Highline Public Schools was recently spotlighted for partnering with the private sector to develop computer science opportunities for all students. The partners include organizations like Code.org, Girls Who Code, Google, and Microsoft.
Highline is one of 37 school districts across the country recognized for answering President Obama’s call for commitments to computer science education for all.
The district’s commitment to computer science was praised in a blog post by the national, non-profit organization Digital Promise.
“In Highline, we are proud to be preparing our students to graduate tech-savvy and tech-literate by expanding access to computer science across our district,” said Superintendent Susan Enfield.
Highline offers computer science at all its high school campuses, including several new computer programming classes and Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles. Highline is also expanding computer science offerings to the middle school level. In 2014, Pacific Middle School received a $10,000 grant from Code.org to buy technology to support computer science learning in the classroom. The district holds annual hackathons for girls to practice computer coding and explore computer science careers. All students and teachers in Highline are encouraged to engage in the Hour of Code, and students in grades 7-12 have access to computer science opportunities, both during and outside of the traditional school day.
Spurred by the President’s challenge in his January 2016 State of the Union address and a huge industry demand for more tech employees, Highline and other school districts are taking steps to demonstrate a commitment to offering computer science and computational learning.
Highline is one of 73 school districts throughout the nation leading the way in this effort as members of the League of Innovative Schools. The League of Innovative Schools is an initiative of the bipartisan Digital Promise, created by former President Bush, approved by Congress, and tasked by President Obama with accelerating innovation in education.