English Department Chairperson
Joseph Leavy is in his seventh year as a member of the Huntington School District's administrative team. He became chairperson of humanities, 7-12 in July 2011. During the previous six years he served as district director of humanities, K-12.
Mr. Leavy began his career in the district in September 1997 as a social studies teacher and has worked at both the middle school and high school levels. He currently supervises secondary grade level English and social studies teachers and the 7-12 curriculum and programs in both academic disciplines.
In addition to teaching AP American History, Regents level Economics, Global and U.S. History classes and working as an instructor of English-as-a-Second Language, Mr. Leavy has served as middle school newspaper club advisor, coordinator of National History Day activities, co-facilitator of the WISE student internship program, class advisor, curriculum writer and author of new course proposals.
Mr. Leavy, who was his high school's student government president, graduated from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in 1984 as class valedictorian. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in philosophy in 1988 from Adelphi, where he also earned also earned a Master of Arts in social studies education in 1991.
Mr. Leavy engaged in private language study of Mandarin Chinese at Fu Ren University in Hsinschuang, Taiwan from September 1993 to June 1994 and later went on to earn a second Master of Arts degree in Chinese studies in 2000 from St. John's University, where he conducted research into the 19th century Taiping Rebellion. He has served as a Chinese language translator for communications with parents of Huntington students.
Prior to coming to the district, Mr. Leavy taught at St. Thomas the Apostle School and The Windsor School, worked as an instructor in the Hope for Youth at-risk program and in January 1992 became the first American to teach English at Ta Hwa College of Commerce in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He worked there through June 1994.
An admirer of Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. Leavy worked as a tour guide for the National Parks Service at the former president's home at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. He maintains memberships in a number of historical and professional societies and won the Clio Award from the Phi Alpha Theta Society for "outstanding research" on the role of Ireland's neutrality in World War II.
Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Mr. Leavy has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Eastern Europe, Asia and Southeast Asia, including China, Russia and Japan.
Always hungry for intellectual growth and challenge, Mr. Leavy obtained his administrative certification through SUNY Stony Brook. In 2010 he worked as a summer school principal for Western Suffolk BOCES.