Current News

  • The Leake & Watts Young Professionals Committee (YPC) supported youth in foster care by launching the Cases 4 Kids campaign this summer. The donzens of collected bags will provide youth in our foster care programs with suitcases of their own as they head off to college or visit their families.

  • It was a GIANT day at the Biondi Education Center! New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs (#27) inspired students at the Leake & Watts Biondi Education Center in Yonkers with a visit to the school in early May. Students had the opportunity to hear about Jacobs’ own high school experience and how he overcame difficulties and persevered to become a New York Giant.

  • Leake & Watts staff joined representatives from other New York City community organizations at a rally for Preventive Services at City Hall on April 12th. The impressive crowd of advocates came to express their concern about New York City’s planned funding cuts, which would result in a 30% reduction of the number of Preventive Services available city-wide.

  • Volunteers from the Young Professionals Committee met with some of the teens from the Leake & Watts Residential Treatment Center to help them prepare for venturing into the working world. The evening was part of a larger Employment Training initiative that also included a training facilitated by the Leake & Watts Human Resources Department. Thanks to this interdepartmental effort and our volunteers’ great initiative, these young men and women have gained a new feeling of confidence and optimism as they prepare to search for jobs in the community.

  • We are happy and proud to announce that Olga Mercado, Toddler Teacher at the Marion & George Ames Early Childhood Center, has been chosen as a recipient of the Child Care Council of Westchester’s Joey Award for 2010! The Joey Awards are given to distinguished individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to children, families, and the child care profession.

  • The Leake & Watts Biondi Education Center Varsity Basketball team won the Westchester County Class D Championship Title on March 1st!

  • Leake & Watts and three residents of the Residential Treatment Center were honored for outstanding community service at the Living Transformation International Center’s (LITC) First Annual Proclamation and Awards Dinner.

  • Leake & Watts opened a new community residence for six young men with developmental disabilities on November 17th. The new home, named Sevilla, provides 24-hour care and support and is the second opened by Leake & Watts in 2009. This growth spurt is part of an ongoing expansion of the agency’s Developmental Disabilities services, with seven additional residences like Sevilla scheduled to open in the next 18 months.

  • Leake & Watts received numerous awards at the New York State Foster and Adoptive Parent Association annual award banquet on October 30th. The association grants awards based on the votes of foster parents across all agencies in the state. In recognition of outstanding service and dedication in several categories, Leake & Watts was given the most accolades of any agency.

  • The Carol and Frank Biondi Education Center has been selected as a 2009-2010 National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) School of Excellence. Each year, this distinction is bestowed upon a few select and qualified licensed non-public special education schools in the State of New York and is one of the highest levels of recognition that a non-public special education school can achieve. Schools are selected each year by demonstrating truly exceptional dedication, commitment and achievement in the field of special education.