Welcome to the computer science department website at Holy Ghost Preparatory School. Feel free to navigate to the different tabs at the top to view student projects from different courses and afterschool clubs. You can also view the results from various competitions that students have competed in on campus, in the community, and across the globe.
The emphasis in this department is twofold: we are striving to give students an understanding, appreciation, and excitement for computer programming, and secondly, to prepare our students for an undergraduate degree in computer science (or similar disciplines). We accomplish this by taking a project-based approach in all courses, where students collaborate to complete projects that have been developed by our faculty. You can browse some of our latest project submissions in each course on the 'Courses' tab above.
Languages Used In the Department:
Other Software Used:
AP Computer Science Principles
This advanced placement elective introduces students to the central ideas of computer science. This course focuses on fostering students' creativity, and encourages students to apply creative processes when developing computational artifacts. In this course, students design and implement innovative solutions using an iterative process similar to what artists, writers, computer scientists, and engineers use to bring ideas to life. By the end of the second semester, students are sufficiently prepared to take the Advanced Placement Exam of the College Board.
Last Year's Syllabus: Download Here
Languages and Software Used:
AP Computer Science A
This advanced placement elective prepares students for entry-level college courses in computer science. Topics include preconditions and postconditions, assertions, and informal analysis of algorithms, as well as many standard searching and sorting algorithms using static data structures. By the end of the second semester, students are sufficiently prepared to take the Advanced Placement Exam of the College Board, Level A. Enrollment in this Advanced Placement section is limited to those students who have shown high aptitude in Math and Science and have departmental approval.
Last Year's Syllabus: Download Here
Languages and Software Used:
Honors Advanced Topics
Students in this course will explore various current topics in computer science, and will be led through large-scale programming projects. These topics may include, but are not limited to: database development, software and app creation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cyber security. For the second semester, the class will switch to a research-based, student led model. Students will choose a topic to research, and will be guided through the engineering process, in order to create something new. They will then present their findings, and new developments, to their peers and the community.
Last Year's Syllabus: Download Here
Languages and Software Used:
More Information About These Courses Coming Soon...
- Computer Science Essentials
- VEX Robotics
- Information Systems
- Computer Science
- Website Programming
- Graphic Design
picoCTF is a free computer security game targeted at middle and high school students. The game consists of a series of challenges centered around a unique storyline where participants must reverse engineer, break, hack, decrypt, or do whatever it takes to solve the challenge. The challenges are all set up with the intent of being hacked, making it an excellent, legal way to get hands-on experience.
HGP Results: ranked 249 out of 5430 teams
Competition Website: Link
Hosted By: Carnegie Mellon University
At the center of CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, which puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Through a series of online competition rounds, teams are given a set of virtual operating systems and are tasked with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services.
HGP Results: ranked Gold in State Round
Competition Website: Link
Hosted By: Air Force Association
Battlecode is a real-time strategy game, for which students will write an AI player. In Battlecode, two teams of virtual robots roam the screen managing resources and executing different offensive strategies against each other. Each AI player will need to strategically manage a robot army and control how the robots work together to defeat the enemy team. Contestants will learn to use artificial intelligence, pathfinding, distributed algorithms, and network communications to make their players as competitive as possible.
HGP Results: N/A
Competition Website: Link
Hosted By: Massachusetts Institute of Technology