Our Teachers
Our teachers provide a Christ-centered, supportive environment for students to explore, learn, and grow. Our goal is to shape future leaders and change agents.
Enriching, Empowering & Culturally Relevant
We provide our students with enriching educational experiences that go beyond traditional academics. Our approach empowers students through culturally relevant classroom interactions, cultivating personal growth and academic excellence. By connecting learning to real-world contexts, we prepare our students to thrive in a complex, interconnected society.
Highly Qualified & Culturally Competent
Our teachers are highly qualified educators who combine professional expertise with cultural awareness to deliver challenging, context-sensitive instruction that promotes academic success while nurturing students' social-emotional development.
Drs. R. A. and Victory Vernon
FOUNDERS & OWNERS
CHIEF OF OPERATIONS
Visionary, results-oriented entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience implementing strategic and tactical plans to achieve overall business objectives in cross-functional sectors. A pioneering authority on purpose-led Staff Development Training for Step-Up to Quality Standards and Professional
Development. Chief Executive Officer with executive leadership roles and business management responsibilities for forward-thinking global agency networks. Speaker, Business Coach & Mentor with years of progressive experience partnering with clients, developing positive practices, and offering general guidance to promote excellence. Expert when it comes to Early Childhood Education, leadership, and women’s wellness and development. Demonstrate expertise in leadership coaching, transformational change initiatives, grant funding, monarch mentorship, CEO development, and consulting services for business start-ups.
Tenora Edwards
CURRICULUM & POLICY DIRECTOR
Danielle Green-Welch is a graduate of Ursuline College, with a Bachelors in Public Relations. She also holds both her Masters and Ed.S. in Education, with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction. She has a calling and passion for serving those who are in need, especially youth and young adults. In 2003, she founded the DreamKeepers Program. DreamKeepers provides mentoring, motivational speaking and introspective writing workshops focused on Goal Setting, Moral Character, Financial Intelligence and Self-Esteem. In the twenty years since starting the program, Danielle has touched hundreds of young people in the Maple Heights City Schools, the Ohio Department of Youth Services and throughout the Greater Cleveland area. Currently, DreamKeepers is working on expanding its reach to serve high school youth struggling with substance use addictions, and those who have experienced trauma.
Danielle has worked with several child serving entities, focused on youth impacted by juvenile justice, foster care and homeless or displaced youth, included Ohio Department of Youth Services and Cuyahoga County Division of Children & Family Services. She has served on several state and national advisory boards, to advocate for legislation and develop programming to service youth in marginalized populations. Additionally, she had presented at conferences across the country regarding creating sustainable housing and programming for system engaged youth, trauma informed care and transition planning for multi-system engaged youth.
She has received several awards and recognition for her work, and currently serves youth impacted by foster care or out-of-home placement through Kent State University. She is a Interprofessional Leadership – Education doctoral candidate, focusing her studies on best practice for foster youth in the high school setting.
Danielle Green-Welch
LEAD TEACHER
Hello everyone. I am Theresa Cooley. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. I currently reside in Bedford, Ohio with my husband of 33 years. We have three grownup children and two beautiful granddaughters. I am the Lead Preschool Teacher for the R. A. Vernon Christian Academy. Before moving to this position, I worked in a daycare and taught as an assistant teacher in the toddler room and as lead teacher in the pre-k room. I also held a position as a Respite Care Provider through the state and for Ferro Corporation for 33 years in Inventory Control Management until the company moved to Mexico. I attended the University of Phoenix for two years and Cuyahoga Community College for one year. I proudly hold my Child Development Associate certification from the Council for Professional Recognition.
My philosophy is that young children are like sponges, you can’t keep them in a box. They absorbed anything they encounter in the world we live in today. It’s both what we teach and how we teach. We must learn to be flexible and go with the flow, if one way doesn’t work then try something else. Never worry if the lesson plan changes up….and it will : ))
As an educator my goal is to create a safe and fun environment for children to grow and learn through play and life learning skills, to not only introduce them to the skills they need to enter Kindergarten but execute them as well! Strengthening their Social and Emotional skills, and how to solve their own problems is the first plan of action.
I believe it is my duty to bring an open mind, patience excellence, positivity, consistency, and warmth into my classroom, to always keep in mind, every child is different, they do not think and learn the same.
Theresa Cooley
LEAD TEACHER
Jade Thornton is a graduate from Cleveland State University with a Science Degree focused in Health Science. While attending CSU she served in the Black Student Union, volunteered with NAPS (National Association of Postal Service), Laurels Home, and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
After college, Jade began work at the YMCA as a before and after school counselor, from there she went on to work at Bellefaire JCB as an Autism Youth Counselor, and later as a Direct Support Provider for Adults with different Developmental Disabilities.