CHS offers a pathway to help give you a head start on college and life and it is not just for CS majors.  To learn more about the course offerings, click the button above.  
Coding is for more that just programmers.  It teaches problem solving, critical thinking, and more.  To find out more, click the button above to learn why you should code.
Past students offered to share their stories.  Click the button to hear how past CHS students are benefiting from the skills they acquired from the CS pathway.  

Course Track

Introductory Course:

AP Computer Science Principles
(learn more)

Concentrating Course:

AP Computer Science A
​(learn more)

Capstone Course:

App Development Honors
(learn more)

Why code?

According to code.org:
  • 67% of all new jobs in STEM are in computing
  • Women who try AP Computer Science in high school are 10 times more likely to major in it
  • Computing jobs are the #1 source of new wages in the US
  • children who study CS perform better in other subjects, excel at problem solving and are 17% more likely to attend college
for more, please visit code.org/promote

Knowledge

​Students will learn event driven and object oriented programming. Additionally, they gain critical thinking skills, develop algorithms, and implement solutions to real world problems.

Skills

​Students will learn a variety of resume worthy programming languages and development environments. The languages include JavaScript, Java, and C#. The environments used during the pathway include Eclipse and Unity3D.

Experience

​By the end of the pathway, students will have created event driven Web Apps, designed a text based video game, and complete a project of their own design from the planning phase through implementation in the Unity3D environment. These final projects project to be deployed on real world devices (i.e. phones, tablets, etc...).

Student Testimonials

I am finishing up my fourth year here at UCLA and am soon going to be graduating with a double major in Neuroscience and Psychobiology. While I am not a computer science major, learning to code has been the biggest advantage and most applicable skill that I have taken from my high school education. It has changed and benefited my life in ways that my high school self would have never anticipated. I was able to get an internship in a lab at Cedar Sinai's during my Sophomore year that was a perfect intersection of my interest in Neuroscience and Psychology with my knowledge of computer science, something that set me apart from other applicants.... ​
​
I still acknowledge that without the understanding of coding that I first obtained in high school, I would not be where I am today. I still use computer science every day that I am in the lab, from constructing automated data analysis pipelines, to AI behavioral tracking, to decoding neural fluorescence data.
​
- Adrienne K  Class of 2017
CHS Computer Science taught me many of the skills so that I would be prepared for computer science in college. Coming out of high school I knew how to approach large problems, and was able to have the problem solving skills that allowed me to stand out above my peers. I knew how to code in Java and had great team experience from the app development course whereas my colleagues came out of high school without knowing what Java was.  Now I am at North Carolina State University on a full ride with an additional $30,000 of stipends to help my school develop a new cyber security program where myself and 4 others will be the first graduating class. It was because of these skills that I stood above my classmates and was fortunate enough to get this scholarship. 

- Kevin C.  class of 2019
Every chance I get I make sure to bring up how CHS CS program has provided me with the strong foundation of knowledge needed to be successful in this field. Not only did it make the transition from high school to college almost seamless, but it also gave me the confidence to pursue software development. CS is not the easiest career path so having this jumpstart really helped me stand out amongst my peers. I was able to put projects I worked on at CHS on my resume, which ultimately contributed to me getting an internship at Google. To this day, I am still applying skills I learned from the program, and I am so grateful it was something I got to be apart of! 

- Sasha O.  Class of 2019 (Intern Google)

I seriously doubt I'd be anywhere close to where I am today without the CS program...  Last summer I got hired on as a software engineer with Amazon through an apprenticeship program their local offices offer, so I've been working with them throughout the summer and this school year, and if all goes well (which it seems like it has) I'll likely have a fulltime offer before graduating. 

- Addison T.  Class of 2018 (Intern Aamzon)


I can honestly say that the CHS computer science pathway helped my career in many ways. It helped channel my work ethic into positive goals. Work on a project to jump-start my portfolio. Not only showing my abilities to program but to work in a team to create a finished product. Learning Unity in C# during my time with the CHS computer science program helped me obtain the knowledge required for my current position. Having a good understanding of Object-based programming in Java and C# allows me to not only work with those languages at a high level but to translate my knowledge to others. Most importantly it taught me the necessary skills to handle daily challenges! 

- Madian J.  Programmer WayForward class of 2018

​           game credits - Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia
                                      Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia

           platforms -   Switch, PS#, Xbox, and PC



The CHS CS program gave me the foundations of complex problem-solving. Now I can come up with new solutions to produce innovative products. Additionally, the CHS CS program teaches you the team work skills and methodologies. These skills are the exact skills that I use on a daily basis in my job.

- Matthew G class of 2018 Programmer IMDB
Mr. Underwood comment - I often speak about the overlap between programming and Excel in my courses.  While they are not identical, there are many conceptual similarities.  Here is student testimonial with regard to Excel:

I am currently a Senior studying Policy Studies, International Relations, and Political Science, all which have ties to Excel. As a Policy Studies major, it is a department requirement to become Excel certified. During Junior year, the program matches you with an organization in the public sector where you create a research memo using Excel. I worked with the Syracuse Housing Authority to analyze employee satisfaction and tablet/wifi need for residents. The information had to be collected, categorized, and then presented to the Syracuse Housing Authority officials. I also (finally) got an internship working for a research center, in the national security and counterterrorism department studying global locations governed by criminal organizations or terrorist groups. This project is heavily Excel based, and I would not be able to manage it without any background knowledge. This past summer, I had an internship at GE. The internship was finance based and I literally spent 8 hours a day using Excel to categorize accounts and analyze growth. In both liberal arts and business fields, Excel was a baseline requirement. Excel is now part of my day to day life, especially as President of a Sorority, where managing 200+ girls is a constant and only possible with Excel. 

- Ushni G. class of 2018