Who We Are

Nitin Sawhney
Daniel L. Bloss
Jill E. Salisbury
Denise C. Buchanan

Nitin Sawhney

Nitin Sawhney has over ten years of experience as a standardized test instructor.  Before he started the Tutoring Division at MCA, he worked as a senior tutor and materials developer for the SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT at PrepMatters, Inc.  He has also worked at Kaplan, Inc., and the USDA Graduate School. Mr. Sawhney joined Marks Counseling Associates, LLC in 2006. He offers pro bono test preparation to Scholars in the Collegiate Directions, Inc. program.

Mr. Sawhney has taught Composition and Creative Writing at the University of Maryland, and Math at the Sandy Springs Friends School. His college teaching experience includes Introductory College Composition, and Beginning and Advanced Creative Writing. At the middle and high school level, he has taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Advanced Topics. In addition, he has tutored Math through AP Calculus, AP Economics and AP English Language and Literature.

As a former high school and college teacher, Mr. Sawhney not only understands different learning needs and styles, but he also appreciates the anxiety that standardized testing can create, even for gifted students. His test preparation approach is based upon a three-part system: Customized Test Planning, Targeted Skill Building, and Test Strategy.

Mr. Sawhney graduated from Wesleyan University (CT) with a double major in English and Economics. He also holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Maryland.

Daniel L. Bloss

Daniel Bloss has considerable tutoring experience at both the high school and college level, most recently as a private tutor specializing in high school academic tutoring. Mr. Bloss joined Marks Counseling Associates, LLC in December 2006 as a member of the tutoring and test-preparation services team. He also offers pro bono test preparation and tutoring to Scholars in the Collegiate Directions, Inc. program.

Mr. Bloss attended Montgomery County Public Schools where he was recognized as a National Merit Semi-Finalist. He then attended James Madison University on a Presidential Scholarship. While earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, he performed undergraduate research in Analytical Chemistry. In addition to standardized test preparation (PSAT, SAT and ACT with Writing), Mr. Bloss tutors the following high school subjects through the AP levels: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, Math, and US History. He also prepares students for Subject Tests in all these subjects, including Math 1 and Math 2.

As a seasoned test-taker and tutor, Mr. Bloss is very familiar with the challenges and learning approaches associated with standardized tests. He follows the same three-part test preparation method as Mr. Sawhney, based on: Customized Test Planning, Targeted Skill Building, and Test Strategy.

Jill E. Salisbury

Jill Salisbury well understands the pressures that current high school students experience.  After being named Valedictorian at her very competitive, private high school, Miss Salisbury attended the University of California at Los Angeles, graduating cum laude and as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

Miss Salisbury, who joined Marks Counseling Associates, LLC in March 2008, has considerable experience with students from the pre-kindergarten through the high school level, most recently as a Tutor and the Director of Sales at Score! Educational Centers (a division of Kaplan).  She also offers pro bono test preparation and tutoring to Scholars in the Collegiate Directions, Inc. program.

Miss Salisbury attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California where, in addition to graduating first in her class, she was named a National Merit Finalist. At the University of California, Los Angeles, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Psychology and a minor in English. Her academic distinctions include a Robert C. Byrd Scholarship and membership in the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Societies.

As a knowledgeable tutor and test-taker, Miss Salisbury appreciates the academic and emotional challenges and the learning approaches associated with test taking. She therefore follows the same three-part test preparation method as both Mr. Sawhney and Mr. Bloss, based on: Customized Test Planning, Targeted Skill Building, and Test Strategy. In addition to standardized test preparation (SSAT, ISEE, HSPT, PSAT, SAT, and ACT with Writing), Miss Salisbury tutors the following high school subjects through the AP levels: Literature, Psychology, Statistics, US History, World History, and French. She also prepares students for Subject Tests in all these subjects.

Denise C. Buchanan

Denise has spent her professional life working with children and families in independent school settings. Until June 2006 Denise served as Director of Admission and Financial Aid at National Cathedral School.  Before heading the admission office, Denise served on the NCS Middle School Admission Committee for several years and was a member of the English faculty for twenty years, during which time she taught courses at every grade level in the middle and upper schools.  Denise graduated cum laude in English from Wheaton College.  She went on to earn her teaching certificate in the Smith College teacher certification program, and her Master’s degree at Boston University in Secondary School English Education. 

In addition to her work at NCS, Denise has tutored students in English, grammar, and writing skills.  Before coming to Washington in 1980, she tutored and taught classes in English and study skills at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts, at Salisbury Summer School of Reading and English in Salisbury, Connecticut, and at Choate Rosemary Hall Summer School in Wallingford, Connecticut. 

With over thirty years of experience as a teacher, advisor and administrator, Denise’s knowledge base of independent schools, both boarding and day, extends throughout the eastern United States.  Above all, however, she takes pride in her ability to help parents and children set appropriate educational goals; and she especially enjoys the time she spends working directly with students to help them meet those goals.