About Sarah Swain

Sarah Swain is a leader in progressive education best practice. She has developed programs that connect students to the meaning and relevance of their education in the world beyond  school. She currently serves as the Dean of Innovation and Experiential Learning at The Field School in DC. Arriving at Field post-pandemic, she developed an interdisciplinary, immersion Intersession program featuring courses, travel experiences, and internships that provide two weeks in which students gain critical skills and insights for their future careers. This program is also an incubator for faculty to develop their pedagogical skills to implement student-driven, project-based learning(PBL) experiences throughout the school. Prior to working at the Field School, Sarah built and directed project-based learning programs at several schools including Hawken School of Cleveland, OH and St. Anne’s-Belfield School of Charlottesville, VA.

Sarah regularly leads professional development training and workshops to support faculty development of PBL both locally and Internationally. She is active in many leading education innovation professional organizations.  Beyond training educators to support progressive pedagogy she also helps school leaders navigate the transition from traditional assessment models to competency-based curriculum and assessment systems that support deeper learning and more advanced student outcomes. Throughout her seventeen years coaching science and entrepreneurship learning, she has transformed the traditional classroom, utilizing both project and problem-solving based methodologies as well as harnessing the power of scale through digital platforms which support both in-person and virtual learning. 

Sarah holds two Masters degrees - most recently an MEd in Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania and an MS in Environmental Science from Antioch New England University. Her BA is in Music from Rice University. Sarah Lives in Washington, DC with her puppy, Gracie. An avid naturalist and outdoorswoman, she is often hiking and backpacking in the Appalachian mountains or Rock Creek Park, closer to home. She also plays traditional fiddle music and is a practitioner and teacher of yoga.