There is a boy playing football this season who once struggled to catch a ball.

For years, he could not track it through the air. Coaches worked with him. His family encouraged him. He kept trying. But something was not connecting.

Then his mother brought him in for an eye exam with Dr. John Ormando.

During the visit, Dr. Ormando identified an eye-tracking issue that had likely been affecting the way this child experienced school, sports, and daily life for years. With the right diagnosis, the right care plan, and the right support, everything began to change.

The boy who once struggled to catch became a starting player.

That is the kind of care families remember. And it is the kind of care Ardmore Eye Care is building upon as it enters its next chapter as Ardmore Eye & Optical.

Each year, the Main Line Parent team asks readers who they love and why through a ballot that opens in December and runs through Valentine’s Day. Families don’t just vote; they share heartfelt, specific endorsements in their own words. Their stories make the annual LOVE List a sincerely trustworthy collection of referrals because every nomination reflects a real family’s real experience.

Main Line Parent Members like Ardmore Eye & Optical collect endorsements year-round directly on their Profile Page. Each endorsement counts toward the following year’s recognition.

A Legacy Practice, Thoughtfully Reimagined

For more than 30 years, Dr. James Hall built something special on the Main Line: a neighborhood eye care practice where families were known by name, not by chart number.

Generations of patients came through the doors for first eye exams, new glasses, contact lenses, medical eye care, and the kind of personal attention that has become harder to find. His legacy is part of the community, and it remains the foundation of what Ardmore Eye & Optical is becoming.

Now, under the ownership of Dr. John Ormando and Dr. Scott Colonna, the practice is being thoughtfully reimagined for the next generation of Main Line families.

The name will soon officially become Ardmore Eye & Optical, but the heart of the practice remains the same: careful medicine, personal service, and a deep respect for the families who have trusted this office for decades.

With a refreshed space, expanded clinical care, and a more curated optical experience, the team is honoring the past while building something even stronger for the future.

Two Doctors, One Purpose — and a Pennsylvania Homecoming

For Dr. Ormando, coming to Ardmore is personal.

He grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in a family where eye care mattered from the very beginning. He, his mother, and his sister all live with advanced myopia, and some of his earliest childhood memories include going to the eye doctor with his family. By his sophomore year of high school, he already knew he wanted to become an optometrist.

His longtime partner, Dr. Scott Colonna, came to the profession from a different path. A recruited college basketball player from Staten Island, Dr. Colonna saw his athletic career end after an injury during his first semester. That experience taught him early that life can change quickly — and that what matters most is how you respond.

The two met at the SUNY College of Optometry in New York City. In 2001, with no investors, no private equity backing, and no corporate playbook, they purchased a small, one-doctor practice in Providence, Rhode Island.

They opened their doors in a community that needed more access to quality eye care. They adjusted their hours so working families could come after work. They built relationships slowly, honestly, and one patient at a time.

More than 25 years later, that same independent spirit still guides them.

Their group has grown, but the philosophy has not changed: take the best care of people like everyone is family, and never let eye care feel rushed, cold, or corporate.

For Dr. Ormando, bringing that approach back to Pennsylvania feels like a homecoming.

What Main Line Families Are Already Saying

Word is already spreading among local families, and the nominations say it best.

“I brought my son in and he could not have been happier with the service and the expertise,” shared Erica D., a local mom who visited the practice with her son. “Dr. Ormando and Dr. Patel were both incredible and took their time with us. We got my son fitted in contacts, and the training he received from Tori had him putting them in and out easily by the third try. We were able to find the perfect glasses for both of us with help from the optician Michael. I can’t say enough good things about this practice.”

It is the kind of experience that can turn a first visit into a family tradition.

Comprehensive Eye Care for Every Stage of Family Life

Ardmore Eye & Optical provides comprehensive eye care for the whole family — from a child’s first eye exam and contact lens fittings for teens, to dry eye treatment, specialty lenses, and medical eye care for adults.

Children’s vision is a major focus of the practice because it affects so much more than eyesight. It can shape how a child learns, plays, reads, performs in school, participates in sports, and sees themselves in the world.

Through thorough pediatric eye exams, the team looks beyond the basic question of whether a child can read letters on a chart. They evaluate how the eyes work together, how they focus, how they track, and whether vision may be affecting a child’s comfort, confidence, or performance.

For children with progressive nearsightedness, Ardmore Eye & Optical also offers myopia management, a proactive approach designed to help slow the progression of myopia over time.

The goal is simple: protect vision today while helping families make informed decisions for the future.

Just as important, the practice is committed to making quality eye care feel approachable. Ardmore Eye & Optical accepts many major insurance plans and welcomes both new and returning patients.

Where Medicine Meets Personal Style

Glasses are different from the rest of your wardrobe.

You may change your clothes every day — work clothes, school pickup clothes, weekend clothes, dinner clothes. But most people wear the same pair of glasses every morning. To work. To school. To dinner. In family photos. In the moments people remember.

That is why the optical experience at Ardmore Eye & Optical has been elevated alongside the clinical renovation.

The collection is curated, not simply stocked. Frames are chosen for craftsmanship, comfort, quality, and personality. Patients receive one-on-one styling from a team that understands both fit and personal style.

It feels like a boutique, but with the warmth of a neighborhood practice.

Because seeing clearly matters. But feeling like yourself matters too.

A New Era for a Trusted Main Line Practice

Whether your family has been coming to Ardmore Eye Care for decades or you have never walked through the door, the team is ready to welcome you.

The practice is changing in all the right ways: a refreshed space, expanded care, a more thoughtful optical experience, and independent doctors who believe deeply in relationship-based eye care.

But the most important thing is not changing. This is still a place where families are known, listened to, and cared for.

To learn more or schedule an appointment, visit Ardmore Eye & Optical.

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Photos courtesy of Ardmore Eye & Optical as seen in the Best for Families Guide.

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