Harris County School District, GA

Harris County School District is an accredited K-12 school system based in the county seat of Hamilton, Georgia. It serves nearly 5,400 students with four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, one high school, and one performance learning center. With a vision of “one community committed to educational excellence for every child,” Harris County School District continually strives to provide students what they need to become the future workforce and society. For more information, visit www.harris.k12.ga.us or the Facebook or Twitter pages (@HCSDga).

Computer Science is part of our district-wide STEAM program.

At Harris County High School the Career Technology and Agriculture Education program offers two Information Technology pathways leading to industry level certification: Computer Science and Cybersecurity

The Computer Science pathway consists of these three courses:

• Introduction to Digital Technology is the introductory course for several Information Technology pathways. This course covers the basics of hardware, software, networks, website design, and programming. This course will be replaced with a more specific Introduction to Software Technology course by 2023-24.
• Computer Science Principals is the second course in the IT Computer Science pathway. It introduces students to the foundations of modern computing to include programming, algorithms, the internet, big data, digital privacy, and cybersecurity. It is offered as a standard course and as an Advanced Placement course approved by the College Board.
• AP Computer Science is the final course to complete the IT Computer Science Pathway. The course introduces students to fundamentals including computational problem solving, design strategy, methodology, organization of data, and the ethical implications of computing. This course is sponsored by Amazon as part of their Future Engineers program. At the culmination of this course, students will take the Microsoft Certified Professional exam for Software Development Fundamentals. Successful completion will result in a student NOCTI Programming certification. Students may choose to take the AP Exam to earn college credit for the course.

The Cybersecurity pathway consists of these three courses:

• Introduction to Digital Technology is the introductory course for several Information Technology pathways. This course covers the basics of hardware, software, networks, website design, and programming. This course will be replaced with a more specific Introduction to Hardware Technology course by 2023-24.
• Introduction to Cybersecurity is the second course in the IT Cybersecurity pathway. It introduces students to the basics of information security and cybersecurity practices. This course prepares students to take the CompTIA Network+ certification exam.
• Advanced Cybersecurity is the capstone course to complete the IT Cybersecurity pathway. The course explores malware threats, cryptography, organizational security, and wireless technologies. Students will take the CompTIA Security+ certification exam at the end of this course.

Harris County expanded computer science options to grades 5-8 in the 2020-21 academic year.