How old does my child need to be to enroll in <HelloWorld/>?

• <HelloWorld/> is meant for kids ages 11-14 (at the time of Year 1 enrollment) because we believe those are the best ages to begin learning to code.
• We will consider students who are slightly younger or older on a case-by-case basis.
• If you have a specific question about your child, please get in touch with us.

Who's teaching the coding classes?

• All classes are taught by Ilya Basin. Ilya is a veteran software developer and has been running <HelloWorld/> since 2015. You can find out more about Ilya here.
• We also have a teaching assistant who is a graduate of  <HelloWorld/>'s three-year computer coding program!. Get to know our TA here.

Are there any prerequisites?

• The only prerequisite for enrolling in Year 1 is to be excited to learn to code!
• Prerequisites for Years 2 and 3 are (of course) completion of Years 1 and 2, respectively. (Continued excitement for coding is also a must!) If you feel that your child already has the skills taught in Years 1 or 2 and you would like to enroll them in a higher level class, please give us a call to discuss.
• Kids must bring their own laptops to class (see laptop requirements below).
• All development tools used in the class are free and/or open source. We will help the kids set up the needed tools on their laptops during class.

How much does <HelloWorld/> cost?

• Our pricing model is simple: we charge per class, based on the table below. Payment for the semester is due by the first class of each semester (in October for the fall semester and in January for the spring semester). A monthly payment option is available for a small additional fee. Monthly payments are due by the first class of each month.

  	Cost per 2-hr class (if paying by semester)	Cost per 2-hr class (if paying monthly)
  Year 1	$60	$65
  Year 2	$70	$75
  Year 3	$80	$85

• A $50 fee will be assessed for payments that are more than 7 days late.
• Please contact us with any payment questions.

Why do you charge more for Years 2 and 3 than you do for Year 1? Don't you guys spend the same amount of time teaching the class?

Class sizes for Years 2 and 3 are typically smaller than for Year 1 because completion of Year 1 is a prerequisite for enrolling in Year 2, and completion of Year 2 is a prerequisite for enrolling in Year 3. The smaller class sizes enable us to provide more individual attention to each student as we teach more advanced topics. To continue to provide this service to our more advanced students, we need to charge slightly higher rates.

When and where do classes meet?

• Please see our schedule here.
• <HelloWorld/> meets at 2565 Pennington Place, Vienna, VA 22181. Please see location on map here.

Does my child need to bring his or her own laptop to class?

• Yes, each child will need to bring a laptop to class with the following minimum specifications (we know from experience that children get frustrated and fall behind when they use a slow and/or outdated computer):
     o Windows 11
     o Minimum ARM64 or x64 processor quad-core processor
     o Minimum 8 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
     o Minimum 256GB hard-drive (SSD strongly recommended)
• All development tools used in class are free and/or open source.
• If you are purchasing a laptop for your child and need advice, feel free to contact us.
• We will help the kids set up all needed software on their laptops during class.

How can kids get through all the material described on your “Curriculum” tab in a part-time class?

• We have an ambitious curriculum, but our current students have no trouble keeping up. The “secret sauce” for getting through this much advanced material relatively quickly is not to do busy work and to focus on learning what matters. We know from experience that this works.
• Regular attendance is very important so kids don’t fall behind and can keep pace with their classmates. If a student misses class due to illness (or for another exceptional reason), the student will be asked to watch a video recording of the missed lecture. The student will also be expected to take a short oral quiz on the missed material. This is done to ensure that no one is left behind and that the class can timely complete the curriculum. As always, the instructor is available for additional help as needed.

You say that you teach kids the basics of computer science and how to think like software developers. What have your past students done with those skills?

Because inspiring students to pursue software development as a career is one of HelloWorld’s top goals, we are very excited about the computer science pathways taken by many of our alumni.

Many graduates of our three-year program have gone on to skip introductory AP computer science classes in high school and ace the more advanced AP computer science classes; many others have applied their HelloWorld-honed computer science skills in leadership positions on their schools’ competitive robotics and cyber teams.

Among our older graduates, multiple are pursuing STEM majors at top engineering and technical schools, including at MIT, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, UVA, and Purdue. We are proud to say that students from our very first cohort are now programming their way through graduate school at elite universities!

I heard that demand for software developers will be reduced with the advent of AI. Will coding still be relevant by the time my child joins the workforce?

AI is developing so fast that no one really knows where it’s headed. But here are my two cents, as someone whose day job is to do AI research:

AI is changing the texture of development work by taking care of tedious and repetitive tasks that developers used to have to do by hand. But I don’t see AI being able to take a software project of any complexity and develop it from soup to nuts anytime soon.

For the foreseeable future, developers will still need to architect projects, assign smaller, more manageable tasks to AI, and then review AI’s work to ensure it was done to the developer’s standards. Because, in a world supported by AI, developers will have to spend less time doing routine tasks, they will become more productive.

Historically, since the 1960s, each new advancement in software development (e.g., a new language, a new development paradigm, a new framework) that has increased developer productivity, has also increased demand for software developers. The reason for that is simple: demand for custom software is almost insatiable and is limited only by cost. Whereas in the 1980s/1990s, only large companies could afford custom business software, today medium and even small companies routinely build custom software to fit their needs.

In other words, as software becomes cheaper, demand for software (and, consequently software developers) expands. I have no reason to think it’ll be any different with AI: AI will make software accessible to more customers for more purposes, and humans will still be needed to design the software, allocate tasks to AI, and review AI’s output.

A deep understanding of computer science, coupled with human judgment, will be needed to oversee these new, possibly more complex, AI-enhanced software projects.

How do I enroll my child?

• <HelloWorld/> coding classes are held on Saturdays and run during the FCPS school year. Enrollment for the following academic year opens in late May and ends the first week of October. Enrollment is now open for the upcoming fall semester.
• Students are accepted into the program on a first-come, first-served basis. Class sizes are limited.
• To enroll, please click the button below and fill out the short form. We will be in touch with all the details.
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