804-930-7338
LITTLE LEAF VILLAGE ACADEMY LLC
ABOUT US
Hello, My name is John Ortiz. I am the owner/operator of LLVA. From the beginning, my career choices have been solely focused on one thing, Early Childhood Education. Owning and operating an education-based childcare program has been a dream of mine for many years. My loving wife, Amy, encouraged me in this endeavor.  Our two young children, ages 6 and 3, have been quite the little helpers as we prepared to open LLVA.  As a family, we are very proud of our hard work and dedication to this dream and we are now ready to share our program with the Louisa Community! We hope that you will give us the opportunity to provide a high quality childcare program for your family.
STAFF
John Ortiz, Owner, Educator
From early on, John knew he wanted to be a teacher. It is funny now to think that his first job on the ski slopes a children's instructor, ensuring a safe but fun skiing experience would blossom into a teaching career. Since those snowy years, John graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education Services, worked as a substitute teacher in the Maryland public school system, held a unique duel-director/Pre-Kindergarten teacher role for Head Start and worked for a private Childcare company balancing a multi-faceted role, encompassing administrative, director, and educator duties for the ECE, summer camp and school-age programs.
John then obtained a position with the United States Army as a civilian at Fort Meade, Maryland, working as a Pre-K Strong Beginnings instructor with Child, Youth and School Services. While in the process of transferring to Fort Belvoir to become a Training And Curriculum Specialist/ Assistant Director, he worked for Kindercare as an Assistant Director. While working at Fort Belvoir, he gained a wealth of experience and completed Masters Level Early Childhood Education business specific courses. He also became a American Heart Association Certified CPR, First Aid, AED instructor.
The final leg of Johns journey with the ARMY culminated in being tasked with a central role in opening and operating a satellite Child Development Center in Charlottesville, VA. While at Rivanna Station, John was entrusted with the ethical and financial responsibility of being a government Purchase Credit Card holder for the Center.​
In all facets of Johns career, he has been required to pass background checks, with the most comprehensive being obtaining and maintaining a Public Trust Security Clearance for the Federal Government.
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Amy Ortiz, Assistant Educator
Amy obtained her Bachelors and Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology from West Virginia University. While working on her BS, she applied to and was accepted into a special minor curriculum in Aquatic Therapy. Working as an Aquatic Therapist provided many amazing experiences. The flexible schedule and diverse patient population supported and influenced Amy as she sought to complete her MS. Additionally, with patient populations ranging from five year olds to octogenarians, Amy quickly learned that no matter the age, everyone enjoys pool time!
Amy completed her MS in Exercise Physiology with an emphasis in Cardiac Rehabilitation and went on to work for Erickson Retirement Living (ERL) in Maryland. During her tenure, she worked at the community and corporate level. Highlights from her time with ERL include: teaching group exercise classes-even earning a special certification in balance training, working with patrons to create individualized fitness plans based on rehabilitation goals, developing community programming to promote healthy lifestyle choices, traveling nationally to all ERL communities for evaluations and to open new facilities. As the ERL corporate Assistant Director of Resident Life for the Fitness and Aquatic Centers, Amy gathered data on utilization and funds to justify staffing and programming needs and worked as a policy writer. But, perhaps MOST importantly, while working at corporate headquarters, Amy worked in close connection with several Registered Nurses. This inspired her to further her education by achieving her Associates and Bachelors degrees in Nursing. As a Registered Nurse, Amy has worked for such esteemed medical institutions as an inpatient nurse for the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Virginia.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Process Over Product
The process over product approach addresses how and when particular outcomes are necessary. A child’s natural inclination to explore is a process. Teacher driven instruction is a product. Although every child is unique, there are milestones and benchmarks that are widely held with regards to age related development. It is LLVA’s assertion that process driven outcomes are being replaced by product driven outcomes earlier than necessary in the ECE industry. This is detrimental to development because it hinders exploration thereby changing the natural learning progression. To offset this trend in the industry, LLVA promotes the process approach for our program.  This allows students to discover the world at a unique pace, pursue individual interests, and nurture their own curiosities and creativities. Current public educational philosophies in the United States are immediately focused on product driven outcomes. Students will transition to a more product driven approach once they are in their final year with our program, ensuring they are prepared for the amount of didactic instruction in kindergarten.