Computer Science
Computer Science Faculty
Our Mission
Students taking courses in the Computer Science Department will understand the basics of computational thinking and be able to apply those skills to other disciplines. Students are required to complete a half-credit in the Computer Science Department. Students complete work both independently and collaboratively in groups.
Course Descriptions
AP Computer Science Principles is an introductory college-level computing course that introduces students to the breadth of the field of computer science. Students learn to design and evaluate solutions and to apply computer science to solve problems through the development of algorithms and programs. They incorporate abstraction into programs and use data to discover new knowledge. Students also explain how computing innovations and computing systems–such as the internet–work, explore their potential impacts, and contribute to a computing culture that is collaborative and ethical.
Term: Full Year (1 Credit)
Building on the computational thinking concepts from Introduction to Coding, this intermediate level course covers the essentials of Python coding language: variables, strings, and numbers; lists and tuples; if statements and loops; functions and dictionaries; and comments and coding best practices. Then, students will learn how to import, analyze, and visualize large data sets using Python. Students should have some experience with basic programming concepts.
Term: Semester (1/2 Credit)
In this introductory course, students learn the basics of how computer programs work, even if they have never done any programming before. In this hands-on course students will use online coding tools, such as MIT’s Scratch, to learn programming concepts in an interactive environment. Students will learn fundamental computational thinking concepts including event sequencing; parallelism; loops and conditional statements; mathematical and logical operators; using variables and lists; and debugging code. Students will practice “everyday coding” by applying computational thinking concepts in other programs such as email, documents, and spreadsheets. Students explore sample programs, solve problems, and complete challenging projects.
Term: Semester (1/2 Credit)
AP Computer Science A is an introductory college-level computer science course. Students cultivate their understanding of coding through analyzing, writing, and testing code as they explore concepts like modularity, variables, and control structures.
Term: Full Year (1 Credit)