PK-12 LEADERSHIP & BIO
Art McCoy, Ph.D., is a trailblazer, renowned educator, entrepreneur, and leader passionately empowering people. He has served as an education leader and superintendent of schools in suburban and urban schools and districts ranging from 3,000 to 23,000 students.
- At 16-years-old, McCoy was educating educators and students on peer mediation procedures.
- At age 18, he was a Missouri certified substitute teacher. By age 19, he became the youngest certified teacher reportedly in Missouri, teaching high school mathematics after earning his Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, only 18 months after graduating from a USA News Best High School.
- After obtaining a Master's Degree at 22, McCoy was a principal. At age 25, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy and became Pattonville K-12 Gifted Director. In 2010, at age 33, he became the youngest superintendent in the region, the first African-American CEO of Ferguson-Florissant School District, and a leader for Harvard's Pathways to Prosperity.
- In 2006, as the founder of SAGES, Dr. Art McCoy successfully "Severs the Achievement Gap in the Education of Students and Severs Attainment Gaps Existing in Society." He has raised more than $15 million, inspired innovative initiatives, and supported over 1 million students and 2500 schools and colleges worldwide. In 2012, he was a recipient of Community Development Block Grants Department of Economic Development Harvard's Pathways to Prosperity Innovative High Schools Grant. His district received $290,000 partnering with St. Louis Community College, Carpenters District Council of Greater Saint Louis and Vicinity, and local businesses for students to earn college credit, career certifications, and hands-on experience in high-demand fields. Other economic development grants and curricular collaborations include over $200K from the Urban League, the Workforce Investment Act, Jobs for America’s Graduates Program for soft skills courses and employment of up to 1200 students annually, and the Federal Reserve Bank for economic literacy classes.
- From 2014 to 2016, McCoy served as Superintendent-in-Residence/Chief Academic Officer of the MIND Research Institute and Base 11. He focused on helping thousands of high potential low-income students achieve post-secondary programs, partnering universities including the California Institute of Technology, University of Southern California, University of California-Irvine, MIT (Fab Labs), and community colleges nationwide.
- In February of 2016, McCoy was named Superintendent of Jennings School District. Under his leadership, multiple graduating classes achieved 100% graduation, career, and college placement, as featured on Fox, CNN, and ABC Primetime.
- Dr. McCoy has led the creation of homeless shelters, grocery food hubs, school-based health clinics for medical, dental, vision, mental health care for all students, and the first Child-Parent Interaction Therapy in Missouri schools.
- As you will see below he served as Breaking the Monopoly of Mediocrity leader for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and National Change Maker of the US Chamber of Commerce-Institute for a Competitive Workforce. McCoy advised US Legislatures in Washington DC on Opportunity Zones for the US Tax Reform Bill 2017 and the Hero's Act of 2020.
- Since 2019, he has supported the Regional Business Council STL.works Initiative as a lead educator and emcee in a regional response to the growing workforce crisis.
