Courses and Benches
From the first computer science credit to the AP exam, and the benches students practice on.
CompSci 1 / Tech+
No experience needed. The course starts where students are: saving a file and finding it again, typing, getting around a computer, on the Bench Basics benches. From there it covers what the CompTIA Tech+ exam asks, and it ends with the groundwork for Java: reading and tracing code the way the AP Computer Science A exam does. It is built to count as the one computer science credit Louisiana will require.
CompTIA Tech+ FC0-U71AP Computer Science A
The College Board AP course in Java, in four units: using objects and methods, selection and iteration, class creation, and data collections. Students read, trace and write Java every day, and the AP exam is in May.
CompTIA A+
IT Support Technician
The working technician's course. Students troubleshoot and fix computers on the virtual bench, configure networks and operating systems, and run a help desk. Where retired desktops are available, from the school or sourced by Sean himself, groups also open, rebuild and repair real machines; the course does not depend on it. It opens with a fast review of Course 1, which leaves room for that build and for practice exams before each A+ test. They finish prepared for both A+ exams, an advanced industry-based credential in Louisiana, with a portfolio of tickets for the job hunt. It runs in the spring when enough students qualify and sign up. A student who misses the Tech+ score can study over a semester or the summer, pass it, and join the next section.
CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202)The Benches
35 benches, one for each class day. Each one opens on the day it is taught in class, and each is a set of jobs that checks itself.