Our Teachers

Leyla founded Red Wagon Learning Center following an extensive career in private and public early childhood education and in business. Fluent in three language – English, Turkish, and Arabic – she is passionate about language and learning.  

After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Bogazici University in Turkey, she began her career teaching kindergarten at the University child development center. She then taught English as a second language at several private elementary schools before moving to Vancouver, Canada to attend the University of British Columbia, where she obtained a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.

She moved to Northern Virginia in 2010 where she taught at Bright Horizons family solutions before being recruited by The Learning Care Group Company, parent company of La Petite Academy, to serve as Assistant Director.  As she started her family, she taught early childhood education and curriculum development at Columbia College and opened and operated a successful Tropical Smoothie franchise.

As her daughter approached school-age, she leveraged her entrepreneurial spirit, love of learning and unique understanding of private childcare to launch The Red Wagon Learning Center, a project-based learning approach to before and after school childcare.

Lauren brings a wealth of expertise to the leadership team. She began her career at Dale City Elementary in Prince William County teaching first and second grade for several years. Having previously taught abroad briefly in Rome, Italy and Nairobi, Kenya, she returned to international teaching, serving at the Qatar Academy Al Wakra in Doha, Qatar, a bilingual school that follows the International Baccalaureate (IB) inquiry-based teaching approach.

Lauren holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies, with a Minor in Elementary Education and a Concentration in Math, Science, and Technology, both from James Madison University.

Our team is comprised of future and former educators – those aspiring to become teachers and others that join us following a teaching career.

Our teachers are screened to ensure they share our passion for caring, protecting, and communicating with children. We are proud of our team and their dedication to our mission and our students’ success.