Schools from two regions in the state are gearing up for Computer Science Education Week by planning Family Code Night events that will encourage family engagement and accelerate elementary computer science education throughout these regions.

Sacramento County Office of Education’s Family Code Night will involve 12 districts across Sacramento County with 319 schools invited to participate.

CS4NorCal Family Code Night will involve 201 invited schools across six counties in Northern California: Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta and Siskiyou.

Each event will be a livestreamed learning opportunity for families of K-8 students to experience at school or at home during Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 5-11.

In both regions, the Family Code Night program is strategically localized to accelerate the success of specific elementary-level computer science programs at both the school and regional level.

SCOE will focus on expanding the impact of its popular “Summer of CS” program to expand CS pathways in schools in the county and statewide with professional learning and support.

“We’re pleased to now reach out to differently engage families and build new forms of support for elementary computer science education throughout our county,” said SCOE Director of Computer Science and Digital Learning Jared Amalong.

CS4NorCal has a goal of filling available teacher PD slots this spring, as well as customizing outreach to address some community resistance to high tech.

“The COVID crisis in education had particularly devastating effects in our rural areas. It exposed a deep digital divide in rural access to high-speed internet, digital devices for students, and online teaching support for educators,” said Tim Taylor, executive director of the Small School Districts Association. “We’re excited to give students, families, and teachers the opportunity to get a fun and accessible taste of computer science.”

Both regional hosts are presenting their events with the nonprofit CSisElementary.org. There is still time for schools in these two regions to participate in Family Code Night.

For more information on CS4NorCal, visit www.cs4norcal.org/family-code-night.

For more information on SCOE’s Family Code Night, visit https://sites.google.com/scoe.net/2022sacramentocountyfcn/home.