Marla Hayes

Marla was born in Wilmington and raised in a military family. The love of working with children began during high school while she assisted her mother in her home based preschool. After high school and her father retiring, the family relocated back to Wilmington to their roots.  She attended Cape Fear Community College and UNCW while working in banking for 10 years and running her own janitorial business. She met her husband shortly after and settled down to start a family. After becoming a mom, she decided to stay home and invest in her children. It wasn’t long before she embarked on an opportunity that would change her career path. A friend encouraged her to teach in a mother’s morning out program at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk where she served for 3 years. This led to another journey of opening a new preschool program at Saint Andrews On The Sound. She was on staff there serving for 15 years in various capacities such as Pre-2’s and 2’s lead teacher, 3’s teacher assistant, combination class lead, and summer camp director/counselor. During those years, it was evident that homeschooling was a part of her family’s life with this year being the last of 21 years. Her most recent position was serving as the music teacher of Scotts Hill Christian Academy for 10 years. She was also a substitute in various age classrooms as situations would arise. Other experience includes teaching a pod of 4 students during the pandemic via virtual learning and providing support for their families. She currently offers tutoring in various subjects for elementary age children. She looks forward to the new adventure of working with students and families at NSCL. 

Marla enjoys spending time with her family, walks on the beach, and trips to the mountains. She also loves worship music and journaling. She has been married to her beloved husband, Steve, for 28 years. They are the parents of 3 sons. Logan is the production manager for Thalian’s youth program, the Community Arts Center, in downtown Wilmington and is currently working to finish his degree at UNCW. Ryan operates his own renovation business and collaborates with other local business owners. Jonathan is a senior homeschool student dually enrolled at CFCC and serves on the production team at church. Their family has been members of Scotts Hill Baptist Church for 10 years and served in worship, production, connections, and children’s ministry.