Computer Science

PLTW CSP Utilizes Python® as a primary tool. Students learn the fundamentals of coding, data processing, data security, and task automation, while learning to contribute to an inclusive, safe, and ethical computing culture. The course promotes computational thinking and coding fundamentals and introduces computational tools that foster creativity. Computer Science Principles helps students develop programming expertise and explore the workings of the Internet. Projects and problems include app development, visualization of data, cybersecurity, and simulation.

PLTW Cybersecurity introduces the tools and concepts of cybersecurity and encourages students to create solutions that allow people to share computing resources while protecting privacy. Nationally, computational resources are vulnerable and frequently attacked; in Cybersecurity, students use virtual labs to discover key concepts of the field. These labs progress from an individual computer to more and more complex network environments. This course raises students’ knowledge of and commitment to ethical computing behavior. It also aims to develop students’ skills as consumers, friends, citizens, and employees who can effectively contribute to communities with a dependable cyber-infrastructure that moves and processes information safely. 

AP Computer Science Principles offers a multidisciplinary approach to teaching the underlying principles of computation. The course will introduce students to the creative aspects of programming, abstractions, algorithms, large data sets, the Internet, cybersecurity concerns, and computing impacts. AP Computer Science Principles will give students the opportunity to use technology to address real-world problems and build relevant solutions. Together, these aspects of the course make up a rigorous and rich curriculum that aims to broaden participation in computer science.

AP Computer Science A is equivalent to a first-semester, college-level course in computer science. The course introduces students to computer science with fundamental topics that include problem solving, design strategies and methodologies, organization of data (data structures), approaches to processing data (algorithms), analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications of computing. The course emphasizes both object oriented and imperative problem solving and design using Java language, including Java programming style, assignment and logical operators, decision-making, looping methods and arrays. These techniques represent proven approaches for developing solutions that can scale up from small, simple problems to large, complex problems. The AP Computer Science A course curriculum is compatible with many CS1 courses in colleges and universities. Students are expected to take the College Board Advanced Placement exam in May to obtain college credit.

This course is designed for those students seeking to take what they have already learned about programming and learn how to apply those skills using the Java language, which is the programming standard for Computer Science, Information Technology and Engineering majors. Students reinforce their existing skills and learn Java’s object oriented approach to problem solving. This course is an excellent follow-up course for students who have taken Introduction to Game Design and wish to program at a high level.