Teachers

Melissa Conklin

Classroom Teacher

Melissa Conklin is thrilled to be part of such a great team at the Genesee Community Charter School. Melissa received her Bachelors degree in Studio Art from Marietta College and her Masters of Education from Nazareth College. Working at a school where the Arts are integrated with the classroom is the exact setting she always imagined.

Melissa is a Rochester native but has traveled around the world. She enjoys many hobbies in her time out of school- sewing, beading, origami, music.... Melissa looks forward to learning new hobbies from her students and sharing great writing.

Chris Dolgos

Classroom Teacher

Whether he is showing fifth graders how to find orbiting satellites with the naked eye, challenging third graders to support their ideas in literature circles, or leading students on a dawn chorus hike, Chris Dolgos loves to introduce students to new sights, sounds, and experiences. He has been teaching at GCCS since it opened in 2001 and was on the planning committee that secured the school's charter. While new to fifth grade, he has been teaching in classroom and museum settings since 1994 and has received several grant and fellowship awards for his curriculum work. Most recently he received a Fund for Teachers grant in 2006 that allowed him to study raptor migration at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary (PA) and the Cape May Bird Observatory (NJ).

Chris enjoys learning along with his students and continues his own lifelong learning by participating in workshops and coursework as a participant as well as a presenter. When he isn’t in the classroom, Chris is hiking through Mendon Ponds with his eight year-old twin daughters and three year-old son, sharing a cup of coffee at Border's with his wife, or peering through his binoculars at the many feathered visitors in his backyard.

Maggie Torres

Teaching Assistant

Maggie Torres is ecstatic about working with such an eager and talented group of students and being part of an elite team of teachers. She became part of the GCCS team as a Room Parent Volunteer Coordinator in its inaugural year, 2001.She helped with small groups of children in the classroom and in field studies. At the same time, Maggie was a full-time student obtaining an Associate Degree in Administrative Information Processing. After graduating, however, her dedication and passion for working with children led her to become a substitute Teaching Assistant in winter of 2002. She was soon hired as a full-time Teaching Assistant in second grade during spring of 2003.

Maggie was born and raised in Rochester, and is fluent in both English and Spanish. She loves working with children and being part of their educational lives. During her time off, she loves spending time with her family and thinking about what amusement park they will go to next (she and her family love thrill rides), watching movies, and reflecting and planning lessons that are challenging and fun to teach in Computer Lab class.