The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

U-High's advanced Computer Science courses

Lab is one of the first schools in the country to have a high school requirement in computer science. Now, more than 200 students are learning how to code and build computers from scratch.

A pair of advanced courses allows U-Highers to push further into both the software and the hardware aspects of CS. AP Computer Science is an intensive programming class, and in Computer Architecture kids build an entire computer system from the ground up—they design the core pieces of hardware that perform actions on data, build circuits, write software, and build the operating system.

Advanced students have received any number of other accolades, from winning programming hackathons (while going head-to-head with college students), to being recognized in national competitions for high school girls.

Alumni from these advanced classes have gone on to work for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Uber, and Amazon.