Computer Science

Polytechnic Upper School, Pasadena, CA

Curriculum

The Computer Science Program at Poly's Upper School currently consists of four offerings:

A handout with further information regarding each class is available here [PDF].

Prospective students who are interested in learning a bit more about each of the introductory courses are encouraged to view the courses on their course webpages:

Students are also encouraged to talk with students who have taken the courses previously or email the instructors with questions.

A welcoming environment

Polytechnic Upper School Computer Science courses are open to everyone. All interested students, regardless of skill level, gender, or ethnicity, are encouraged to join us!

Classes are conducted in a relaxed, cooperative, and welcoming atmosphere, and there is a strict anti-harassment Code of Conduct for our courses.

Resources & Events

References and resources are available to students who wish to pursue their own study outside of formal courses.

Other Computer-Science Events at Poly include:

"Should I take a Computer Science / Coding class?"

It's a common question, especially as our world becomes increasingly technology-based. Schools ask students to take science courses not because they are all going to go on to become scientists, but because we value scientific literacy in our society.

In a similar way, having a level of computational literacy is increasingly valuable to us all.

As a Computer Science instructor, I don't believe all students should be required to take coding classes. But the majority of students probably should take a computer science class. Some will go on to work in computer science-related fields, of course, but we all live in a world dominated by technology.

Scientists use computers. Writers have websites. Artists have computer-based portfolios. Business people read these articles in Bloomberg Businessweek and The Economist and quickly realize... we all need to know a little more about technology.

Why?

These are all facets of our society... and this is just a short list of the technologies we have now.

Learning Computer Science is an important part of everyone's education.

We hope you'll join us!

If you'd like to learn more, feel free to contact Richard White or Dominic Rosato. We teach Computer Science at the Polytechnic School, and are happy to answer any questions you might have.