The CodeHS road trip continues through the Northeast, bringing new connections, enthusiastic educators, and curious students at every stop. Here’s a snapshot of our latest school visits:
Stop 1: Thomas Webster High School (Webster, NY)
Starting off the New York journey, we visited Webster Thomas High School, just outside Rochester. Jamie Fagan, the computer science teacher, was the first person to submit a school visit request, so it felt special to make his classroom the first stop in New York. We had the chance to conduct a teacher interview, gathering helpful insights about CodeHS in his classes. Over four class periods, students learning Python and Java heard about college experiences and the journey into tech. Overall, it was a fantastic way to kick off our trip around New York!
Stop 2: Ballard Elementary (South Glens Falls, NY)
Our first elementary school stop on the road trip was Ballard Elementary, where STEM teacher Allison Hudson welcomed us into her classroom. Allison teaches over 200 students across six grade levels each week, making STEM accessible and fun for a wide range of ages. She’ll be rolling out CodeHS in November, so we introduced a group of third graders to Scout’s Expedition Adventure. They loved customizing characters, adding costumes, and diving into CodeHS. We ended the day with a sticker giveaway and some photos by the pink van, which they admired from the classroom windows.
Stop 3: South Glens Falls High School (South Glens Falls, NY)
At South Glens Falls High School, we met Jaime Thompson, a longtime CodeHS teacher who’s been with us for five years. She and another teacher from the district, who teaches at Ballard Elementary, were thrilled to chat about ways to integrate our platform further. Jaime’s sophomore to senior year students were already coding Python with Turtle Graphics, and they enjoyed creating designs and robots on the platform. The classroom setup was impressive, with gaming desktops, monitors, and chairs—it felt like a perfect space for aspiring coders.
We crossed into northern New Jersey at Tenafly High School, where fall was in full swing. AP students welcomed our visit with Minjoo Park, a CodeHS pro teacher, who shared her excitement about having us there. The students were deeply engaged and showed a solid foundation in coding, asking insightful questions that reflected their experience. Minjoo’s supervisor even joined us and invited us to present to the school’s computer science and math department after class. We then were given a tour and introduced to 15 math and science teachers, who were both interested and amused by the stories about life on the road in the pink van.
Stop 5: Midland Park High School (Midland Park, NJ)
We made our way to Midland Park High School, where Danielle Vandenberghe, a pro teacher, was thrilled to hear we’d be visiting. A student had secretly submitted the request, and Danielle was happily surprised to welcome us. The students were full of energy, asking questions about programming languages and how to get started in computer science. We even launched into a Python coding challenge, sparking friendly competition and hands-on learning before running out of time.
Stop 6: Brentwood High School (Brentwood, NY)
Back in New York, we visited Long Island’s largest high school, Brentwood High. After initially connecting with teacher Maria Florin, we chatted with several of her classes and then spoke with two more classes from her colleagues. Many students shared their goals of pursuing computer science after high school, and they gave us fantastic recommendations for exploring the island. Connecting with these aspiring future coders and learning about their interests was truly inspiring.
Stop 7: Island Trees High School (Levittown, NY)
We stopped by Island Trees High School, where we met Maria Federico and her co-teacher. Maria shared a fun story about discovering CodeHS through her son, who uses it at his middle school. Inspired by his experience, she wanted her high school students to get hands-on with the platform. During our visit, Maria told us she values CodeHS’s easy-to-follow video lessons and intuitive design, which help make learning more accessible. Before leaving, the students were thrilled to take pictures with the pink van, and Maria even put in a request for the pro version!
Our next stop was West Hempstead High School, where we were greeted by Gregory Broas, a longtime pro user with CodeHS. Gregory’s excitement was contagious, and his AP students were eager to learn. They asked advanced questions about AI, neural networks, and debugging strategies, creating an engaging session. Sharing coding tips with the students was a great way to cap off our time on Long Island.
Stop 10: Ewing High School (Ewing, NJ)
Crossing the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border, we visited Ewing High School near Trenton, where we met teacher Joanna Papadopoulos. Ewing High doesn’t often receive visitors, so the students and teachers were excited for the opportunity to connect. We took the conversation outside to check out the pink van, and students lined up to snap photos, giving the day a fun, memorable end.
Each school brings unique perspectives and opportunities to support teachers and engage future coders. We can’t wait to see what’s next as we journey down the East Coast.
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Want CodeHS to visit your school?
We're well into the road trip and excited to visit even more schools along the way! You can still request a visit for the CodeHS team to make a stop at your school on the road trip. In addition, members of the CodeHS team will be visiting schools during Computer Science Education Week from December 2-15th. If you’re interested, request a visit here codehs.com/visit.
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