Pascack Valley Regional High School Apple Apps Design After School Course Dear Students and Parents, Mr. Denny Kwon, a Pascack Hills HS alum (Class of 98) and a professional computer programmer and designer has graciously volunteered to teach any interested Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley student how to design web apps for the iphone, ipad, and itouch as part of a multi-month after school course. Mr. Kwon held an interest meeting for students on Wednesday October 26, 2011 at Pascack Valley HS. At the meeting, he outlined the scope and purpose of the course (listed below), suggested pre-requisites (also listed below), and the time requirements. Here are the details: Course description: The iphone course is designed for beginners with no prior programming experience. Initially, students will be introduced to the general principles of programming and design. We will then move on to the iphone development environment known as XCode. Though there are no prerequisites, students are recommended to at least be enrolled in Algebra 2 or to otherwise show exceptional promise and aptitude in math. Especially at the early stages, the training is difficult and will challenge the student's logical thought processes. Throughout the curriculum, we will focus on building a fully functional iphone application from the bottom up. This will entail design of the user interface, implementation of application logic and deployment to the itunes App Store. The app will serve as a general informational tool for the two high schools in the Pascack Valley Regional district. By the end of the sequence, students will be prepared to build their own apps from scratch and publish them if they wish. For those who wish to participate, we recommend registering for an Apple Developer account: http://developer.apple.com/iphone. If you wish to eventually publish apps, you will have to apply for a developer license which carries a $99 annual fee. (This fee would be the student s responsibility) This is not necessary for the course. Course Timeline: The course will meet every Wednesday after school at Pascack Valley High School in the Media Center Classroom from 3:30pm-4:30pm. (A calendar is attached)
On each of the staff development days, students will be released from their regularly scheduled classes to attend a full day (8am-3pm) class session to be held at Pascack Valley HS. The dates for these release days are: November 2, December 6, January 16, March 14, and May 17. Students are responsible for all work missed. Attendance at these classes is a commitment. If you cannot attend all the sessions due to athletics, extracurricular activities, or other commitments, you should not sign up for the course. Due to the cumulative and building nature of the course work, missing sessions would be detrimental to student progress. Transportation to and from the class is the student s responsibility. The district will not be providing transportation. Further, according to Mr. Kwon, students should expect to practice independently on the own for a block of time each week, exclusive of the class. Course Status This course does not bear credit nor have a grade attached to it. It will not appear on a student s transcript. It is being run as a voluntary enrichment opportunity. Mr. Kwon will be serving as a volunteer and several of our certified teaching staff will be taking the course as students and also serving as class chaperones. Laptop Use To take part in the course the students will have the Apple programming software installed on their machine by the district. In doing so, the student will have access rights to their machine that other students do not have. This access is a privilege and if district rules or procedures are violated or if the student removes themselves from the class, the software will be removed from the laptop by technology services, access rights will be removed, and the computer may be reimaged at technology service s discretion. If the terms of the Acceptable Use Policy are violated, disciplinary action may follow. Press Releases and Media By being part of this course, you agree to allow your name and photograph to be used and published as part of public relations material and press releases that may be distributed as part of the course to local newspapers and media outlets. Questions relating to the course may be directed to the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Dr. Bachenheimer at bbachenheimer@pascack.k12.nj.us or 201-358-7020 x2033.
Parents/guardians and students must sign and return the form below to Technology Services at their respective school by Monday October 31, 2011. Sincerely, Dr. Barry Bachenheimer Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Pascack Valley Regional High School Apps Course Permission Form I, give permission for my child to take part in the Apple Apps Design enrichment course being offered by the Pascack valley Regional High School District by Mr. Denny Kwon. I understand that this course will take place every Wednesday from 3:30pm-4:30pm at Pascack Hills High School as well as full days (8am-3pm) on the District Staff Development days. I acknowledge that the district does not provide transportation to and from the course. I understand that registration is a commitment and that failure to attend classes on a regular basis will result in my child being dropped from the course. I understand that this course does not bear credit, a grade, nor will it be listed on my child s transcript. I acknowledge that as part of the course design software will be installed on my child s computer that grants them certain access rights not given to other students. Misuse of this privilege that results in violations of school policies will result in removal of the software, suspension of the rights, removal from the course, and possible disciplinary action. If the student chooses to extend their opportunity by desiring the $99 Apple designer program, the district will not provide that fee. Further, I give permission for my child s name and/or photo to be published in the newspaper or local media as part of public relations relating to this course. Parent Name (printed) Date Parent Signature Student Name: Grade: Phone #: Address: School: email: I agree to adhere to the requirements of the course listed in the class handout. Student Signature Date
Schedule Class will be held from 3:30pm-4:30pm on the following Wednesdays in the Media Center Classroom at Pascack Valley High School November 9, 16, 30 December 7, 14, 21 January 4, 11, 18, 25 February 1, 8, 15, 29 March 7, 21, 28 April 4, 11, 18 May 2, 9 Class will be held from 8am-3pm at Pascack Valley High School on the following Professional Development Days. Student will be excused from their classes. Students should bring lunch from home these days. November 2, December 6, January 16, March 14, and May 17.