About Ms Claudia
Ms. Claudia Cubillos, Our Founder
Ms. Claudia was born in New Jersey to Colombian immigrants and is the youngest of nine children. Her late father was the owner of a local flower shop and enthusiastically followed the political and business news of his newly adopted homeland. Her late mother was a homemaker who cared for the neighborhood children and worked with her husband at their flower shop. Ms. Claudia excelled at school. She was a National Honor Society member at Coral Gables Senior High School, the Student Body President at Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus, after which she attended Florida International University. She is a proud graduate of both Miami Dade College and Florida International University. Ms. Claudia holds the State of Florida Advanced Childcare Director’s – VPK Endorsed Credential and achieved the National Administrator’s Credential in Childcare Management.
Fluent in English and Spanish and functional in Portuguese, Ms. Claudia began her career working alongside a Miami philanthropist, planning and executing multiple high-profile community events including the Miami Film Festival, the Italian Film Festival, and Miami’s centennial celebration. Ms. Claudia proudly earned the Miami Centennial 1896-1996 Shareholder Certificate No. 00084. After that, Ms. Claudia served as an International Sales Manager and as an International Education Executive specializing in duty-free sales training for the Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. After her mother succumbed to Pancreatic Cancer, Ms. Claudia followed in her family’s entrepreneurial tradition by leveraging her experiences as an Orton-Gillingham trained reading coach and as an International Training-Education Executive to found Ms. Claudia’s Village Academy in 2007 in El Portal, FL. Ms. Claudia’s Village Academy is an infant-kindergarten day school with after school programs through 5th grade, tutoring services through 3rd grade, and a wide variety of early childhood educational services.
Ms. Claudia’s motto “A Posse Ad Esse” means “From Possibility to Reality” — a reference to the origins of our infant thru Kindergarten Day School — Ms. Claudia’s Village Academy, and the vision of the Founder and Owner, Ms. Claudia. She is passionate about children, education, giving back and the future. Her relentless drive stems from watching her parents work hard and lead by example within a bustling home in a new country. They taught her invaluable life lessons as a young girl that have proven fruitful as a young entrepreneur starting a business and later as Mayor of El Portal. “My focus is all heart and a dogged pursuit of a life characterized by a strong sense of civic duty and love for people —family and community that was ingrained in me at an early age.” says Ms. Claudia.
Her late mother and six older sisters are her role models. As the youngest, she has witnessed firsthand the sacrifices women throughout the generations have made for their families as well as the changes to the roles women can play. Given the sacrifices she witnessed from the women before her, she values the opportunities and life she has. “I live my life honoring my late mother and sisters – my passion is to hire, inspire, and mentor community college girls and single mothers as they work toward their higher education, purpose and/or career, while simultaneously receiving entrepreneurial skills. I hope to empower, encourage and inspire all girls – all women to rise up to overcome challenges. I live each day as a living example of a woman who always recovers from setbacks no matter how difficult or frequent they are.” Ms. Claudia.
Ms. Claudia is often asked what’s her greatest joy and accomplishment: “The circle of life – the impact we make and the young lives we have touched and changed. This evolution of having students as early as 3 years of age who start off in my preschool, who then continues on to attend our after-care program, who then comes back to volunteer while in high school to then some of who have come back to work here and I am their first employer. There’s nothing like this. We are shaping the future – it starts here with us, everyday – inspiring the next generation of future leaders, one child at at time! That’s my joy – this is my purpose – they are my why!”
To learn more about our founder, click here.
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Ms Claudia's Village Academy
8661 NE 2nd Avenue
El Portal, FL 33138
305-999-7223