Ivy Schwartz was born and bred in New York City and schooled in the New York City public school system. She earned a B.A. from Hunter College, City University of NY, and an M.A. and M.ED. in Curriculum & Instruction from Columbia University. For 20 years Ivy had experience as Director of Early Childhood programs for Inner City Minority communities and private Jewish Day School programs. 
She came to live in Israel in 2005, to Netanya. As a volunteer and ESRA member she developed an English Tutorial program for high school students in preparation for their matriculation (bagrut) exams.