The idea behind Comp Sci High—a charter school focused on computer science education for predominantly Black and Latino students in the South Bronx —took shape in 2017. One year later, backed by founder David Noah, the school opened its doors in one of New York City’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
From the start, the school set an ambitious goal.
“We want to get every kid to the national median household income by the age of 25,” said Noah, executive director of Comp Sci High.
“Because that represents how much money you need to have a real measure of choice about where you live, what you eat, what you do, where you send your kids to school.”
Today, Comp Sci High serves roughly 500 students. But as the school continues its mission of economic mobility through technology, it faces a new and rapidly evolving challenge: the rise of generative artificial intelligence, a force reshaping both education and the tech industry itself.
For students like 11th grader Kenneth Nunez, the presence of AI is already unavoidable.
“There’s not much you can do without using AI anymore,” Nunez said. “Even if you don’t, your employers are probably going to force you to. And when AI becomes good enough, there might not even be a need for coders.”
Rather than resist the technology, Comp Sci High is choosing to confront it head-on. Shilpa Agrawal, the school’s director of computer science, is leading a comprehensive effort to prepare both students and staff for an AI-driven future.
“We’re launching a full AI literacy curriculum with all of our students across all four grades,” Agrawal said. “We’re also incorporating AI into coding practices, because that’s what the industry is doing.”
The approach, Agrawal explained, is intentionally gradual. Students are first required to master foundational programming skills through traditional instruction before being allowed to use AI tools.
“But once they’ve mastered those topics,” explained Agrawal, “then our classes in a lot of cases are allowing them to generate code using AI for the topics that they’ve shown mastery on.”
The rapid pace of technological change can be intimidating for educators and students alike. Still, Agrawal remains optimistic that adaptability —rather than fear— will determine long-term success.
“Ultimately, the world is going to look different when you graduate from high school and when you graduate from college, four and eight years from now,” Agrawal said.
“As long as you’re following those trends, as long as you’re understanding and moving with that evolving world, you will be fine.”
Liam Kahan is a journalism student at NYU. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
