The Story of AMS
1994
The Beginning
Our founding story begins with the determination of a community visionary and has persevered nourished by the values engrained in our model.
Founder Tatyana Chayka emigrated from Uzbekistan with her sons during a time of turbulence bringing with her great skill, knowledge, and dreams for her sons.
1996
Community
Tatyana quickly became a beloved active member of her community. Experiencing her own son’s educational journey, she harnessed the fullness of our great Nation’s values and began to look for solutions that would benefit not just her children, but that of all children; no exceptions!
With a lifetime of experience and understanding, our founders knew the implications access to an education has on a communities future. Tatyana was unwilling to settle. Not for her sons and not for her community. Determined to make a difference, little by little, in communities with an array unmet needs, she saw a way forward that would thwart poverty, promotes community cohesion, and provide a foundation from which families could thrive; generationally better than the prior
2000
AMS is Founded
Determination fanned by circumstance and a growing movement, Tatyana Chayka and Sergey Sheyavich founded the Academies of Math and Science! This would become the first of 9 campuses to change the way education is fully leveraged in Arizona’s most under resourced and historically plighted neighborhoods.
2002
1st School Opens
Determination fanned by circumstance and a growing movement, Tatyana Chayka and Sergey Sheyavich founded the Academies of Math and Science! This would become the first of 9 campuses to change the way education is fully leveraged in Arizona’s most under resourced and historically plighted neighborhoods.
2005
AMS Grows
Innovation is risky but absolutely required to achieve our greatest aspirations! With the support of Cathy Lund of the Walton Family Foundation, AMS transitioned from a bold educational leap that finally gave thousands of scholar families the academic model Tucson desperately needed, to firmly rooted. Arizona has a new homegrown option for their scholars!
2008
Award-Winning
With our scholars dedicated to performing at their peak, AMS was made a Blue Ribbon School; A remarkable feat. Each year after a rigourous selection process, an average of 325 schools from across the nation are awarded this prestigous catagorization by the U.S. Department of Education. AMS is proud to represent Arizona!
2008
Second School Opens
AMS’s second school to open, MASSA was a welcomed addition to the Midvale Park, Barrio Elvira and Sunnyside Neighborhoods. Daily 700 students engage in rigorous learning exercises designed to meet scholars unique learning styles while optimizing intrinsic scholar motivation to continue striving for excellence; in and out of the classroom!
2010
Enrollment Grows
Growing from 30 scholars to almost 2,000, our families felt confident in becoming a central figure in their scholar’s academic journey, some for the first time ever!. Mrs. Chayka had lit a fire of possibility and purpose in communities who had long been dismissed. With the best education in the best environment, anything is possible.
2011
Phoenix
After an eye-opening trip to phoenix, AMS strategically layed the groundwork, to serve an even greater number of scholars spanning region! With a future forward vision, Mrs. Chayka again did what she does best and galvanized the broader community around the infinite potential of children! Rooted in our values, again, we chose the neighborhoods where future generation of Arizonan's where not being fully served as they deserve and are entitled to.
2013
Phoenix First School
AMS Flower opened it’s doors to more than 550 students in one of Phoenix’s most historically challenged and under resourced neighborhoods near 33rd Avenue and Thomas. In partnership the community we have transformed the educational experience for thousands of local scholar families.
2015
Second Phoenix School
AMS opened to serve just over 1,000 students from the Maryvale and surrounding areas. With poverty ranking 2 times that of the national average, AMS hinged our implimentation of academics on mitigating the circumstances that kept our families in a stat of survival. Our common goal was to thrive, and that we did!
2016
AZ Charter of the Year
When asked what what motivates CEO Kim Chayka to further their work in communities with such pervasively high needs, Kim replied “if not us, then who will? History has demonstrated that in the absense of high perforing schools, poverty and the cconditions which stifle the following generations will persist. It must be us and we believe others will join!”
2018
Desert Sky
In response to a deficit in high performing school options in the Desert Sky neighborhoods, AMS harnessed the passion and galvanizing spirit of our founders and opened AMS Desert Sky in partnership with the surrounding community! To date we have promoted almost 500 “Dragons” on to their high school chapter prepared and confident!
2019
AMS Enters Peoria
AMS Peoria Advanced demonstrates our perpetual strive to provide our scholars with a classroom to community experience backed by advanced curriculum which equips them with the analytical & thinking skills to become the very best version of themselves; for their family and for their future!
2019
AMS Expands to Glendale
AMS Glendale opened to serve 1,000+ students from the surrounding area where 30% of families earn less than $18,310 annually. AMS Glendale has become a beacon for betterment in partnership with the organizations who aid our families in becoming their own agents of change!
2020
AMS Opens in Avondale
AMS Avondale opened to serve 1,000 students from the surrounding areas. Hallmark to our values of do whatever it takes, with integrity, our students take tremendous pride in fully earning their scores. No “cramming” for the test, scaffoled and methodical is the approach we know will best serve our students and remain central to their work ethic DNA future forward.
2020
AMS South Mountain
AMS South Mountain is the model for excellence in cross-sector community partnerships! Honed in on the true needs of our scholar families and the community, this campus serves as a trusted source of resources, adult education, and community betterment for our 1,000+ scholar families.
TODAY
A & B Grades
Today, AMS embraces our vital role in shaping the Arizona of tomorrow in partnership our families and community stakeholders to ensure our families soar. Together we are leveraging deeply rooted community assets to fuel our scholars incredible work in traversing profound learning gaps post-pandemic and we are making unpresidented gains!
AMS scholars have taken the torch Mrs. Chayka and Mr. Sheyavich lit 23 years ago to continue achieving A & B ratings for their schools despite challenges outside of their control. We remain the only charter system of our size serving almost 80% FRL to achieve and maintain such gains. Today, we are our founder’s vision and hope realized!
TOMORROW
Our work is not done!
AMS is a driver of Arizona's many industries with amazing minds, skillful hands, and collaboratively oriented visionaries who have tremendous resilience, GRIT, and drive. It took a pandemic to look at eachother directly in the eye from our silos. Now that we have seen and can appreciate our interconnectedness, the future requires we share the torch; AMS, our families, and you!
To speak with an enrollment representative Call: 602-584-6625