Welcome Email

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Hello Applying students!

This is Martyn Conkling, Director at Bay Valley Tech Code Academy.

You are receiving this email because you have signed up for the Bay Valley Tech Code Academy 7-Month Web-App Development Program.

 

Please email martyn@bayvalleytech.com asap if you wish to be considered for the next starting cohort (deadline on March 14th) or future cohorts starting in 2-3 months.

If we have openings in the 2nd cohort you may be able to be accepted before finishing your preliminary work.

 

We may be contacting you through text as well in case this message goes to your spam folder. 

 

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW 

 

Students who want help with completing their assessment tests and prep work We highly suggest you come to one and/or all of these scheduled dates 

1. Tuesday, March 10th, @ 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM

2. Wednesday, March 11th @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

3. Thursday, March 12th @ 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

4. Friday, March 13th @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

5. Saturday, March 14th @ 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

 

We would like the 2nd cohort to be filled by Saturday, March 14th, 2020 latest.  Please respond and start the assessment tests and prep work as soon as possible.

 

 

Thank you for your interest in the Bay Valley Tech Code Academy.  Learning web development is the first step towards a high tech software career--we are excited that you have chosen to begin your journey with us!

 

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Please note that the starting date of the Code Academy's Second Cohort Is March 14th, 2020.

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We will have weekly class on Tuesdays from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and an additional makeup class for students on Saturdays from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM covering the same material.

 

 

Be sure to complete Step 1 and Step 4 (instructions below) as soon as possible. 

 

If you have any additional questions after reviewing this email, please contact us at martyn@bayvalleytech.com or rachel@bayvalleytech.com.

 

 

Code Academy Overview:

The Bay Valley Tech Code Academy is a flexible 7-month part-time program (when studying 20 hours per week) designed to lower barriers and provide as many Central Valley and East Bay residents as possible an opportunity to learn software development skills and gain entry into lucrative high tech careers.  Students who plan to study 10 hours per week should expect to take approximately 14 months to complete the coursework.  

 

The academy is comprised of three mandatory parts:

1. Daily self-study online lessons (2-4 hours per day)

2. Peer mentoring for a minimum of 2 hours per week (students in the program are required to help each other)

3. Weekly onsite classes with instructors and classmates (3-4 hours)

 

After completing the code academy, students should expect to spend approximately six to twelve more months enhancing their skills through building additional software projects and participating in internships before applying for entry-level software development jobs.

 

 

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Free of Charge & Student Commitments

 

Through the generosity of our partners, sponsors and volunteers, the Bay Valley Tech Code Academy is offered FREE OF CHARGE to all students accepted into the program.  Although the code academy is free, every student is required to complete the three mandatory parts outlined above AND give back to the local tech community by:

1. Attending a weekly in-person class and helping other students weekly

2. Assisting with website projects for local non-profits on a volunteer basis 

3. Participating/volunteering at all Bay Valley Tech-sponsored events (except excused absences)

4. Working to increase awareness of the code academy and other local tech initiatives

 

 

Bring Your Own Laptop

 

All code academy students will need to provide their own laptop computers.   We recommend either a Windows, Mac or Linux operating system for your laptop computer.  Chromebooks will not be adequate for the code academy lessons and projects. Be sure your computer has at least 8GB of RAM and an i5 (or faster) processor.    

 

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Upcoming Code Academy Cohorts

 

There are currently 3 code academy cohorts scheduled for this year.  Due to high demand, we are working with our partners and corporate sponsors to increase funding for more cohorts later this year.  The first meeting dates and times for the remaining 2 confirmed 2020 cohorts are:

1. March 10th, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Cohort 2 (beginning/intermediate students)

2. June 22, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Cohort 3 (beginning/intermediate students)

 

Please continue to check your email for notifications about additional cohorts

 

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Application Process 

 

All applicants to the code academy must complete the 4 steps below.  Applicants who have completed all 4 steps and demonstrate determination, persistence, aptitude and interest in contributing to the local tech community will be considered for entry into one of our upcoming code academy cohorts.  Applicants who have completed a significant amount of online or college-level programming coursework will be given priority in the admission process, so the more pre-work you do, the better your chance of being accepted into the code academy quickly.

 

Once you have completed the 4 steps below, we will review your application and inform you via email of your status.  Either you:

1. Have been accepted into a cohort (with start date and first-day instructions) or 

2. Have been waitlisted until additional cohorts are funded and opened or

3. Should continue to study and retake the assessment tests to improve your scores

 

Please note that acceptance into the code academy is not guaranteed and Bay Valley Tech reserves the right to ask anyone to leave the program or the premises for any reason at any time.  

 

 

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Step 1:  Application Form

 

To apply for the code academy, please complete this online application. 

If you have already filled out an application form please skip this step.

 

Your information will be kept private and only aggregated data will be used to track the program’s success. 

Once you have completed the Application Form, you are automatically considered a Pre-Academy Student.

Bay Valley Tech Code Academy Application Form: https://airtable.com/shrOkem4BBRblVLmp

 

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Step 2:  Schedule Admissions Interview

PLEASE CONTACT RACHEL ASAP via her email: (rachel@bayvalleytech.com) to schedule an in-person or phone admissions interview.

If you have been contacted by text please just respond via text.

You do not need to complete all of steps 3 and 4 before contacting Rachel.

 

 

Step 3:  Self-Study Materials for Pre-Academy Students

 

All students who are not already proficient with HTML/CSS and JavaScript, should quickly complete the online lessons below (it should take approximately 15 hours). These lessons cover the core basics of HTML/CSS and JavaScript needed to create simple websites.  Applicants who are already proficient in these areas can skip Step 2 and proceed to Step 3. To begin studying:

 

1. Important Notice: If you have not started your Khan Academy Prep-Work Assignments please join the new Khan Academy Classroom using this link: https://www.khanacademy.org/join/P8TZXYD3

You will need to make an account or log in with your Google account

     2. After you join the classroom your assignments will be assigned within the day.

 

 

Students are only required to complete the 2 Units of lessons on Khan Academy: Intro to HTML and CSS: Making Webpages, and Intro to JS: Drawing and Animations.  The Unit sections are as follows:

 

 

Introduction to HTML and CSS: Making Webpages

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Link: https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/html-css

Sections to complete:

• Intro to HTML

• Intro to CSS

• More HTML tags

• CSS text properties

• Web development tools

• CSS layout

• More CSS selectors

• Other ways to embed CSS

• Further Learning

 

Introduction to JS: Drawing & Animation

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Link: https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/programming

Sections to complete:

• Intro to programming

• Drawing basics

• Coloring

• Variables

• Animation basics

• Interactive programs

• Becoming a community coder

• Bonus: Resizing with variables

• Text and strings

• Functions

• Logic and if Statements

• Debugging programs

• Looping

• Writing clean code

• Arrays

• Objects

• Object-Oriented Design

 

These Units should take about 10-14 hours to complete.  Students are encouraged to try to finish these lessons as soon as possible, and come in for help if needed.

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You may also find these additional materials helpful:

• Mozilla Developer Network is an excellent resource for web development and contains everything from introductory guides to documentation and helpful articles about more advanced topics.  Feel free to explore additional content on the website.

  • https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide 

 

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Step 4:  Assessment Tests

 

• You must complete the three short Pluralsight assessment tests below to be considered for acceptance into the code academy.

 

• Beginner students should first finish working through their Khan Academy Lessons before taking the assessment tests (unless informed otherwise).  (See Step 2 Above)

 

• First, click on the first link below (Labeled HTML Assessment Test).  

• You will see a button in the middle or lower part of the webpage that says "Get your Free Skill IQ".  Click on that button, and fill out the following free registration and then proceed to take your assessment test.  

 

• For your remaining 2 assessment tests stay logged into your free account, and click or copy and paste the two remaining links in your browser to navigate to the web pages to take your tests. 

 

You SHOULD NOT sign up for a paid Pluralsight membership.  It is not necessary to pay Pluralsight just to take these assessment tests. 

 

You can review your questions after each test to see the correct answers.

 

Please do not worry about your scores on this test as it is being used to help quantify student improvement after finishing the Code Academy.  

• HTML Assessment Test :https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skill/html5

• CSS Assessment Test: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skill/css

• Javascript Assessment Test: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skill/javascript

Allocate about 30 minutes for each test.  Please screenshot your assessment scores and email them to Martyn Conkling at martyn@bayvalleytech.com

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Additional Onsite Help to Get Started

 

Applicants who wish to study together or take assessment tests onsite at Bay Valley Tech may attend an upcoming study session.

Study Sessions will be available on Tuesdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM, and on Saturdays from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

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Accelerated Learning - Paid Group Coaching Available

 

We will also offer a monthly Group Coaching membership for Code Academy and Pre-Academy Students.  This paid program is designed specifically for students wishing to enter software careers at a significantly accelerated pace.  Group Coaching memberships give students access to onsite software coaches up to 10 hours per week and peer study sessions at the Bay Valley Tech classrooms 9am to 5pm each weekday.  It is highly recommended that all students except the most advanced ones consider joining Group Coaching as they will find it very helpful.

 

Group Coaching will cover:

• Best practices for writing well-organized and easy-to-read code

• Code reviews and feedback on improving assignments and projects

• Assistance to master using documentation to get unstuck and learn new information easily

• Methods of efficiently learning material and scheduling reviews to maximize retention 

• Code-alongs to set up simple apps and introducing key parts of the stack

• Assistance with building up a portfolio of software projects to show prospective employers

• Greater opportunities to network with local software development professionals and employers

 

The Group Coaching membership fee is $180 per month and are paid in 2-month increments.  Interested students should send an email to Rachel (rachel@bayvalleytech.com) with the subject title “Group Coaching.” It will provide 2 hours per day of group tutoring (on weekdays and possibly on Saturday as well if there is a demand for it).  We strongly encourage Beginner students who want to get into the upcoming cohort to sign up for the Tutoring club. Students can stop paying/start paying as needed (in 2-month installments)

 

BAY VALLEY TECH CODE ACADEMY LOCATION:

ValleyWorx Tech Co-Working Space

4701 Stoddard Rd, Suite 200, 2nd Floor

(2nd Floor inside the main lobby of the American Medical Response bldg)

Modesto, CA 94536

 

For More Info:

martyn@bayvalleytech.com

rachel@bayvalleytech.com