Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Art McCoy Jr. greeted students during the Career Day assembly at Johnson-Wabash Elementary School with a warm smile and a handshake or hug. McCoy refers to the district’s 13,000 students as “our babies.”
“We have a heart for children at Ferguson-Florissant,” McCoy said. “We make sure that we treat each child as our own.”
On Friday, September 13, he will receive the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Stellar Performer in Education award at the Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala at the America’s Center Ballroom.
In July 2011, McCoy became the first African-American superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District and the youngest superintendent in the state at age 33. Before that, McCoy served as an administrator in St. Charles, Pattonville, Rockwood and Ferguson-Florissant.
McCoy takes seriously his role of ensuring that students have the knowledge and life skills they need to be successful. As the district’s leader, McCoy has raised more than $7 million in seven years from grants and donations. In February, Ferguson-Florissant received $289,800 from Harvard’s Pathways to Prosperity Innovative High Schools Initiative to offer students the opportunity to participate in an apprenticeship program and earn college credits.
“That’s important to me because that’s how I got my start,” he said.
After his early graduation from Lafayette High School in the Rockwood School District at 17, he entered Harris-Stowe State University with about 60 college credit hours. He married, at the same early age, his high school sweetheart, Belinda, which he said was “the best decision he’s ever made in his life.” After earning his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and mathematics, he returned to his alma mater where he taught mathematics – becoming the youngest certified teacher in the state.
“I remember being a teacher at 19 and having five students in my class that were older than me,” he said.
He received his master’s and doctorate in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Although his image can be seen along interstate billboards promoting the value of an UMSL education, he prefers for the limelight to shine upon his students and their parents. He boasts of the district’s full accreditation status, its 90 percent graduation rate, and the district’s total of eight Bill and Melinda Gates Scholars, seven of which came from McCluer High School.
The district is also leading the region in its school-security systems. The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut accentuated the need for increased school security, he said.
“It reminds me of scenes that I saw after the bombing of the church in Birmingham when the little girls’ faces were shown on nationwide television to say, ‘That we have turned a page and something must change.’”
The district invested in equipment that allows administrators to access surveillance footage from mobile devices. Surrounding police departments can also access that footage. McCoy surveyed his staff of 2,000 to determine who among them had prior police and military experience. He then began the process of establishing Action Teams, or A-Teams inspired by the movie starring “Mr. T.”
“We have three to five people who are ready to take action,” he said, “who have experience in combat situations, licenses to carry arms and ready to respond during the first ten minutes.”
He is a member of Grace Apostolic Family Worship Center in Florissant founded by his parents – Suffragan Bishop Art J. McCoy Sr. and co-pastor Norma McCoy.
McCoy is active in various civic organizations including the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri School Board Association, Missouri Association of School Administrators and the Urban Superintendents of America Association. He is president and founder of Serving the Achievement Gap in the Education of Students (SAGES). He serves as adjunct professor and College of Education Leadership Council member at UMSL.
The 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, September 13 at the America’s Center Ballroom, following a reception at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $85 each/$850 table, and VIP/Corporate tickets are $1,500 table. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.stlamerican.com and click on Salute to Excellence, or call 314-533-8000.
