The week beginning December 8th is being celebrated as Computer Science week, with schools nation-wide being encouraged to spend at least an hour coding. Village Glen has joined the movement and on both the Sherman Oaks and the Culver City campuses will be among tens of thousands of schools promoting at least an hour of code in all of their classes. Why the emphasis? In 25 states, computer science doesn’t even count as a math or science requirement for graduation. This is despite STEM subjects being at the heart of preparing students to take on the challenges of the 21st Century! As we’ve mentioned before, estimates are that there will be 1,000,000 more jobs in computer science by 2020 than qualified applicants—in some states there are expected to be twice as many jobs as qualified applicants, and in states like California the estimates are that there will be four times as many positions open compared to those qualified.
The disparity in the numbers is particularly worth emphasizing because many of our students have among their battery of talents and attributes those which lend themselves particularly well to computer science. Many of our students have orderly minds, intense focus, and sharp visual discrimination; they have the mental stamina to persevere at a task until completion. All of these attributes lend themselves extremely well to computer science. In consequence, on the Sherman Oaks campus we have in place courses in computer science and programming from the elementary grades through high school. The goal is for them not only to know the basics of common software programs such as MS Office, but also be exposed to HTML, web design and maintenance, and different programming languages, all in a hands-on supportive environment. And there are plans in place to introduce a similar program school-wide on the Culver City campus too.
So, we encourage all our students (and parents too!) to participate in the Hour of Code (or more). It’s time to show what you can do!

3D Modeling–what can you design?