River City High School

Computer Science jobs are among the highest paid and have the highest job satisfaction. There actually are more computing jobs than qualified people to fill them in the United States. According to recent research, there will be about 1,000,000 unfilled programming jobs by 2020. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects growth rates between 12% and 37% in computing and information technology occupations from 2012 through 2022. With this expected growth in computing, it’s easy to see that companies simply need more computer science graduates. With the growing demand for computer science professional, our school wanted our students to be college and career ready in computer science. Students should not miss out on this opportunity that will be available when they graduate from college.

The goal of the pathway is to provide students with the fundamental knowledge of computer programming including basics of game design. This pathway also serves both as college preparatory courses for potential computer science majors and a foundation course for students planning to study in other majors, like engineering, physics, chemistry, and geology that require significant involvement with computing. This pathway provides a foundation for the Java certification Exam by Oracle. Students can earn college credits by passing the AP Computer Science exam offered by the College Board. Technology is everywhere and it is important to know how to read and write code. Computer Science improves critical thinking skills and teaches you how to solve problems in a new way. Just like you don’t need to be an English major to use English, you don’t need to be a computer scientist to know how to code.