Rochester Staff Bios

Dr. Karen Fahy, CEI Rochester, Executive Director of School Transformation and Accountability: Karen has over 30 years of experience in education and improving student learning and outcomes for underserved students. With a focus on providing equitable learning experiences for all students, she has served as an ENL teacher, secondary English teacher and department chair, instructional coach, building administrator and district level administrator. Karen has worked with NYSED on the development of teacher certification exams and student benchmark exams, and served on the NYSED Early Learning Task Force that helped develop the NYS Next Generation ELA standards that integrate purposeful play to develop literacy. She has successfully led multiple NYS priority standards-based curriculum writing teams that produced PK-12 culturally relevant curriculum frameworks with embedded common formative assessments and the associated implementation tools. She has led professional learning communities on high quality literacy instruction, data driven instruction, student engagement, including making thinking visible through writing, prioritizing learning outcomes, rigorous assignments and assessments of student learning, and educational leadership.

Karen most recently served as the Director of English Language Arts and Integrated Literacy for Rochester City School District from 2017-2021, and as the Director of the StriveTogether collective impact network in Geneva, NY.

Karen holds a Doctorate in Educational Administration, an Advanced Certificate in School District Leadership, a Master’s in Education and Curriculum Writing, and a Bachelor’s in English Literature, all from the University of Rochester. She holds New York State School District Leader (SDL) and School Building Level (SBL) certifications and is a graduate of RL Thomas High School in Webster, NY.

Dylan Burrows, CEI Rochester, Data and Assessment Coach: Dylan has successfully led instructional staff development, high school math curriculum creation and implementation, and expansion of college-credit and Advanced Placement courses for underrepresented populations. He is a former Instructional Coach in Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, Dylan spearheaded the data-driven selection, personalization, and implementation of high school math curriculum resources for two high schools across a charter network. As part of the curriculum implementation project, he mapped the NextGen standards to the corresponding Tennessee Math Standard. During his time as Instructional Coach, 100% of his math teachers improved their state-required TEAM evaluation scores.

Before serving as Instructional Coach, Dylan was a mathematics content lead, high school math teacher and middle school math teacher. He formed and expanded the college-credit and Advanced Placement courses in mathematics in an expanding school. With the school’s inaugural graduating class, he led the first AP Statistics class to a pass rate that exceeded the city, state, and national averages.

Dylan holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Lipscomb University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from the University at Buffalo.

Mary Doyle, CEI Rochester, Director of School Improvement, Development, and Partnerships: Mary has successfully led urban school improvement efforts, obtained resources to support struggling schools, and established essential partnerships to advocate for schools. She is former Executive Director of State School Improvement Interventions for the New York City Department of Education, a district of over one million students, from 2012-2021. In New York City, she oversaw implementation of state initiatives including School Receivership, schools identified as having the lowest performance in New York State, and receivership requirements including reporting, site visits, and results. New York City started with 62 receivership schools in 2015 and was down to 12 Receivership schools when Mary returned to Rochester in 2021.

Mary was Chief of Staff and Chief of School Innovation for the Rochester City School District under two different superintendents over four years from 2008-2012. She started the Office of School Innovation and implemented a variety of reforms including school redesign, new school development, and school closure, while also obtaining resources to support these efforts. Mary established critical partnerships including a district-charter collaboration network with Rochester charter schools. As Chief of Staff, she implemented district priorities, developed materials on behalf of the superintendent, and oversaw the Office of Communications and Office of School Innovation. In addition, Mary was previously District Strategic Planner for the Providence Public Schools and a teacher in the Boston Public Schools.

Mary holds an Advanced Certificate in School District Leadership from the University of Rochester, a Master’s in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and graduated from Tufts University. She holds New York State School District Leader (SDL) certification and is a graduate of East High School in the Rochester City School District.