2025 Sloan STEM Teaching Awards | Sarah McCoy

Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Julia Discenza
Producer: Marjie Shrimpton
Camera Assistants: Tomasz Geza and Dah'Vielle Lucas
Driver: Jose Ochoa

Sarah McCoy grew up on Staten Island, the daughter of a math professor and a hospice nurse, who taught her the importance of curiosity, compassion, and community. A valedictorian of Curtis High School and graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in psychology, she discovered her passion for teaching through AmeriCorps and the NYC Teaching Fellows program while earning an M.S. in Mathematics Education from Brooklyn College.

After teaching across New York and Wyoming, Ms. McCoy returned to Curtis in 2016 with a bold vision: to redefine what computer science education could look like for all students. She transformed the school’s Business and Computer Institute into the Software Engineering Institute, creating a four-year, project-based curriculum in programming, robotics, web design, and engineering that culminates in a CTE diploma. Her students code traffic lights, create digitally embroidered art, and explore geometry through robotics—learning to see computing as both analytical and creative.

Ms. McCoy is especially committed to equity in STEM, actively recruiting girls and students of color, mentoring them individually, and connecting them with internships at companies such as Amazon and Google. Her students have achieved AP successes, competition victories, and innovation scholarships. A Math for America Master Teacher and Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy–certified educator, she also serves on national advisory boards bridging education and industry.

Through her vision and mentorship, Sarah McCoy equips students not just with technical skills, but with the creativity, confidence, and courage to lead in an ever-evolving STEM world.