| WHAT: | Monrovia Unified School District will unveil Santa Fe Computer Science Magnet School with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. The reopening of the middle school will be dedicated to preparing students for the demands of college and an increasingly competitive job market. |
| WHEN: | Wednesday, Sept. 6 3:30 p.m. |
| WHERE: | Santa Fe Computer Science Magnet School, Cafeteria 148 W. Duarte Rd. Monrovia, CA 91016 |
| MORE: | Monrovia Unified expanded opportunities for students to learn computer science skills and concepts in partnership with Code to the Future, a leading creator of immersive computer science curricula. This year, Code to the Future will collaborate with science teachers to implement coding, computational thinking and use of algorithms into its lessons. Coaches will be available once a week in the classrooms to assist in teaching computer science concepts. Students will be able to use concepts from their computer science curriculum to showcase understanding in other subjects. For example, students in science classes can create a website that users can click through to learn about the natural rain cycle. Students can also create a gaming program in an educational format as their skills advance. Students use a coding online platform, Scratch, developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They learn the conceptual framework of coding through block-based learning, which creates sections of coding that students can rearrange to create the right sequence. Students then move on to text syntax, where they can create the coding language, as they develop a stronger foundation. |