Leadership Team
Founder and Co-CEO - Mrs. Tatyana Chayka, M. Ed.
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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. |
Chief Executive Officer - Mr. Kim Chayka, BS
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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. |
Chief Operating Officer – Mr. Erik Greenberg, MBA
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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. |
Chief Financial Officer - Mr. Steven Hykes, BS, CPA
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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. |
Chief Academic Officer - Nate Lowry
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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. |
Chief Information Officer - Robert Biggs
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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. |
Director of Schools and School Leadership - Melissa Fields
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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. |
Director of Schools - Sarka White
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Šárka’s almost 3 decades of experience in education have earned her several honors including the Teacher of the Year award in 1998, 1999, 2001, the NASA innovative Science Leadership Award in 2001, and USDA and Wyoming’s State/National educational leader award in 2007. Before serving as Regional Director of Schools, Šárka served as Human Resource Director for Winslow Unified School District, Curriculum Manager for StrongMind, Director of Research, Data, and Development for KUSD, Education Director for Wyoming Dept. of Agriculture and USDA, Trainer, Elementary, Middle and High School Principal, Dean of Students, College Faculty and Teacher. She has trained and coached over 10,000 teachers and leaders, who have all gone on to lead dynamic schools nationally and internationally.
She started her career in education as an international Kindergarten and High School American Economics teacher in Linguistics school Moscow #1157 and then as an International Baccalaureate Science teacher in Colorado. Additionally, she engaged in work of school innovation through RELAY Graduate School of Education in 2017 where she worked with her own school community and larger network to improve education for all scholars. She earned her B.A. in Education from University of Wyoming and M.Ed. And Ed.D/CI in educational leadership and curriculum and Instruction. |
Regional Director of Operations - Josh Duerr
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Josh has a dynamic blend of operations and education experience. For the past 6 years, he served as the Executive Director of a multi-site church in North Phoenix where he oversaw the operations, finances, and facilities of each of the church’s campuses. Josh also led their strategic planning and data analysis for the expansion efforts for each of the new campuses across the Valley.
Prior to serving as the Executive Director, Josh worked in a charter school network in South Phoenix for 6 years, where he taught middle school math and science and served two years as the Dean of Students. Josh has a Master’s in Business Administration, a Master’s in Educational Leadership, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education. |
Regional Director of Operations - Dara Wieser
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Dara grew up in Flagstaff Arizona where she earned her bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University. She also earned her MBA from University of Phoenix.
She has more than 20 years experience in diverse senior leadership positions in both private and nonprofit environments with majority spent in the education sector. Her past roles include leadership related to human resources, project management, operations management, ethics and compliance, enrollment and retention. |
Director of Human Resources - Emily Willis
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Director of Curriculum and Instruction - Blanca Payne
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Director Exceptional Student Services- Mr. Ettor Strada
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Director of Talent – Craig Peterson
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VP of Marketing – Caylee Migliorini
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VP of Enrollment & Data Compliance - Brandi Adams Bressler
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