Leahy tapped as Rockville Centre’s Special Ed administrator

A driving passion for a life of service is the common thread that runs through the careers that outgoing SSHS Assistant Principal Noreen Leahy has pursued. And the job that Leahy, 51, is set to assume after this school year ends, is no exception. She has been named as Rockville Centre ‘s Administrator for Special Education and Pupil Personnel Services, and is poised to step into the role that Eileen Kamhi held for 16 years.

"I’m filling really big shoes,” said Leahy of Kamhi, with whom she worked closely and still speaks with often.

“I anticipate a smooth transition and I really just want to do my very best to meet the needs of the students, their parents and support the superintendent in his goals for the district,” she said, adding that she will look at decisions through the eyes of what’s best for the children, think compassionately and closely follow mandates for special education — the guidelines and laws that are under constant review and change. Leahy also said she would consider those mandates within the context of district resources.

Leahy’s admittedly unlikely path to a career in education has led her, an East Rockaway native, from the Naval Academy, to South Side High School and now to the district’s administration. Along the way she continued her own education — receiving a master’s degree, new certification and leadership training. And in addition to her new administrative role, she plans to start classes at Hofstra University this fall in a doctoral

program .

Her work in education, she said, is a marriage of her interests. After graduating, Leahy spent nine years in active duty, beginning with a three--year stint on the USS Yosemite, a destroyer supply and repair tender ship. Initially assigned to the engineering department, and going on to roles as the ship’s navigator and director of communications and operations, it was her next assignment— teaching classes in navigation, communications, tactical maneuvering, shipboard management and leadership — that ignited her interest in education.