My name is Mrs. Melissa Oliver, and this is my twenty-eighth year of teaching and my twenty-first year teaching at Richland Elementary! I am a graduate of IUP, where I earned a B.S. in Elementary Education and an M.Ed. with a Reading Specialist Certification. In addition, I completed the ESL Program Specialist Certification through IU8 in 2011.
My teaching career began at West End Catholic School, where I spent three years teaching Second Grade. As a graduate of the Conemaugh Township Area School District, I was excited to return to my home district, where I spent four years teaching Fourth Grade, Third Grade, and working as a Reading Specialist before joining the Richland Elementary family as a Reading Specialist.
During my years at Richland, I have worked as a Title I Reading Teacher, Third Grade Teacher, and English Language Development Teacher, supporting our students who are English Language Learners. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful students and families throughout my career!
I live in Richland with my husband, Mike, and our two children, Madelyn and Mason. Madelyn graduated from Richland High School in 2020 and the University of Pittsburgh in 2024. She completed graduate school at IUP in 2026 and is now working as an Admissions Counselor at Penn Highlands. Mason graduated from Richland High School in 2024 and is currently a junior at Saint Francis University, where he is majoring in Physical Therapy.
We are all so excited about the 2026–2027 school year, and I am especially excited to begin another wonderful year at Richland Elementary!
