Phoenix Coding Academy opens its doors to students

AHWATUKEE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The word is continuing to spread about a new school within the Phoenix Union High School District.

"I'm from Prescott, but I moved to Phoenix so I could come to coding academy," Delannee Jaime said.

Delannee says the opportunities here at Phoenix Coding Academy are unique. Every student chooses to focus on either engineering, coding, or networking.

For Delannee, it's engineering, which is a field that she's passionate about being a part of.

"For me, as a female, the percentage of females in the industry is really low, so it's really important for me to get into it," she said.

Of the nearly 100 students who fill these classrooms today, almost half are girls, but the boys are thriving, too.

Like sophomore Makai, who just transferred from a school in Ahwatukee.

"I really wanted to come to this school to see what it has fo offer," he said. "Especially because it's a programming school and I grew up around my dad because he's a game developer."

So, his focus is coding, taking his standard classes like Spanish and history, and then getting to work on classes that are geared towards his future career.

"It's really essential to push those so that we can push our more coders and people who like to work with tech in the future," he said.

That's the point, Principal Seth Beute says, to give students a head start.

"Right now in Phoenix, there's thousands of open jobs just in sophomore developments and Phoenix is a really hot place right now for tech development and new companies," he said.

The goal is to incrementally grow the school to 400 students, offering an education from freshman to seniors unlike any they'd get here in the Valley.

"Really getting the students, sparking their interest, getting them excited, then building that foundation so they can move onto college and career," Principal Beute said.