Dear Amanda Lattimore,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I know we worked in the past on bringing the GlideApp into
the classroom, which I still think we should do since it has no additional costs and we can use the new
Google accounts the district has adopted. We can come back to that later.

Due to some of the more serious security measures by our district I have had to reach out to companies
that followed many of the school’s requirements. Unfortunately, there aren't that many that meet the
high standards of BCPS. The district has blocked Google sites, Weebly, and numerous other avenues in
which students could create their own personal web page. I do understand the heightened security
measures and the need for student privacy in today's day and age. However, I feel this takes us away
from our goals of equitable access for students, because my CTE class for some students is the only time
they can have access to web programing and their BCPS issued device is the only type of computer they
have at home. Failing to have access to a site that enables them to create a webpage only further
spreads the educational gap for the Baltimore County students and makes my job much more difficult.

While working on the coding unit last semester I came across a company called CodeHS. This company’s
platform can be used from kindergarten through higher Ed and does not require any private student
information. My coworker and I have used it quite a bit this year starting with their one program called
“Coding with Karel.” More recently I've used it to teach my students how to design a website using their
“Dali” program.

Some of their offerings include their introductory courses with JavaScript, computer science in Python, a
variety of web design protocols, and AP computer science courses that the students can do on their
own. They have professional development courses available for computer science teachers and AP
computer science teachers and a very strong community in which teachers can reach out to others using
CodeHS.

They have specific middle school courses, which I find rare because middle schools often neglected
when it comes to Computer Sciences. They also include many fun items for students such as video game
design and career opportunities like cyber security. In addition, they also have some Spanish courses.

I really appreciate the self-paced nature of this course and the flexibility that the teacher has over the
course. As I said, there's several web design courses on their platform and I can scaffold up or down for
whatever my students need. If a student needs a simpler task, I can find something simpler for that
student while they're still learning the fundamentals of designing website. Likewise, if a student mind is
well ahead of even my content knowledge in terms of web design, they have AP level courses in which
they can learn minor nuances of web design that I might not even know.

But the greatest feature is the ease in which a student can log in. I can set this up myself or they can set
it up using their Google account and CodeHS does not obtain any information on the students in my
course. This is something that the district needs to investigate not just for my class but for a variety of
course in the district. I think this would put our students, and specifically our low socioeconomic
students, on an even playing field and provide them with the 21 st century skills necessary to compete in
the everchanging global marketplace. Please let me know when you're available and I can show you a
student account and go through some of the coursework with you. I know once you see this, you'll
thoroughly enjoy it and see the possibility it brings for the students In Baltimore County.