New Computer Education Centers in Southlake Tech-Equip Future Generation

Computer savviness is quickly becoming as necessary of a skill as reading, writing and arithmetic. With some degree of technical aptitude required in nearly all professions, there is a growing need for the next generation to be digitally literate. Two new centers in Southlake offer students just that—an opportunity to learn, understand and use digital information.

Many kids already spend hours on phones, computers or playing video games. What if that screen time could be put to better use? At Code Ninjas Southlake, kids play video games while gaining a valuable skill that they aren’t getting at home – learning to code.

Kids do not passively play games at Code Ninjas – they build games that they already know and love, such as Scratch®, Minecraft® and Roblox®. The curriculum is designed for kids ages 7-14 and is divided into martial arts-style levels – from white to black belt– that kids advance through as they build their coding skills.

Core offerings include drop-in learning (students build, play and learn at their own pace and get immediate help from Code Senseis® instructors), after school programs (students learn keyboarding and Microsoft® Office skills that enhance coding, enjoy free time for robotics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) games, and get help with homework), Code Ninjas Camps (immersive environments for children to explore and develop new skills, gain confidence and have fun with friends), Parent’s Night Out, and birthday parties.

Founded by a programmer, entrepreneur and father of two, Code Ninjas has several locations throughout the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, including 13 franchises in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Located at 220 Randol Mill Avenue, Suite 100, the Southlake location will officially open for business in mid-August, just in time for the new school year.

Teaching more than coding, iCode Southlake is another center than equips students with a design mindset and a desire to innovate. iCode is a forward-thinking after school program that provides a strong foundation in computer science, preparing students for the world beyond the classroom and inspiring them to be creative problem solvers.

How? iCode offers K-12 students an immersive, hands-on STEM-based curriculum in high tech labs where they learn hard skills, like computer programming and robotics, but also build transferrable skills, like leadership, collaboration and problem-solving. As students think creatively and critically, work as teams and innovate, they become armed with knowledge, college readiness and workforce skills.

Students’ progress through iCode’s curriculum in a martial arts-style belt system, each defined by one of eight colors, and each under the umbrella of Beginner (foundational concepts and strategy for building websites, apps, software and working with robotics), Intermediate (augmenting foundational coding knowledge to become web developers, working with animations and programming) or Advanced (gaining a foundation in complex programming languages to build a diverse portfolio). To graduate from one belt to another, each student must present a final project with a team.

iCode also offers off-campus immersion programs at area schools (with a potential partnering in the works with Carroll Independent School District), holidays camps (including Battle-Bot Robotics, Drones, Game Development and more), and summer STEM camps (App Creation, Digital Artwork Creation, YouTube Production and others).

Founded by a DFW entrepreneur and with an advisory board composed of both corporate and academic leaders, Southlake is the eighth franchise location for iCode in North Texas. iCode Southlake is now open for business at 2750 East Southlake Boulevard, Suite 120.

These two new education centers in Southlake give kids a competitive edge to outsmart technology, all while having fun in the process.