Copresident
Tushar Sivakumar
Passionate teacher with experience in computer science and artificial intelligence.
The Why
Knowledge is a right.
AICS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to providing an affordable computer science education to students around the world.
The Impact
Adventures with AICS
Founded in 2020, Acton Institute of Computer Science has been a beginning for a diverse group of students.
- 2,000+
- Students taught
- 34
- States
- 13
- Countries connected
Driven with the support of
Meet Your Instructors
The team
Copresident
Avanithar Ananthkumar
Instructor in programming committed to the fight for equality.
Instructors
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Tiffany Xiao is a junior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. Her interest in coding began in sixth grade when she learned Scratch and continued throughout high school with Python and Java. Beyond programming, Tiffany also enjoys tutoring students in math and volunteering for her community. She loves playing volleyball and listening to music in her free time. Tiffany is excited to share her love for coding through AICS!
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Eric is an 8th grader at Paul J Gelinas Junior High School, New York. He has been programming in Scratch and Python since 4th grade, and JavaScript since 5th grade. He is also starting to learn Java. Using his coding skills, he has won various robotics competitions. He runs a public speaking club, so he has experience in teaching. Eric is also passionate about science and competing in his school science team. He likes to play tennis and walk with his dog, Chuck. Eric grew up with AICS as a student, then became a Grader and an Instructor. He cannot wait to share his coding knowledge with students.
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Prateek is a rising sophomore at Creekside High School in St. Johns, Florida. He began learning Python in 7th grade and later advanced his computer science skills by learning Flask, .NET, sklearn, and more. Prateek loves learning and working with his peers and has designed and developed many apps and projects. He enjoys teaching and learning various new topics from and to other students. Along with coding, Prateek plays basketball and plays the guitar. He is delighted to join the AICS community and share his passion for programming with other students across the world.
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Tushar Sivakumar is a sophomore at Acton Boxborough Regional High School. His interest in computer science and robotics began in 7th Grade when he completed a course for Python and worked with microcontrollers and motors. Later, he worked at an Internship where he developed Python code for generating 3rd Grade Math Olympiad Problems to improve public use AI's problem-solving skills, and did a research project with the All Of Us Database from the National Institute of Health, trying to find correlations between sleep and neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of Computer Science, he enjoys running, biking, swimming, and martial arts. He is very excited to teach students at AICS and be a part of this program.
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Alex is a junior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. His interest in computer science and programming was realized at an early age, where he took courses for Java and Python. Recently, he has found an interest in competitive programming by learning C++, a language he plans to use as he continues to study to compete for the USACO competitions. Outside of computer science, Alex enjoys speech and debate, as well as competing on his school's science team. He also has experience teaching young students, and is very excited to get to be a part of AICS.
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Harshini is a senior at Acton Boxborough Regional High School. She started learning Python towards the end of middle school, and Java during her sophomore year of high school. She also has an interest in data science and has worked on many analysis projects. Outside of programming, Harshini's interests include singing, painting, and music production. Harshini has experience mentoring and tutoring younger students, and she is excited to be joining AICS this year.
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Ayana is a sophomore at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. She has several years of experience working with students of all ages from developing and instructing her own Introductory Biology and Anatomy course. She co-founded a non-profit organization called GenxI to spread much-needed STEM education to kids around the world. Her interest in computer science started in middle school when she learned Python, HTML, and furthered her knowledge of Scratch. Outside of school, Ayana loves speech and debate as well as embroidery. She is very excited to bring her passion and teaching experiences to AICS!
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Iniya is a rising freshman at the Acton Boxborough Regional High School. She began learning Scratch in 3rd grade and later expanded her computer science knowledge by learning Python and Tensorflow. Iniya loves working with other students and has led the design and development of web projects that help our community. She also likes teaching various topics to other students. Along with coding, Iniya plays tennis and enjoys singing. She is thrilled to join AICS and share her passion for coding with others around the world!
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Nitya Aryasomayajula is a sophomore at UMass Amherst, studying Computer Science and Mathematics. She currently pursues research at her university in the area of theoretical computer science, and her research interests lie in the area of algorithms, machine learning, and biologically inspired computing. She has served as a teaching assistant for the introductory computer science at her university, and has tutored students in data structures. She looks forward to coming back and helping out in AICS!
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Adi is a senior at Acton Boxborough Regional High School. He began his programming journey in the 5th grade with Scratch and JavaScript. In his freshman year, Adi took the Computer Science elective at ABRHS where he learned HTML and furthered his knowledge in Scratch. Recently, he completed a month-long intensive coding course learning the fundamentals of Python. He is excited to share his teamwork skills and knowledge gained with his students! Besides coding, Adi is a varsity rower and an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for his Boy Scouts troop in Acton.
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Jessica is a computer science major at Cornell University. She has been interested in CS since she was in elementary school, and has pursued this interest by taking classes such as AP Computer Science A and working on projects such as coding a doctor-patient portal. Through these classes and projects, she has become familiar with programming languages such as Python and Java. At school, Jessica is a member of Girls in STEAM and Peer Tutors, where she has enjoyed tutoring her peers as well as younger children.
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Joe Maffa is a rising freshman at Brown University. He is an honors student with genuine interest in knowledge and sharing that knowledge with others. He scored in the 99th percentile on the math portion of the SAT test. Outside of school, he spends his time playing tennis and cooking with his family. He is looking forward to helping teach math with AICS!
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Isaac is a senior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. He enjoys coding and has worked with Scratch significantly ever since he began programming, with experience in virtual education. In Isaac's free time he is involved in the Science and Debate Teams, activities in which he has achieved significant success. He is excited to be a part of AICS this summer.
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Jyoti is a computer science major at Tufts University. She has been learning java and python since she was in seventh grade. She is passionate and dedicated to machine learning projects since 2018. She has participated in many computer science competitions and has placed in the USACO Silver division. This year Jyoti completed the AP Computer Science A and the AP Calculus BC. Furthermore, Jyoti has won the state research fair (MSEF) for her research in environmental science and machine learning. She is excited to share her knowledge and expertise in Advanced Python and Machine Learning at AICS.
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Ben is a Computer Science major at the University of Toronto. He has experience in customer service at an online art instruction organization and in teaching younger kids various subjects including chess and coding. Ben has also been self-studying various coding languages such as Java and Python during his free time. He enjoys reading magazines and biking during the summer. Ben is thrilled to bring his knowledge of coding and teaching experiences to AICS.
Graders
Current and former
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Praney Bankula is a junior at Alpharetta high school in Georgia. He has an interest in teaching younger students about Math. He is excited to make a positive impact at AICS.
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Bruce is a sophomore at Acton Boxborough Regional High School. He has been programming with Java since 8th grade and also has some experience with HTML and JavaScript.
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Owen is a sophomore at Acton Boxborough Regional High School. He has multiple experiences in coding with C++, Java, and scratch.
Pick Your Path
The courses
Start with blocks, move on to real code, and pick the classes that fit where you are.
Foundations
Scratch
Build your first interactive projects while learning variables, motion, operators, and computational thinking.
EnrollThree levels
Python
Learn the building blocks of programming: variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and more.
Level
Enroll
Three levels
Java
A gentle introduction to Java, covering core concepts with hands-on practice, homework, and tests.
Level
Enroll
STEM Program
SAT Math Prep
Develop the strategies and confidence to succeed on the math portion of the SAT.
Enroll8 days
Scratch
Events, motion, variables, and two final projects.
| Day | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Events and basic motions |
| 2 | Looks, sounds, and control |
| 3 | Backdrops and sensing |
| 4 | Operators and variables |
| 5 | Recap of week 1, favorite movie scene, and an introduction to Final Project 1 |
| 6 | Work on Final Project 1 and an introduction to Final Project 2 |
| 7 | Final Project 1 completed and Final Project 2 continued |
| 8 | Final Project 2 completed |
8 lessons
Python I
Data types, conditionals, loops, and lists.
| Lesson | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Python, data types and operators | Scripts, the interpreter, Colab. Numbers, booleans, strings. |
| 2 | Conditional statements | if, elif, else |
| 3 | While loops | |
| 4 | For loops | |
| 5 | Lists 1 | Indexing, len(), slicing |
| 6 | Lists 2 | Looping through lists, plus more practice with Lists 1 |
| 7 | Review | Go over questions |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 lessons
Python II
Functions, tuples, sets, and dictionaries.
| Lesson | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Intermediate Python, loops review | Google Colab, a fast review of data types and if statements, for loops and while loops |
| 2 | Functions | Functions and return statements |
| 3 | More lists | Looping and indexing, .append(), .copy(), .pop(), .count() |
| 4 | Tuples | What tuples are and how to traverse them |
| 5 | Sets | Introduction to sets |
| 6 | Dictionaries | Introduction to dictionaries and mutability |
| 7 | Review | Review problems done in class. Come with all your questions. |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 lessons
Python III
Recursion, classes, and inheritance.
| Lesson | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Python III, review of past material | Google Colab, lists and functions |
| 2 | Recursion | |
| 3 | More recursion | |
| 4 | Classes 1 | |
| 5 | Classes 2 | |
| 6 | Inheritance | |
| 7 | Review | Review problems done in class. Come with all your questions. |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 lessons
Java I
Variables, conditionals, loops, and arrays.
| Lesson | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Variables, integers, strings, booleans | Modulo, operations, types |
| 2 | If statements | if, else if, else, || and &&, booleans |
| 3 | For loops | |
| 4 | While loops | |
| 5 | Arrays 1 | Indexing arrays, traversing with loops |
| 6 | Arrays 2 | More practice on arrays |
| 7 | Review | Extra practice and answers to any last questions |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 lessons
Java II
Functions, 2D arrays, and ArrayLists.
| Lesson | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loops | A fast review of data types and if statements, for loops and while loops |
| 2 | Functions | Functions with return statements |
| 3 | Arrays | Indexing arrays, traversing with loops |
| 4 | 2D arrays 1 | Nested for loops to traverse arrays |
| 5 | 2D arrays 2 | More practice with 2D arrays |
| 6 | ArrayLists | .get(), .set(), .remove(), .add(), .size() |
| 7 | Review | Review problems done in class. Come with all your questions. |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 weeks
Java III
Recursion, classes, inheritance, and polymorphism.
| Week | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrays, ArrayLists | Review of these data structures and how to traverse them |
| 2 | Recursion | Base cases, recursive cases |
| 3 | More recursion | Harder examples in class |
| 4 | Classes 1 | Fields, constructors, and class functions |
| 5 | Classes 2 | Other applications of classes |
| 6 | Inheritance | super(), new variables alongside the parent class's, overloading vs. overriding |
| 7 | Polymorphism and abstraction | |
| 8 | Final exam | You get your grade and feedback within a week after this class. |
8 days
SAT Math Prep
Arithmetic through functions, with a timed test at each end.
| Day | Topic | Notes | Homework |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction, course expectations, and arithmetic | Test overview, fractions, ratios, exponents, angles | Full, self-timed pre-test |
| 2 | Algebra: polynomials | Degrees of polynomials, binomial and trinomial shortcuts | Problem Set 1 |
| 3 | Algebra: equations, inequalities, and systems | Solving for one or more variables, word problems | Problem Set 2 |
| 4 | Geometry: triangles and quadrilaterals | Similarity, the Pythagorean theorem, perimeter and area | Problem Set 3 |
| 5 | Geometry: circles, solids, and the coordinate plane | Surface area, volume, formulas | Problem Set 4 |
| 6 | Analyzing and interpreting data | Means, modes, medians, standard deviation | Problem Set 5 |
| 7 | Advanced topics | Basic trigonometry, probability | Problem Set 6 |
| 8 | Even more advanced topics | Functions and their graphs, sequences | Full, self-timed post-test |
Contact Us
Join us. Questions?
actoninstituteofcs@gmail.com
Interested in joining our team?
The Proof
Listen to their experience.
“The instructors are super knowledgeable and friendly! We will definitely come back for the summer camp!”
“AICS classes are very organized and practical. Thank you for helping the next generation!”
“A great experience for anyone interested in computer science. The instructors are very nice, and the classes are fun!”
“The teachers explain everything thoroughly while allowing students to demonstrate and exercise their knowledge.”