Ms. Melanie Schade is Prep’s new Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Relations. She worked with volunteers at Prep last school year, but was not an official member of faculty at the time.

Ms. Schade lived in Texas and Illinois during her childhood, but moved to Jackson while she was in middle school. Her favorite childhood memory is going to the beach every summer with her family. She attended Holmes Community College for her first two years of college, and then finished out her college career at Belhaven University, graduating with a major in Communications.

Before coming to Prep, she worked as a Special Events Manager for Friends of Children’s Hospital, a branch of the Blair Batson Hospital. Her favorite part of working for Prep is meeting all the staff members and students, and she loves every member of the faculty. “They’re all here for a good reason,” she says. She was particularly surprised by our school’s cafeteria, saying that it was much better compared to her high school’s cafeteria.

Ms. Schade  is married to Mr. Justin Schade, who flies helicopters for the National Guard. The Schades have two daughters, six-yea-old Molly and two-yea-old Amelia.

In her spare time, Ms. Schade loves to travel. She says that her favorite travel destination is New York City, especially Times Square, which is where her husband Justin proposed to her.

In her new job, she is looking forward to planning some events to take place on campus at Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Southern Mississippi. Interestingly enough, she says has never set foot on the campus of any of these universities, which she hopes will make the experience of planning these events much more of an entertaining experience.

Ms. Schade said, “I’m glad to be at Prep to raise money for things such as the annual fund and working with our alumni…trying to do the best job I can for the school!”