About the Blueprint
The Computer Science for All (CS4All) Blueprint is an academic and implementation guide for teaching computer science in New York City public schools.
We know that it's a big undertaking to support educators and their school communities as they begin to integrate, many for the first time, computer science (CS) into their classrooms. So we created the Blueprint with a dedicated group of Blueprint Teacher Fellows, elevating their CS teaching knowledge and experience in NYC classrooms.
We also gathered feedback from more than 30 sessions with researchers, the CS education community, industry, and families; and incorporated their needs, values, and goals in our design direction and content.
A list of these stakeholders, as well as the important ideas and feedback they offered, are summarized below.
With the beta (first published draft) version of the Blueprint, the CS4All team is engaged a new cohort of Teacher Fellows, and worked with administrators to further refine and develop the resources schools need to implement a rigorous computer science curriculum.
With every new iteration of this Blueprint CS4All hopes to involve more and more educators to further build and refine this website to be the best computer science education resource in NYC.
What we learned in 2016 (The inception of the Blueprint)
A huge thank you to all those who attended our sessions!
CS education researchers at the CSNYC Knowledge Forum
Generalize concepts and practices to elevate computer science thinking on the CSNYC Knowledge Forum.CS education community at Hive Research Lab CS Visions Convenings
Develop multiple perspectives about how to connect CS to each school's visions and goals.Tech and tech-related industry at CS4All industry roundtables
Collaboration and critical thinking are equally important to technical skills.School leaders at principal and assistant principal conferences
Include practical guides to support the roll-out of CS in schools.Families at World Maker Faire
Families were most interested in general problem-solving and design-thinking skills.
2016-2017 CS4All Blueprint Fellows
The 2016-17 Blueprint Fellows laid the groundwork for the CS4All Blueprint. This team of amazing and insightful educators helped determine the foundations of this website, both literally and figuratively.
Alana Robinson
Alana Robinson teaches CS to elementary and middle school self-contained special education classes at the Mickey Mantle School, a District 75 school in Manhattan.Ariadna Phillips-Santos
Ariadna Phillips-Santos is a passionate Dual Language (Spanish) Computer Science and ESL/ELA teacher at the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology in the South Bronx.Ben Samuels-Kalow
Ben Samuels-Kalow was a Computer Science and Economics teacher at the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology in the South Bronx.Dr. Christa Quint
Dr. Christa Quint is in her 12th year teaching in New York City. She is an experienced Math teacher and and a new Computer Science teacher at the Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology.Christy Crawford
Christy Crawford has taught in Harlem and the Bronx for more than 13 years. She is an education consultant and contributor to Scholastic's Top Teaching blog..JoAnn Westhall
JoAnn Westhall is a Computer Science Instructor, Grades Pre-K-5, at PS 31 in Bayside, Queens.Matt Boyle
Matthew Boyle has taught CS for 9 years, and is the coordinator of the Software Engineering program at Innovation HS in East Harlem. He teaches a 4-year computer science curriculum culminating in AP CSP.Sean Pawelec
Sean Pawelec is the STEM Department Chair and Software Engineering Program Teacher at Innovation Charter High School in East Harlem. Sean has been working at Innovation for 10 years and still co-teaches the SEP Program with Matthew Boyle.Tim Feimer
Tim Feimer is a certified SS 7-12 teacher who enjoys building and learning all about CS topics for all middle school grade levels (6-8).Tim Chen
Tim Chen was a software engineering teacher at the Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology. He is interested in everything related to computer science education!2017-2018 CS4All Blueprint Fellows
The Blueprint Fellowship for the 2017-18 school year was structured as two tracks - Curriculum and Pedagogy. The Curriculum Fellows designed Blueprint-aligned CS units to test in the classroom, while the Pedagogy Fellows participated in interivistations and peer observations that were published as video resources on the Blueprint. Several 2016-17 Blueprint Fellows were able to attend this year as well!
Names, pictures, and bios are in the process of being updated!
Eric Allatta
Jacqueline Anderson
Lisa Baerga
Lisa is a proud product of the NYC public school system, both as a student, teacher, and former member of the CS4All team as the Associate Director of Secondary CS for the DOE. She recently earned her license in CS Education with the First Cohort at Hunter College.Darlene Bowman
Darlene designs innovative learning experiences in technology for high school students with Autism and is an English professor with the College of Staten Island. She has been teaching students with and without disabilities for almost 20 years.Saisha Braithwaite
Jonathan Broker
Althea Burris
Sheila Callahan
Robert Calungsod
Cherubim Cannon
Aasine Cassara
Aasine created the CS program at HALA 6 years ago and has had an amazing journey doing so!Renne Castro
Abraham Cohen
Alexis Dixon
Hui Yu Du
Susan Ettenheim
Yokasta Evans-Lora
Matthew Gill
Valerie Hernandez
Jody Hilton
Jody is the Magnet Coordinator and CS4All Lead at P.S. 44. She has worked as a Classroom Teacher, Literacy Coach, and Science Teacher for grades PreK-5 for the past 24 years. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer in City College of New York's Education Department.Pravin Jammula
Yuhang Jiang
Jeffrey Kaufman
Jeff Kaufman has taught Computer Science through the intersection of law and philosophy instilling in his students the importance of the social, political and economic implications of technology.Michelle Kennedy
Brian Knoerzer
Brooke Kohler Britton
Mark Leffler
Bonnie Lestz
Alison Lisberger
Janice Mack
Joyce Malchow
Megan Massimo
Courtney Morgan
John Nelson
Tenicka Norwood
Deborah Ominiabohs
Beth Portocarrero
Casey Snepar
Daniel Sterbenz
Alicia Wade
Kimberly Welcome
Gwynn White
Gwynn is a Library Media Specialist, CS4All Teacher Trainer and Ingenuity Team Cohort member, Recipient of the 2019 Excellence in School Technology and Dr. Adelaide L. Sanford 2021 Legacy Teaching Excellence awards, and Member of the Black Caucus of the ALA.Thea Williams
Patricia Wong
Patricia is a Media Librarian, Social Scientist, CS4ALL Equity Lead, NYCDOE School SPOC, SBL & SDL Certified, and a Recipient of the 2017 Senator Lanza Teacher of the Year Award.Jessica Zuluaga
A message from the fellows: What are we trying to teach?
In Math class, students hold a pencil. They may hold that same pencil in English, but what they’re asked to produce, how they’re trained to think and question – look different. In neither class is the pencil the focus.
In computer science, the computer is the pencil.
Your students have used computers to convey their thinking -- to get it on a document, on a slide, in a picture, or on a piece of paper. Our hope is that these resources will help you create a classroom in which students think with the computer, where the computer becomes "a bicycle for the mind," a tool for empowering and unlocking our students' curiosity and creativity.
We'll be tackling everything from recommended programming languages and courses of study, to the arrangement of tables and chairs in your classroom. There is a lot to digest (and a lot that we are still learning,) but these resources were put together by folks who love teaching computer science and learned to teach it, just like you, while in the classroom.
A final thought before we jump into the nitty-gritty. Why CS4All? After all, not everyone will become a computer programmer, and that is totally fine. Not every student will become a novelist, but every student has the right to read great literature, to be exposed to the possibility that she can create something great and enduring. CS4All is about unlocking potential. Our objective is not to produce coders, but young people who think about code and are not afraid to try to read and write it.
In the history of computer science, we have mostly been content to wait for prodigies to drive innovation. We believe there is more prodigious talent in our students that can be unlocked by learning to create and iterate. These resources are a commitment to equity, to unlocking more unrealized potential in all our students, in as many ways as we possibly can.