To prepare students for their future courses, all freshmen are required to take AP Computer Science.

“This school is a very technical school,” Counselor Lauren Argier said. “The skills students will learn in this class will help prepare them for their sophomore, junior and senior year.”

Previously, all freshmen were required to take Computer Science, however, this year, the school changed it to the AP course.

“Computer science is becoming an essential skill in today’s world and is applicable to almost every career field,” AP Computer Science teacher Ronald Barranco said. “Since our school is preparing students for careers, I do think it is appropriate for it to be a required course.”

Last year, students in Engineering, Web and Digital Game Design were the only students required to take the AP course. 

“The course in one of my favorite classes and I enjoy what we’re learning,” freshman Alec Valdez said. “My teacher, Mr. Barranco, makes the class really enjoyable and his class has a lot of good vibes. It’s honestly my favorite class and I’m glad they made all freshmen take the class because I didn’t know it was a new class.”

Throughout the year, the students will be learning the basics of the programming language Java, and will also be taught the basics of computers and how they influence society.

“I feel good about the class because it’s probably my favorite class and I feel like I’m actually learning in that class,” freshman Collin Hall said. “I don’t think freshman should be forced to take the class, but I definitely feel like the skills learned in that class could be very useful for a lot of future careers.”