Coding and AI Classes in Arkansas

Course picks for Arkansas

Four courses that line up with Arkansas pathways

Matched to the department's middle school courses and high school pathways; the no-cost first session decides the level.

Grades 6 to 10

Game Development for Teens

Game logic, art and testing, the territory of the state's Coding for Games and Game Development and Design courses.

See the syllabus

Grades 8 to 12

Data Science for Teens

Python and pandas on public data such as the Arkansas trails layer, close to the Data Analytics and Machine Learning pathway.

See the syllabus

Grades 8 to 12

Cybersecurity for Teens

Defensive, ethical security skills that sit beside the Information Technology and Security pathway.

See the syllabus

Grades 9 to 12

AP Computer Science Principles

AP Computer Science Principles, one of the courses Arkansas lists as approved even for eighth graders.

See the syllabus

Browse the course atlas for more than one hundred options and use the coding roadmap to check prerequisites.

The four we are known for

Python, AI, vibe coding and agentic coding

These run underneath everything above. Every one is live and online, placed by ability rather than by age, and the first class is free.

Vibe codingAges 13 to 17

Vibe Coding for Teens

Python, web and AI projects where the learner still owns the thinking.

See the syllabus

Python and AICollege and adult

Python Automation Course

Automate the work you already do, then let AI carry part of it.

See the syllabus

AI and MLAges 14 to 18

AI and Machine Learning for Teens

Train a model, read what it learned, and be able to say why it is wrong.

See the syllabus

Agentic codingProfessionals

Codex & Claude Code

Run AI coding agents on real work without losing control of the codebase.

See the syllabus

The graduation credit

What Act 414 of 2021 requires, as the department explains it

From the Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner's Memo COM-21-105, dated March 29, 2021, read on 17 October 2026.

The Computer Science Education Advancement Act of 2021 (Act 414), summarized from ADE memo COM-21-105
Rule	What the memo says
Signed into law	March 23, 2021, as an extension of Act 187 of 2015, which required every high school to make a computer science course available
Graduation credit	Every student, beginning with the 9th grade class of 2022-2023, must earn one full high school computer science credit to graduate
When it can be earned	Any time in grades 8 to 12; the credit is found on the transcript by course codes beginning 465 or 565
Flex credit	A computer science credit can count toward the existing fourth math, third science or career focus credit requirements
Teachers	Each high school must employ a computer science certified teacher by the 2023-2024 school year
Eighth grade	On March 11, 2021 the State Board approved nine computer science and computing courses that districts may teach to 8th graders for high school credit

Not an extra credit

The memo says the requirement does not necessarily increase the number of credits a diploma needs, because a computer science course can also fill a math, science or career focus slot.

The 2015 foundation

State law, A.C.A. 6-16-146, has required every public and public charter high school to offer at least one computer science course since the 2015 to 2016 school year, in class, blended or online.

Four ways to certify

The memo lists licensure codes 528, 5013, 5014 and 5016 as meeting the teacher requirement, and the department funds seven statewide specialists to train teachers.

So the first Arkansas students who had to hold the credit entered ninth grade in fall 2022 and finished high school in spring 2026. Families with younger children can plan for it from middle school, since a credit-bearing course taken in eighth grade counts.

The course map

Arkansas computer science courses, from embedded standards to four pathways

The department's Computer Science Standards and Courses page lays out what is taught at each stage. Course codes are the state's.

Arkansas computer science standards and courses by stage (ADE DESE, read 17 October 2026); the right column is our suggestion
Stage	What the state lists	A matching Modern Age Coders course
Grades K-4	Computer Science Embedded Standards, taught inside other subjects	Coding for Kids, blocks to games
Grades 5-8	Embedded standards, plus Coding for Games (399380), Building with Data and AI (399400), Microcontrollers & Circuits (399370), Technology Systems & Security (399390)	Game development, Python and AI for kids
High school, Software Development	Software Development, AP Computer Science A, Mobile App Development, Game Development and Design, Web Development and more	Java, app and web courses for teens
High school, IT and Security	Information Technology and Security, AP Cybersecurity (565210), Networking, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and Security	Teen cybersecurity
High school, Robotics and Automation	Physical Computing with Embedded Systems, Robotics, Computer Engineering	Python foundations first
High school, Data Analytics and ML	Computing with Data, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence	Teen data science, then AI and machine learning

Every pathway starts the same

Introduction to Computer Science (465000) and AP Computer Science Principles (565000) open the high school map, and both are on the list of courses approved for 8th grade.

Some CTE courses count

The page names Business Intelligence (593640), Electronics II (494820) and Precision Agriculture (593650) as courses that may count toward the one required credit.

Depth beyond Level 3

At Level 4 students can take an unfinished Level 3 course, an independent study in one of the four pathways, or a computer science internship.

The published figures

Every Arkansas high school, and a quarter of its students

Arkansas rows from the 2025 Code.org data sheet, with the College Board AP school totals added in the text below.

Arkansas high schools offering computer science and students enrolled, by school year (Code.org, 2025, trend tabs)
School year	High schools offering CS	High school students enrolled
2018 to 2019	78%	Not reported
2019 to 2020	89%	Not reported
2020 to 2021	92%	7.2%
2021 to 2022	92%	9.4%
2022 to 2023	99%	15%
2023 to 2024	100%	19.79%
2024 to 2025	100%, or 301 of 301	25.15%, or 37,330 of 148,457

Enrollment more than tripled in four years, from 7.2% to 25.15%, which is the pattern a graduation credit should produce as each new ninth-grade class moves through. The student total behind the 2024 to 2025 share is the NCES count for fall 2022, so the percentage is an approximation as Code.org computes it. Schools giving AP exams numbered 287 in 2023 and 292 in 2024, of which 259 and 267 were public (College Board, School Report of AP Exams by State 2023-24).

Suggested citation for the access and participation figures: Code.org (2025). 2025 State of AI + CS Education. Individual Arkansas values are quoted here; the dataset is not reproduced.

Signature project

Ranking Arkansas trails: why "the longest" depends on what you count

The Arkansas GIS Office publishes a statewide trails layer, compiled for the state parks and natural heritage agencies. Students measure every line and rank them, then rank them a second way and compare.

Longest single records in the Arkansas Trails layer (our haversine lengths in miles, from a download on 18 October 2026)
Rank	Trail record	Our length
1	Ouachita Trail (Talimena to Queen Wilhelmina)	156.08
2	Delta Heritage Trail	86.09
3	Ouachita Trail (Hwy 7 to Hwy 9)	30.06
4	Ouachita Trail (Hwy 9 to Pinnacle Mountain)	27.74
5	Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail	20.43

1. Get every record

The service hands out 200 records per request, but its count query says 384. Students page through with an offset until they hold all 384, then check for repeats. Ranking a partial download ranks the wrong list.

2. Measure, then sort

Each trail is a polyline of coordinates. Summing haversine distances between consecutive points gives a length; sorting descending and slicing the first five gives a top-five list, and 308 of the 384 records turn out to be under one mile.

3. Rank again by name

Group by trail name first and the order changes. River Corridor Trail is 12.46 miles as one record but 24.41 miles across 6 records, and Water Trail adds up to 23.19 miles from 23 short pieces.

Our miles, not the state's

These lengths are ours, measured from the layer's geometry on one day. The layer carries no licence text and says its completeness depends on the resources available when it was produced, so the figures are a teaching result, not official trail mileage. The Ouachita Trail also appears as several records, so "longest trail" and "longest record" are different questions.

A third exercise hides in the surface_type column, which mixes words such as Natural, Gravel and Asphalt with bare digits such as 2 and 6: 199 records simply say "2". Without the codebook, a student cannot rank trails by surface, and saying so is the right answer. That is the Data Analytics and Machine Learning pathway in miniature: measure carefully, rank honestly, and refuse to invent meanings.

State competition and class times

The Arkansas State Coding Competition, and classes on Central Time

The department runs its own coding contest for grades 8 to 12, and Arkansas sits entirely in one time zone.

The 2026 competition

The department's page describes the tenth annual competition, held March 31, 2026, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Plumerville, open to public, private and homeschooled students in grades 8 to 12.

One team per school

Each school with any of grades 8 to 12 could enter one team of no more than three students, and 2026 registration closed on February 20. Check the official page for the next cycle.

Central Time, India time

The IANA database lists Arkansas with US Central time, America/Chicago. India runs ten and a half hours ahead of Arkansas in summer and eleven and a half in winter, by our count; the change dates are November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027.

Competition practice, not competition help

Timed problem sets in Python or Java build the speed a three-person contest needs. We coach practice problems only; nothing we write goes into a competition entry, and we are not connected with the Arkansas Department of Education or the competition.

Learning ladder

From embedded K-4 lessons to a Level 4 pathway

Use the grade ranges as a starting guess. A first session with a teacher settles where a student really begins.

Grades K to 4

Blocks and patterns

Short block programs and puzzles that echo the embedded K-4 standards, at home and at a gentle pace.

Coding for Kids Scratch Coding for Kids

Grades 5 to 8

Games, data and AI

Game projects and a first taste of data and AI, the ground covered by the state's 5-8 course list.

Game Development for Kids Python and AI for Kids

Grades 8 to 10

Toward the credit

Python, web and game development in depth, so the required high school credit comes easily.

Python for Teens Game Development for Teens

Grades 10 to 12

Pathway depth

Data science, cybersecurity or AP, matching the Level 2 to Level 4 courses a school may offer.

Data Science for Teens Cybersecurity for Teens

Coding and AI

Arkansas teaches AI as a course. Here is what using it well looks like.

The state lists Artificial Intelligence in its Data Analytics and Machine Learning pathway. Judgment is the part a tool cannot supply.

Ask an AI assistant for "the longest trail in Arkansas" from this layer and it may sort the records and name the first one, never noticing that one trail is split across several records or that its lengths depend on the projection used to measure them.

A student who has written the ranking code knows to ask what is being ranked and how it was measured. That habit transfers to every AI output they will see: check the unit, check the source, check whether the question asked is the question answered.

Arkansas made sure every student meets computer science; the students who get the most from it learn to question a confident answer. The longer argument is in why we still teach coding in an AI world.

Delivery

From Fayetteville to the Delta, classes at home

An online class reaches the Ozarks, the river towns and Little Rock in exactly the same way.

Times that fit

Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

Level-matched batches

Fifteen to twenty students at the same stage, from Arkansas and other states, taught live by one teacher.

Private lessons

A 1-on-1 plan suits students working toward AP, a pathway course or the state coding competition at their own pace.

Alongside the credit

Teachers know US grade levels and can link projects to a student's school course, but graded school work stays the student's own.

A free first session

A complete lesson with a real task, followed by a suggested level and course. No card details are taken.

What a student needs

A laptop or desktop, a headset or speakers, and an internet connection reliable enough for a video call.

Online from India, nowhere else

Modern Age Coders teaches live over the internet from India. There is no Modern Age Coders site in Arkansas, none is claimed, and our classes do not by themselves earn the state graduation credit.

Fees

Fees for Arkansas students

Three prices, quoted in US dollars.

First classUSD 0

A no-charge first lesson that finishes with a level and course recommendation.

Group tuitionUSD 100

A month of live batch classes with fifteen to twenty students at your level.

Private tuitionUSD 150

A month of private 1-on-1 classes on the same weekly rhythm.

Families in Jonesboro and Texarkana pay the same single US rate, in US dollars. Billing starts only after the free first lesson and an agreed plan; the pricing page explains breaks and missed classes.

Request placement Check availability

Reviews

Reviews from families on Google

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews. These are real reviews, reproduced as written.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Free placement class

Set up a free lesson for an Arkansas student

Tell us the grade and the pathway that interests them. An eighth grader might start with a game project, a tenth grader with the trails ranking, and a junior with AP Computer Science Principles practice.

FAQ

Arkansas computer science questions

Questions Arkansas families ask us most often.

Which Arkansas students need a computer science credit?

According to ADE memo COM-21-105, every student beginning with the 9th grade class of 2022-2023 must earn one full high school computer science credit to graduate.

Can an eighth grader earn the credit?

Yes. The memo says the credit may be earned in grades 8 to 12, and the State Board approved nine courses that districts may teach to 8th graders for high school credit.

Does the credit add to the total a diploma needs?

Not necessarily. A computer science flex credit can count toward the fourth math, third science or career focus requirement, so it can fill an existing slot.

Do all Arkansas high schools offer computer science?

Code.org (2025) reports 301 of 301 Arkansas high schools offering it in 2024 to 2025, and state law has required at least one course in every public high school since 2015 to 2016.

How many Arkansas students take computer science?

For 2024 to 2025 the Code.org sheet reports 37,330 of 148,457 high school students, or 25.15%, up from 7.2% in 2020 to 2021.

Will your classes count as the Arkansas credit?

No. The credit comes from state-approved school courses with codes beginning 465 or 565. Our classes add depth and practice alongside them.

Can you prepare a student for the Arkansas State Coding Competition?

We can coach timed practice problems in Python or Java. Teams register through their school, and everything submitted on the day is the team's own work.

What are the class times?

Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays. We confirm times in Central Time.

Are classes in person anywhere in Arkansas?

No. All teaching is live online with teachers in India, and no Arkansas classroom is claimed.

How do I see the fees?

The fees section of this page shows the free first lesson and the monthly batch and 1-on-1 options in US dollars, billed only after the free lesson.

Explore the United States

Four courses that line up with Arkansas pathways

Game Development for Teens

Data Science for Teens

Cybersecurity for Teens

AP Computer Science Principles

Python, AI, vibe coding and agentic coding

Vibe Coding for Teens

Python Automation Course

AI and Machine Learning for Teens

Codex & Claude Code

What Act 414 of 2021 requires, as the department explains it

Not an extra credit

The 2015 foundation

Four ways to certify

Arkansas computer science courses, from embedded standards to four pathways

Every pathway starts the same

Some CTE courses count

Depth beyond Level 3

Every Arkansas high school, and a quarter of its students

Ranking Arkansas trails: why "the longest" depends on what you count

1. Get every record

2. Measure, then sort

3. Rank again by name

Our miles, not the state's

The Arkansas State Coding Competition, and classes on Central Time

The 2026 competition

One team per school

Central Time, India time

From embedded K-4 lessons to a Level 4 pathway

Blocks and patterns

Games, data and AI

Toward the credit

Pathway depth

Arkansas teaches AI as a course. Here is what using it well looks like.

From Fayetteville to the Delta, classes at home

Times that fit

Level-matched batches

Private lessons

Alongside the credit

A free first session

What a student needs

Fees for Arkansas students

Reviews from families on Google

Set up a free lesson for an Arkansas student

Arkansas computer science questions

Which Arkansas students need a computer science credit?

Can an eighth grader earn the credit?

Does the credit add to the total a diploma needs?

Do all Arkansas high schools offer computer science?

How many Arkansas students take computer science?

Will your classes count as the Arkansas credit?

Can you prepare a student for the Arkansas State Coding Competition?

What are the class times?

Are classes in person anywhere in Arkansas?

How do I see the fees?

More reading for Arkansas families

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