It all begins in middle-school with a compulsory three-year exploration of Computer Science that includes the introduction of key computing concepts in the 6th grade and progresses through creating code to animate virtual objects in the 7th grade. This concludes in the 8th grade with an exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) and its far-reaching societal impacts in our world. Further, students will learn how to engage with hand-held devices and employ programming concepts. All in all, the goal of the middle-school computer education is to explore a variety of programming environments and provide a foundation in Computer Science that can be expanded in high school and beyond.
In high school, a three-year programming progression is offered focusing on the foundational elements of programming including: algorithm development, user interface creation, assignment statements, variables and constants, utilization of control structures, string manipulation, arrays, structures, functions, sorting and searching, recursion, data abstraction and classes. During this three-year progression our students utilize three ‘industry standard’ object-oriented programming languages: Microsoft Visual Basic, Python and JAVA.
At the high school level, for those less inclined to pursue the study of programming, we offer a Computer Applications course, which focuses on the development of key productivity skills in word processing, spreadsheets and presentations.
Required Courses: All students are required to take one semester at the high school level to fulfill graduation requirements.
Electives: Elective courses include Computer Applications, Computer Science I (Honors), Computer Science II (Honors) and AP Computer Science A.
