By: Maddie Quinn ’17

Recently, there have been some major advances in the possibility of Seattle Prep offering computer science courses in the 2014-2015 school year.  Although nothing has been officially announced about this taking place, there is a very exciting chance that computer science will be a new class to enter the walls of Seattle Prep.

To bring this program into the curriculum, Seattle Prep is hoping to partner with TEALS (Technology, Education and Literacy in Schools), a program in which knowledgeable professionals are put into high school classes to become part time teachers.  The professional will team with a Prep teacher who knows how to manage the classroom.  This creates an ideal partnership to inform and educate students about the computer world.

If Seattle Prep’s application to this program is accepted, next year Prep will offer “Introduction to Computer Science Principles” and “Advanced Placement Computer Science.”  One of these courses is based on the highly esteemed UC Berkeley CS10 course, while the other course is based on the UW CSE142 course and will prepare students for the AP Computer Science test in the spring of 2015.

As of now, as a part of their application to the program, Prep is looking to show that they will have volunteers from the computer science field to help teach the class.  The classes also would take place in the morning, so that the volunteers would be able to get to arrive on time to their various computer science occupations.

The Seattle Prep Panther interviewed a few students to gauge how the Prep community feels about the possibility of the addition of computer science classes into the curriculum. Sophomore Cammy Stukel said “the possibility of computer science being added to the curriculum is very exciting” and that she would definitely consider taking part in this class.

For more information about TEALS and how it works, see http://www.tealsk12.org/.