Leadership Team

Tatyana Chayka graduated with a Master's of Science in Secondary Education with a focus on Mathematics from Tashkent State Pedagogical Institute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She also obtained a Master's of Educational Leadership and Supervision with a focus in Business from the Arizona State University Leadership for Education Entrepreneur Program. Mrs. Chayka is secondary education certified and has over twelve years of teaching experience and twelve years of school administration experience. In 2000, she founded the first school in the AMS network, the Academy of Math and Science in Tucson, Arizona, and has remained the CEO of the network throughout its sixteen-year history.

Mr. Kim Chayka graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration from the Eller College of Management. Mr. Chayka is a published author in the Journal of School Choice and is a fellow of New Schools for Phoenix. He has also received the Hamer award from Glenn Hamer, president of Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mr. Chayka has over 10 years of experience at the Academies of Math & Science and currently oversees all expansion efforts. 

Mr. Erik Greenberg joined AMS in February 2019 and serves as the COO. In his capacity, Erik works closely to support AMS schools in the areas of Marketing, Enrollment, Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Data Analytics, and Facilities. Erik has spent his entire career in education serving in various leadership capacities in both Higher Education and Early Education. He is very passionate about education, particularly providing equal opportunities for education to all students.
Prior to joining AMS, Erik served as VP of Operations for Early Education schools. He led operations for over 20 schools in various states in the Western United States. In that role, he learned how vital education is in the early years of a child’s life. Prior to that, Erik spent over a decade in Higher Education. Starting his career in enrollment services, Erik worked closely with working adults to pursue their educational aspirations. Throughout his time, he led larger enrollment teams and eventually lead entire campus teams serving as Campus President in both Washington D.C. and Dallas, Texas.
Erik has a bachelor's degree in International Business and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Steven Hykes graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Akron with a minor in Economics. He began his career in public accounting working in the fields of audit, tax and mergers and acquisitions for both Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Steven received his Certified Public Accounting license from the state of Arizona in April of 2015. He has a diverse background having managed restaurants, volunteered overseas, and done both educational and non-profit work. Most recently he was the Chief Financial Officer of United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, where he spent three years overseeing various financial aspects of the business.  Steven joined the AMS network in January of 2016.

Prior to joining AMS, Nate was an Executive Director for IDEA Public Schools in the Greater Austin area, where he oversaw 16 high performing schools serving almost 10,000 scholars K-12 all in high poverty neighborhoods. As Executive Director, he achieved 100% matriculation for their senior classes, and he led the region to increased performance on state assessments, leader and teacher retention, and scholar persistence.
Before managing the entire Austin Region, Nate served as a Vice President of Schools for IDEA, where he significantly increased principal retention, helped orchestrate school turnaround, and set strategy for program and talent development. Serving as IDEA Public School’s VP of Leadership Development, he designed and implemented school leader training for a network of over 70,000 scholars across multiple states. He was the founding principal of IDEA Weslaco Pike winning recognition at the state and network level for high levels of scholar achievement, and during his tenure as campus principal, Nate led IDEA Montopolis College Preparatory to be the only school in east Austin to earn a TEA “A” Rating in 2018.
Nate is a proud Cornell University graduate, and also holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Columbia. He strongly believes in holding all students and adults to high expectations, and is focused on finding innovative programming that closes the experience gap for all students .

Robert Biggs is the Chief Information Officer for AMS. His career started in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona where he studied the effects of genetically modified crops insect pest populations. After gaining an interest in Information Technology while building IT tools to manage data collection and presentation at the U of A, Mr. Biggs transitioned to a career in technology. Throughout his career he has managed many IT implementation projects that touch on a wide varieties of technologies including networking, server systems, communications, line-of-business applications (EHR, CRM), and cloud solutions. He has built and managed teams of IT professionals, emphasizing skill-building and career progression. He has provided CIO services to many for-profit and non-profit organizations in various verticals including Medical, Public Safety, Education, Retail and Government. Mr. Biggs joined AMS in September 2017.

In her almost 25 years in education, Melissa has taught K-8 in various capacities, coordinated a variety of programs such as Assessment, Gifted, RT and PBIS. Melissa is a certified Capacity Building Coach as well as a certified PBIS coach. She designed and implemented one of the first RTI programs in Arizona to be approved for special education referrals and served on the committee to advise legislators on SB1197. Melissa has been a vice principal, coached many school teams in various improvement initiatives for the AZ Dept of Ed, and worked for the AZ State Charter Board evaluating charter school programs. 

Before joining AMS, she was both a founding and turnaround principal for BASIS, coached multiple vice principals into principal roles, and served in a DOS capacity at the network office as well. She earned a M.S. in Organizational Leadership and a BA in Elementary Education from Grand Canyon University and Prescott College. On a personal note - Melissa has a 16 year old son and an 18 year old daughter graduating high school this year, as well as 2 dogs. Some of her favorite things to do are to drink coffee, hike, travel, and attend concerts.