High school curriculum is divided into two categories: 

1. Foundational Skills - these are the skills we want all students to acquire by the time they graduate. We expect that there will be two ways students can earn foundational skills: 

   1. AP CS Principles [1 year, ideal for most students]: earning a grade of C or higher or scoring a 3 or more on the AP exam

   2. Exploring CS + Statistics with Data Science + Computing Systems & Robotics [1.5 years]: earning a grade of C or higher in all classes 

2. Specialty Skills - these are optional courses we offer to provide students the opportunity to be better prepared for college and career.

Foundational and Specialty Skills are based on the newest CSTA Standards released in 2026. Here are the phased plans.

• Phase I (2026-2027 School Year)

  • • AP CS Principles Pilot 

    • Combine District CS + AI Team into District CS Team

    • Last year of Programming in Python (PiP, UConn ECE class)

• Phase II (2027-2028 School Year)

  • • Graduation recognition for students who achieve foundational CS skills (AP CS Principles, grade of C or higher or score of 3+ on exam)

    • Graduation recognition for students who achieve specialty CS skills; possible with these courses + a culminating project: 

      • SOFTWARE (Foundation + AP CS A)

      • CYBERSECURITY (Foundation + AP Cybersecurity)

      • DATA SCIENCE (Foundation + AP Statistics)

      • SOCIAL SCIENCE (Foundation + HBDW)

      • PHYSICAL COMPUTING (Foundation + Comp Sys & Robotics)

    • Students will be able to earn UConn ECE Credit (CS1010) via AP CS Principles

    • Increase District CS Team to include community members and explore graduation requirement

• Phase III (2028-2029 School Year)

  • • Continued Graduation Recognition

    • Create two 1/2 year courses for beyond AP offerings (Data Structures, Artificial Intelligence) 

    • Additon of an extra specialty graduation recognition; possible with these courses + a culminating project: 

      • AI (Foundation + Data Structures + AI)

    • Survey students / families not meeting recognition to determine rationale / supports 

    • Build supports into foundational classes as needed

• Phase IV (2029-2030 School Year)

  • • Graduation requirement to meet foundational CS skills 

    • Graduation recognition for students who go beyond foundational CS skills to specialize in an area and complete a culminating project

Beyond the Foundation:

Right now, each of these will default to our CS Decision Maker pages for these courses. Right now, we know that AP CS A and AP Cybersecurity cover skills that fall outside "foundational". We suggest that students start with AP CS Principles and then enhance their CS experience using any of these courses.