Improving computer science education
for K-12 School Districts

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Who We Help

K-12 School Districts

Providing Professional Development guidance and resources for improving the quality and availability of Computer Science education in our schools. We partner with colleges and school systems to bring P.D. programs to help shape our future CS educators.

Teachers

Providing informal and formal experiences to help educators gain the professional development they need to begin adding computer science to their lesson plans.  Through virtual and in-person classes, we want to provide a pathway for existing educators to acquire CS micro-credentials and CS-related degrees.

Underrepresented Groups in CS

Improving access to computer science education and resources for groups that are often disadvantaged and therefore not entering the computer science professional pipeline soon enough (or at all) despite interest.


Methods

Project-Based Learning

Team-Based

Plugged and Unplugged Learning

Virtual and In-Person Classes/Workshops

Program Highlights

  • 0. Build Our Team of CS Instructional Coaches

    Grow our team of instructional coaches utilizing a combination of experienced IT professionals and CS college students (or recent grads).

  • 1. Train More CS Educators

    Provide PD support and classes to train more K-12 CS educators; with an immediate emphasis placed on the Middle and High School grades for 2018-19.  Through our pathways programs, we will give teachers the opportunity to receive CS micro-credentials or full degrees (depending on interest and time commitment).

  • 2. Parent Outreach

    We believe that parents are a child\’s first educators. So we feel strongly that its important to reach parents through informal and formal opportunities to increase their CS confidence and know-how.

  • 3. Mobile CS Classroom

    We want to be able to bring our classes and instructional coaches to any location and know that we can set up our classroom with all the necessary laptops, internet access, and other necessary equipment.

  • 4. Career and Technical Education Support

    We want to combine our course offerings with internship and apprenticeship opportunities in support of our partner school systems’ Career and Technical Educational programs.

  • 5. Annual Hackathon: Sometimes We Code In April

    Every year we hold a hackathon to spread the love and craft of coding to the communities of students, parents, and teachers that we serve.  

  • 6. Training & Resource Center

    While virtual learning is sufficient, we feel strongly in the importance and effectiveness of having a place where our community of CS-curious educators, parents, students, and partners can always rely on for offering classes, labs, and common spaces to build community as you learn.

  • 7. Online CS Education Platform

    We want to create an online learning platform so that our teachers, parents, and students can easily access and use our plugged and unplugged activities and course offerings.

Professional Development Programs & Classes

Stay tuned for registrations to open up for our Professional Development offerings and dates.

Upcoming Events

Sometimes We Code In April

An Annual Hackathon
Saturday April 20, 2019   |   12pm – 3pm

This year’s hackathon will be held in partnership with the Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services at the Kingsley Commons Technology Center – exclusively for the center’s nearby 2nd-8th graders.  Parents welcomed.

Learn More

Sip & Tech

Networking & Fundraising

Come join us for some fun events where we’ll introduce some simple yet useful CS topics, tools, and activities.  You’ll also walk away knowing how you as a parent or teacher can become a better advocate for CS curriculum improvements in schools. You’ll learn some simple coding-related activities plus see demos on how to best utilize tech in the classroom or at home.  

Consider making a donation so we can keep this event series going plus provide scholarships and training for K-12 CS teachers.

Stay tuned to sign up for our next date.

 

Recent Posts

  • Sometimes We Code In April
    In April 2018, we held our first hackathon to help a small group of middle and high school girls design a group chat app using the Ionic Framework. Because of the success and excitement that came out of that day, we decided we’d do it again every

Partnerships & Alliances

Membership_Badge
When Doves Code is now a member of the CSforALL Consortium. Just like us, the CSforALL organization aims to support the development of rigorous and relevant CS education and computational thinking skills for all students in grades K-12, with a focus on unlocking the missing talent of underrepresented groups of students.
Blue Collar Objects
We appreciate the coaching expertise as well as 2017-18 funding and volunteer support from our Tech Pro partner - Blue Collar Objects.
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For our advance CS topics such as Java Programming and App Development (iOS and Android), we rely on the expertise and resources provided by coderighter
Home
We bring child care to our in-person Professional Development offerings! Sponsors needed. Contact us if your company is interested in making this possible for our upcoming Fall 2018 PD classes.

What We Need Now

Partners

  • Establish partnerships and programs with K-12 school districts to provide CS instruction implementation guidance including roadmaps and curriculum development
  • Partnering with colleges and universities to establish pathway programs to
    • Help pre-service and in-service teachers obtain CS-related micro-credentials and degrees
    • Help current seasoned IT professionals obtain teacher certification credentials so they can bring their expertise into classrooms

Volunteers & Instructional Coaches

Volunteer – Our outreach programs require the help of volunteers to help us plan and carry out events to spread the love and art of computer science with the community.

Coach – Our classes require the help of additional experienced computer science professionals that are willing to help teachers and school districts in various ways.

Corporate Partners & Sponsors

Corporate Support – By offering your office space, workforce, and funding we are able to know that we\’ll always have places to meet and train, access to a talented pool of potential instructional coaches, plus the ability to equip our team with needed supplies.

Donate

Our 2018-2019 initiatives require the support of so many:

  • Individuals
  • Corporations
  • Colleges & Universities

We need as many as possible pitching in to help us improve the quality and availability of computer science education offerings for our next generation of computer scientists.

When Doves Code is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donation is tax-deductible.

Your donation of as little as $7 can help us continue to take next steps with confidence.

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Help us teach and mentor more K-12 Computer Science educators! By chipping in as little as $7 today, you will help us buy much needed equipment for our Mobile Lab and put us closer to being able to open our Makerspace.

Donate $7 to When Doves Code
When Doves Code is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the love, art, and skill of coding with others – with a particular focus on those that we feel need it most urgently but still welcoming to all others with interest. Follow us or sign up if you are interested in trying any of our upcoming courses or to just receive announcements when we share tips and resources.
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