Exciting things are happening in computer science education in December—and NYC Public Schools are helping to lead the way.

Beginning December 4, hundreds of City public schools across the five boroughs will participate in Computer Science Education Week, our annual national celebration of computer science instruction and programming in elementary, middle, and high schools. 

Supported by over 100,000 educators, thousands of schools, and hundreds of community-partners across the City and around the country, Computer Science Education Week encourages K–12 students of all backgrounds to explore CS fields, practices, and activities while gaining valuable classroom experience in one of the most lucrative and transformative disciplines today. 

Throughout the week, students across the five boroughs are participating in hackathons, designing computer programs, building cool robots and drones, and completing other coding projects that encourage students to problem-solve, think critically, and work as part of a team. By engaging in activities and projects like these, our students are obtaining valuable experiences that open up a broad range of possibilities for their college and/or career prospects in the years to come.

One of the best aspects of CS Education Week is that it helps K–12 students of all skill levels to understand how computer science can help people come up with practical solutions for everyday issues. In prior years, City students created holiday cards with paper circuits, developed apps that provided real-time data about MTA bus routes, and programmed algorithms that could be used to help push alerts to non-English speaking families during emergencies.

At the heart of CS Education Week is the Hour of Code, a one-hour online coding tutorial or users of all ages that is available in over 45 languages. Since 2013, over 100 million students, including hundreds of thousands of NYC public school students, have participated in the Hour of Code, with the vast majority of participating students being members of groups who are historically underrepresented in computer science-related careers.

And the Hour of Code doesn't just have to be limited to the classroom—families can help their children complete their online coding tutorials at home. Indeed, if you're able to read this post on screen, you already have everything you need to participate in an Hour of Code!

To learn more about Computer Science Education Week, visit csedweek.org.

On behalf of NYC Public Schools, we thank all of our teachers, students, school administrators, and community partners who are helping to make this year's Computer Science Education Week our best one yet!