About Us
LEAP’s Mission and Vision:
LEAP operates in the belief that everyone can be a world-changer. LEAP’S greatest passion is empowering children and their families to be the impactful people they are meant to be. From a 3-year-old to a 93-year-old, LEAP sees the inherent potential and depth of value that seek to be released in each individual. Truly, wealth is not confined to material success. There is a treasure trove of riches latent within each person, and it is LEAP’s mission to bring those out.
LEAP is committed to unlocking the potential and unique designs of children and their families to become increasingly better versions of who they are. It is LEAP's desire to empower those who do not yet recognize their talents & strengths to start seeing themselves in a new light. This is especially the case for the thousands of parents, children, adolescents, family members, care-takers, educators, professionals, and para-professionals that Joanna, LEAP’s founder and director, has worked with over the course of her 20 plus years as a school district psychologist and consultant and most currently as a Licensed Educational Psychologist.
Joanna Cheng, Founder & Director
Licensed Educational Psychologist #4101
PPS, Credentialed School Psychologist
In working with children and adolescents, LEAP sees deep and extraordinary value in each and every child regardless of perceived aptitude and ability. LEAP is passionate about equipping the next generation to rise up and take their place as the extraordinary leaders they are meant to be. LEAP is especially enthusiastic about uncovering each child’s unique “blueprint,” eliminating false beliefs that hinder greatness, and ultimately building upon one’s authentic design as a bridge between inherent potential and outward manifestation. This applies to a range of areas to include uncovering strengths and talents, cognitive ability and development, learning patterns, skills in different areas of processing, educational achievement, academic aptitude, emotional and behavioral well-being, personality and motivation, attention and executive functioning, discipline concerns, as well as social-emotional adjustment for issues such as anxiety and stress.
In working with students, parents, educators, professionals, and organizations, LEAP equips clients with tools founded upon research-based principles that are practical and custom-tailored to the clients’ lifestyles and preferences. LEAP makes sure that the time spent with clients is not only “solution focused” but also “principle focused.” With compassion and empathy, LEAP comes alongside children, families, and the communities that serve them by empowering them to see the principles under-girding issues that they or their loved ones are facing. Through a process of understanding the principles beneath specific issues, LEAP targets and prioritizes needs by propelling families & communities to use available tools in creative ways to address a variety of concerns.
Among the most thrilling things for Joanna (LEAP’S founder and director) to witness is when clients learn to generate their own tools to create solutions based on the principles they had learned through their partnership with LEAP. She calls these moments “Breaking Through the Stratosphere,” where new levels of insight arise and are catalyzed from thought to behavior. It is a mutually transformative process that enlivens each individual and the people in their lives.
Ultimately, LEAP’s vision is to see the collaborative creative process come to fruition by facilitating both current, ongoing improvement and future success for children, families, and their communities in the “real world.” In their time together, clients learn to reframe perspectives and come up with creative solutions founded upon research-based principles to overcome issues. They grow to be less “daunted” by problems and start viewing challenges through the lens of “opportunities” for further breakthrough and success. As people’s perspectives shift, mountains can be moved.
Why “LEAP”?
LEAP stands for Licensed Educational Achievement Professionals. However, more than just the acronym, LEAP is representative of the “Leap” of faith that all of us as individuals must take as we embrace our journey of stepping into our full potential. LEAP also represents the profound message embedded in Neil Armstrong’s famous quote: "That's one small step for man, one giant LEAP for mankind."
LEAP is committed to empowering children, families, and the communities that serve them to take their first (or umpteenth) step into their unique design as thriving, impactful individuals. The results can be exceptional, as people find themselves catalyzed to grow in leaps and bounds.
About LEAP’s Founder & Director, Joanna Cheng:
Joanna has over 20 years of professional experience as a school psychologist and most currently as a licensed educational psychologist providing in-depth psychological, educational, socio-emotional, and behavioral support to children, adolescents, young adults, families, educators, professionals, and para-professionals in both the public and private sectors. Since 2001, she has served as a district psychologist in schools across Los Angeles and Orange County providing detailed, comprehensive assessments and evaluations, trainings, consultation, and counseling for individuals and groups. Her expertise covers a range of areas to include cognitive ability, development, learning patterns, processing strengths and weaknesses, educational aptitude, academic achievement, emotional and behavioral functioning and wellness, personality and motivation, attention and executive functioning, discipline concerns, as well as social-emotional adjustment for a wide variety of issues.
In addition to working extensively with the General Education, Special Education, and private school populations, Joanna served as a school psychologist for the Gifted and Talented Education Program (GATE). She is currently one of the approved psychologists for The Mirman School for Highly Gifted Children to conduct cognitive evaluations. Joanna also provides cognitive and achievement assessments for applicants to the Davidson Institute for Profoundly Gifted Children as well as other private schools for gifted individuals. Additionally, as the co-coordinator for California’s Early Mental Health Initiative grant at a local school district, Joanna provided training and supervision for 28 counseling aides at 13 elementary schools focusing on prevention and early intervention for students with mild-to-moderate socio-emotional and behavioral adjustment challenges.
Joanna has trained and presented to groups on topics to include cognitive and socio-emotional development, as well as educational and psychological strategies for parents, educators, therapists, and psychologists. She also provides individual and group counseling, consultation, and evaluations for a wide range of educational, learning, socio-emotional, developmental, and behavioral issues. Joanna is a current member of the San Gabriel Valley Psychological Association and the California Association of School Psychologists.
Joanna is bilingual and converses in Chinese (Mandarin) and English.
Contact LEAP
Joanna Cheng
Licensed Educational Psychologist #4101
PPS, Credentialed School Psychologist