SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hack Reactor group of in-person and online programming schools focused on student career outcomes – which graduates over 1,000 Software Engineers annually – announced the launch of their partnership with Operation Spark, a non-profit that teaches coding skills to at-risk youth. Together, they will pilot a new hybrid education model to increase technical talent in New Orleans. The program starts with a 4-week, part-time "Intro to Coding" prep course, followed by Hack Reactor's 12-week immersive Remote Beta program, both experienced in Operation Spark's New Orleans location. Applications for the prep course are being accepted now, with classes starting July 13. After students finish the program, they apply to join Hack Reactor Remote Beta's August 17 cohort. Interested students, who already have basic coding experience and don't need the preparation, can apply directly for the 12-week program.
"Hack Reactor's Remote Beta program opens up new possibilities for where and how people can get this intensive, accelerated education," said Hack Reactor Cofounder Shawn Drost. "We envision more partnerships like this going forward, which take advantage of Remote Beta's versatility."
The Hack Reactor and Operation Spark partnership will be introduced at Summerware, an exclusive 3-day open data hackathon in New Orleans that runs from July 13-15. Operation Spark will work with pre-release data opened by the New Orleans Police Department at this event, as part of President Obama's Police Data Initiative. Attending students will discuss how to best utilize this data to serve their communities, then brainstorm and build software solutions to identified problems. The event's partner organizations and attendee representatives will include the White House, the City of New Orleans, Teach for America, and the American Bar Association.
The partnership comes together as a result of both organizations' dedicated involvement to and strong ties with White House initiatives. As part of President Obama's TechHire initiative to help bring technology training to underserved communities, Hack Reactor has opened Telegraph Academy, a school for underrepresented minorities in Oakland, and through their partnership with Operation Spark, will now cover new ground in New Orleans working with at-risk youth.
"We are very excited to partner with Hack Reactor and bring its world-class curriculum to Greater New Orleans," said Operation Spark CEO John Fraboni. "There are currently over 20,000 Opportunity Youth in New Orleans -- our goal is to help get them in school and employed. Hack Reactor offers the most relevant and impactful curriculum, the most intensive immersion experience, and boasts the best results to get this done. This is a major win for our local workforce and our mission to support low-income young adults through the fastest route to prosperous careers in software development."
Organizations interested in learning more about Hack Reactor's TechHire initiatives or in partnering with them to bring coding to their community, visit: www.hackreactor.com/techhire.
About Hack Reactor
Hack Reactor's mission is two-fold: to empower people and to transform education through rapid-iteration teaching. Hack Reactor designs and conducts advanced immersion education programs that train students 11 hours per day, 6 days a week, over 12 weeks. Our curriculum cultivates mastery of computer science fundamentals and the JavaScript programming language. The Hack Reactor network of technology schools educates more software engineers every year than Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology, combined. Hack Reactor maintains a 99% employment rate and a median graduate salary of $110,000. Alumni work in a variety of mid- to senior-level engineering roles at industry leaders like Google, Adobe, LinkedIn, Uber and Amazon, as well as at several growing technology companies. For more information, visit: www.hackreactor.com.
About Operation Spark
Operation Spark is opening a new door to prosperity for disconnected youth by presenting the fastest route to a career in software development. Operation Spark helps youth develop themselves, their skills, and build the path to a strong career. Operation Spark empowers at-risk New Orleans youth with software development skills so they can enter into the workforce. For more information, visit: www.operationspark.org.