By Caroline Gentile ’13, News Editor
The 2010-2011 school year is the last in which “Intro to Programming” will be a requirement to graduate from CCDS. Computer science courses, including Intro to Programming and AP Computer Science, will still be offered. Computer science and math teacher John Carriero will leave CCDS at the end of the school year to pursue a job in software development, but the school is hiring a new teacher to replace him.
Though Head of the Upper School Stephanie Luebbers acknowledged the benefits of a programming requirement, she said that there is a “belief by many that computer science is not a course of study that students need to have to graduate from high school.” CCDS’ reputation for being a leader in technology is attributed to students’ use of Tablet PCs, Mrs. Luebbers said. Programming does not teach students how to use the tablets themselves, but rather
how to operate certain programs like Java and Flash. “I see a huge value in students understanding computer science,” said Mrs. Luebbers, “but I also think that our students understand computers very well.”
Tight finances and more flexibility in scheduling were also considered in this change. “If you think about it by grade level, we have to make sure we field enough sections to get 70 kids through every year,” Mrs. Luebbers said. “We don’t want to offer quite that many sections.”
According to CCDS’s website, “CCDS has an international reputation as a leader in educational technology integration.” Just last week, CCDS hosted one of its three yearly Tablet Conferences, where educators from as far as Thailand visited to observe technology in the classrooms. In addition to using tools such as Tablet PCs and SmartBoards at school, Upper School students have also been required to take a course introducing them to programming in order to graduate.
With CCDS’ level of commitment to technology, many students interviewed found it hard to believe that programming will no longer be required to graduate.
Students said there is a big misconception about computer programming; most people think it must be really hard, so they won’t be able to do it. Having the class as a requirement made students realize that this is in fact untrue. If programming is not mandatory, students will not have an opportunity to be introduced to it or know if they have an affinity for computer science.
Senior Jordan Komnick thought she wouldn’t be capable of learning how to program a computer. “Before I took the required Intro to Multimedia class, I thought that programming computers was something that you could only do if you were really smart, smarter than I was,” Komnick said. “This class showed me that programming is easy once you learn how, and I went on to take AP computer science this year. I am strongly considering majoring in computer science next year, and I never would have discovered my love for programming if it hadn’t been for the requirement I had to fulfill.”
For this reason, Mr. Carriero thinks that programming should have been kept mandatory. He explained that CCDS’ goal is to prepare the next generation of workers. Currently, the jobs in highest demand, he believes, are those in the fields of computer science. As a result, an occupation in computer science is also one of the highest-paying jobs for college graduates; the salary for a college grad at a company like Google or Facebook hovers around $92,000 per year. The required programming class encouraged students who would not normally pursue computer science to try their hand at mastering useful skills for the future.
Sophomore Sam Hall agreed. “It’s good to know the fundamentals of something that is clearly going to be important further down the road,” Hall said.
A group of students who did not wish to be quoted on the record admitted that they thought having to take a programming class was a waste of time; they would have rather used the semester to take a class in something they know they would have enjoyed.
History teacher Jeremiah McCall, who teaches a programming course over the summer, will continue to do
so despite the fact that programming is not essential for graduation.
CCDS also offers other electives for students to try new things. “The arts department has added Photo Multimedia for next year and [CCDS] will be fielding both AP computer science and multiple sections of Intro,” Mrs. Luebbers said.
Photo by Ilana Habib ’11, Photograpy Editor
