Elyse is Director of Operations for Five Keys Charter Schools, coordinating courses, teachers and students at all locations.

Margo Perin was writer-in-residence at San Francisco County Jails from 2001 to 2007, and taught English, American Literature, and Ethnic Literature at Five Keys in 2005. She recently returned to teach full-time at Five Keys with a focus on Seeking Safety for women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Abuse; Restorative Justice; and English.

In 2006, Margo published Only the Dead Can Kill: Stories from Jail (book and CD) with a grant from the Creative Work Fund, which has become mandatory reading for future correctional, parole, and police officers and social workers and educators in California State University East Bay's Criminal Justice Administration. The book has been widely distributed in the Bay Area among educators, social workers, and people living and working in the criminal justice system.

Margo is founder and director of Write & Rise (www.writeandrise.com), a restorative justice through the arts project fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts 501(c)(3). Write & Rise provides free writing and publishing programs for adults and youth working towards freedom from incarceration in jail and prison, for the formerly incarcerated upon reentering society, and for at-risk youth at group homes and substance treatment centers. Margo's work, as well as her childhood being raised by a criminal father on the run, was profiled in The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine in April 2006, and in O Magazine in January 2008. Along with formerly incarcerated writers, Margo presents quarterly readings at Bay Area venues.

Margo is also contributing editor of How I Learned to Cook and Other Writings on Complex Mother-Daughter Relationships (Tarcher-Penguin 2004) and author of two memoirs Criminals Intent and The Body Geographic, both of which were funded by San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grants. She is currently working on a performance Is This Me? with director Carlos Aguirre of Felonious. Her work has been widely profiled in print and radio/TV media, including The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, ElleGirl, Seventeen, Mexico's El Petit Journal, KRON4 TV, KALW, KPFA, and NPR Talk of the Nation.

Meredith is one of the founding teachers of the school -- coming to Five Keys by way of Berkeley High School and Mexico City among other pursuits. A Social Sciences teacher, she is known for getting fired up about the electoral process and emerging leaders like Kevin Johnson and Cory Booker. Currently on a leave of absence, she continues to telecommute, heading up the Curriculum Committee which is creating a school-wide curriculum to address the larger restorative justice mission of the school.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Richard attended Abraham Lincoln High School and received an Associate Degree from City College of San Francisco. He later attended State University of New York at Potsdam, where he received his B.A. and went on to do Post Graduate work at Syracuse University.

Married with two children, Richard retired from public school teaching in northern New York after nearly 30 years. He has been teaching at Five Keys since 2007. Richard enjoys out-of-door activities in his spare time.

Michael Foster is Five Keys 'Life Skills' Instructor and teaches at both the men's and women's facilities.

Marlon teaches ESL at Five Keys in San Bruno.

Anthony teaches Math and History at Five Keys in San Bruno.

Dana has been a teacher and educator in California for almost twenty-five years. From 1985 - 1990 Dana served in public office as a school board member for the Huntington Beach Unified School District. She got her first teaching job in 1991 at Center High School in the town of Antelope near Sacramento.

While at Center High, Dana took over a program that focused on students whose academic and behavior performance put them at risk for dropping out or being expelled. The program created a 'school within a school' that focused on basic skills in a team teaching environment. The success of the program was measured in the number of students who stayed in school and graduated. Dana was recognized as 1993's Outstanding Teacher for her work.

After moving back to the Bay Area where she grew up, Dana began teaching at the San Jose Conservation Corps. There, she worked with students who learned job skills in construction and related professions while attending school to earn their high school diplomas. In 2003 Dana was honored with SJCC's Si Se Puede! (Yes We Can!) Award.

In 2006 Dana joined the Five Keys Charter School staff to teach Social Studies to adults seeking their high school diplomas within the San Francisco County Jail system. In addition to her classroom work, she is involved with curriculum development and negotiating the first ever collective bargaining agreement for educators at FKCS. In 2008 Dana's teaching was profiled in the Bay Area Reporter.

Following a tour of duty in the United States Navy, Dana earned her Associate of Arts degree from Orange Coast College in 1981, Bachelors degree in History from California State University Fullerton in 1983, and Masters Degree in Business Administration in 1985 from National University in Irvine. She earned her Secondary teaching credential in Social Science through CSU Chico in 1990.

Sonya is an Independent Study Instructor with Five Keys.

Carl Alexander has been teaching computer skills to students at Five Keys since 2008. He has over 30 years of experience in the Information and Technology sector having worked in the corporate sector with Sprint, Kaiser Permanente, Visa International, Bank of America, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, and in the public sector with Alameda County Information Services Department.

Mr. Alexander is also Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Jireh Technologies, having recently completed the engineering & design of a state-of-the art Technology Learning Center at the True Hope Church. The Center is one of the first broadband wireless community distance learning/e-learning technology centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ranked among the top 5% of IT Engineers in the country, Mr. Alexander has extensive experience in network design and support of both WAN/MAN/LAN topology infrastructure, along with broadband wireless network administration & security.

Lia came to Five Keys Charter School in 2004 with over 12 years teaching and 5 years administrative experience. Her main interests are the development of literacy and language skills among underserved populations and exploring innovative ways to deliver instruction. She has created and developed several programs in distance learning and independent study modes such as ESL, parent education, adult basic education, and secondary subjects.

An avid traveller, she has published poetry, teaching manuals, and training materials, and has conducted many teacher training workshops not only in California, but also in the Philippines, Guam, Japan, Korea and Thailand.

Because she truly believes in education as a lifelong pursuit, she has presented and attended dozens of conferences in California and the Asia-Pacific Region, completed her Administrative Services Credential through the University of San Francisco, holds a California Designated Subjects Teaching Credential, held a Guam K-12 Teaching Credential, has a Master of Arts in Language and Literature, major in English as a Second Language, has several certificates for Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Japan, and completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Management, major in Business Law.

'Amir' is Five Keys' Poet Extraordinaire bringing words to life and inspiring students to do the same.

Darrow is a veteran website developer with over fifteen years experience in desktop publishing and multimedia production. She teaches computer skills at Five Keys and provides IT services for classrooms and offices. Darrow is the school's website developer and she particularly enjoys teaching students how to create and publish their own independent journalism, artwork and multimedia online. She is the mother of a nine year old son and is also studying law part-time. She plans to take the Bar Exam in 2013.

Kim is Five Keys' Reentry Coordinator.

A native San Franciscan, Eric went to UCSB for his undergraduate degree and then to Golden Gate University School of Law. Eric currently teaches 'The Law and You' at Five Keys.

Nichole is Deputy Director of Operations for Five Keys.

Vera is the Transcript Specialist for Five Keys.

Terese is currently teaching ESL with a touch of art, and a twist of choir at Five Keys in San Bruno. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts degree and Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University. Terese is an award winning visual artist. She was honored in 2002 by Former California Governor Gray Davis for her work as an Artist and Educator. Mr. Davis recognized Terese for her contributions to the art world and contributions toward cultural awareness. She is also a volunteer with the Bay Area Latina Literature Project. The mission of the Latina Literature Project is to enrich and improve the lives of young Latina women through exposure to positive role models, and the introduction of literature written by Latina authors.

A Bay Area native, Amelia studied Linguistics and Anthropology at UC Berkeley before going on to get her Masters in the Neurobiology of Language Acquisition and Teaching English as a Second Language at UCLA. Her Masters thesis, "Oh, Crap! I can't believe I just said that!" investigates the neuro-biological underpinnings of acquiring obscenity (i.e. "bad" words), as well as the socio-linguistic competence required for its appropriate use.

Amelia's interest in language and culture has driven her to become an ESL and Adult Basic Education teacher. Her teaching philosophy is based around the belief that life-long learning and growth is the key to success in every life. In her classes, Amelia works to help each student to find their goals and passions, and to develop the skills they need to work towards them. She currently teaches Independent Study Courses for Five Keys.

Marisa is Five Keys' Administrative Assistant.

Colleen McGee is Coordinator for County Jail 5, San Bruno.

Kelli provides Administrative Support for Five Keys.