiapo, Chile. She also studied in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has traveled extensively in the Spanish-speaking world. !Viva el español!

Damien Ford

Meg Grouzard

Meg Grouzard has been teaching at Baltimore School for the Arts since 2011 and has been teaching in Baltimore City Public Schools since 2005. Originally from Colorado, Grouzard moved to Baltimore after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor degree in history and political science. While teaching in Baltimore, she also earned her master’s in teaching from the Johns Hopkins University. Since working at BSA, Grouzard has also earned her National Board for Professional Teaching Certification, Special Education Certification, and Model Teacher status for the district.

Danee Jackson

Shameka Jackson

Darryl Johnson

Officer Johnson makes sure that all of our BSA students are safe. He’s here during regular school hours, as well as special events. He’s the welcoming face in the front lobby and outside.

Valerie Johnson

George Kessler

George Kessler attended The Johns Hopkins University and The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and received his M.A. from Towson University. He taught history at Western High School from 1977 to 1989 and at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute from 1989 to 1995. He has been teaching at BSA since 1995.  Despite officially retiring last year, Kessler has returned to teach one English course this year. He is also the father of two BSA graduates, a professional violinist, is a former Jeopardy contestant, and he has 40 years of amateur baseball experience.

Laura Kinsey

Laura Kinsey coordinates with teachers, parents, and students to schedule and manage paperwork for all IEP, 504, and Student Support Team meetings. Previously she worked as a substitute teacher and support professional in the guidance offices at Roland Park Elementary/Middle. Kinsey received a bachelor’s degree in music performance with honors from Towson, and a graduate performance diploma in voice from Peabody. She continues to enjoy singing, and teaching voice lessons in her home studio.​

Anne Laro

Anne Laro earned her bachelor of science and master of science degrees from Towson University and received a certificate from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. She entered the Baltimore City Public School system in 2008. Since then, she has worked to lead the way to develop and present “the student-led/driven IEP.” Another area of particular interest is delivering accommodations in performing and visual arts. Prior to entering the Baltimore City Public School system, she taught for nine years in Maryland non-public special education schools. Laro is also currently the coordinator of music programs at Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she also teaches applied oboe, various music history courses, and chamber ensemble. An oboist, she enjoys spending her free time performing in the United States and abroad.

Abby McKelvey ’92

Abby McKelvey graduated from the school’s Theatre Department in 1992, and has served on Baltimore School for the Arts’ counseling staff since 2008. Previously, McKelvey was a domestic violence counselor for Queen’s Legal Service, served as a child advocate for the Children’s Safety Project in Manhattan, and also worked as a school counselor for the New York City Public Schools. After graduating from BSA (Class of 1992, Theatre), McKelvey received her B.A. and M.S.W. from New York University, and also attended Columbia University School of Nursing. She has a master’s degree in counseling education from McDaniel College.

Erica McLaurin

Erica Patterson

Erica Patterson began teaching at in Baltimore City in 2006 and began teaching at Baltimore School for the Arts in 2012. Originally from Michigan, Patterson moved to Baltimore after graduating from the University of Dayton with a B.S. in education and allied professions (physical education). While teaching in Baltimore, she also earned her master’s of education in educational leadership from Loyola University of Maryland.

Frank Roblin

Frank Roblin joined Baltimore School for the Arts in 2018 after teaching mathematics the previous 14 years in other Baltimore County and City high schools and at the community college level. He earned a B.S. in applied mathematics in 2003 and an M.A.T. in secondary education mathematics in 2005, both from Towson University.

Lisa Peels

Lisa Peels has been part of the BSA team for decades. As our admissions coordinator, she’s the smile that welcomes prospective students during Open House, manages the application process, and ensures that audition week runs smoothly.

Michael Tabegna

Michael Tabegna joined the BSA staff as a French teacher in September of 1982 as the school began its third year. A native of Berks County, PA, Tabegna graduated from West Chester University  in 1980. During his junior year in college, he studied at the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France, in the Centre de Formation Pédagogique, a program to train teachers of French as a foreign language. He taught French for a year in Arcadia High School in Accomack County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore before coming to the Baltimore School for the Arts. In 1992, he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study the plays of Molière in Paris, France. In 1994, he received a master’s in French literature from Towson University. Shortly after that, he began to prepare for the school’s conversion from French to Spanish as its foreign language. He studied two summers in the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain, and two summers in Puebla, Mexico. He has been teaching Spanish at the school since 2004.

Alicia Tatum

Maria Tronolone

Maria Tronolone joined the BSA community in 2018 after teaching in other district high schools and at the university level. She has earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Duquesne University, a master’s in teaching from Johns Hopkins University, and a certificate in administrative leadership from Towson University. She plans to pursue an Ed.D in the near future. She has spent time as an instruction coach for City Schools, but is overjoyed to be back in the classroom sharing her love for mathematics with her students.

Catherine VanNetta

Catherine VanNetta attended Towson University, where she earned a B.S. in mathematics and a M.Ed. in secondary education. She earned a Ph.D. in mathematics curriculum and instruction at the University of Maryland. Dr. VanNetta has prior public school teaching experience in Baltimore County, Howard County, and the Ingenuity Project at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, and post-secondary teaching experience at the University of Maryland and CCBC. She has worked with several grant-funded positions in mathematics teacher preparation, and most recently with Baltimore’s Promise Grads2Careers program. She is interested in teaching mathematics for understanding through productive classroom discourse and technology use.

Thomas Ventimiglia

Thomas Ventimiglia has been at the Baltimore School for the Arts since 2006. He teaches screenwriting in both the Charles C Baum Film and Visual Storytelling department and English in the Academic department. His fiction has appeared in magazines such as The Baltimore Review and The Potomac Review. In 2014, he co-directed The Founders, a documentary about the making of the BSA. He is a Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund Fellow at Johns Hopkins and a graduate of New York University.