Our Staff

Child Care Director

Melissa R. Ward is our Director for the Gail and Terry Richardson Center for the Child. She received her Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from FMU in 1995 and her Master of Education in Instructional Accommodation from FMU in 2016. She has taught 5K in Florence School District One, and 3K at Central United Methodist Church Preschool. She was director for Central UMC Preschool prior to coming to the Center for the Child.  Melissa is a member of the South Carolina Early Childhood Association and the South Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children.She has two children, Cameron, a 2023 graduate of The Citadel and Hailey, a junior at Francis Marion University.
mward@fmarion.edu

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