AP Computer Science

Grades 7 through 12

Computer science rewards students who understand what their code is doing, not students who memorize syntax. That distinction is the whole difference between a frustrating semester and a confident one.

We offer one-on-one, fully online computer science instruction, delivered live through Zoom or Google Meet with screen sharing so your student and instructor are looking at the same code at the same time.

What we cover

AP Computer Science Principles

The broader of the two courses, covering algorithms, data, the internet, cybersecurity, and the societal impact of computing, alongside programming. Includes support for the Create Performance Task, the project students build and submit as part of their AP score.

AP Computer Science A

The programming-intensive course, built on Java. Objects and classes, arrays and ArrayLists, recursion, inheritance, and the free response questions that make or break exam scores.

Foundations for younger students

Middle school and early high school students who are not yet in an AP course can build real programming skill first, so that when they do enroll, they are not learning to think like a programmer and learning AP content at the same time.

Where students actually get stuck

Debugging: Most students have never been taught how to read an error message or trace a program line by line. They rewrite code at random and hope. We teach a method.

The free response questions: On AP Computer Science A, students hand write code on the exam. Students who have only ever typed with an editor autocompleting for them lose points to small errors they never had to notice before.

The gap between following a tutorial and building something: A student can complete every lab and still have no idea how to start a project from an empty file. Building that independence is a specific skill, and it is teachable.

The Create Performance Task: Students often underestimate how much of the score rides on the written responses about their program rather than the program itself.

How our process works

A complimentary consultation and skills check

We find out what your student has actually built, what they understand, and where the course lost them.

A plan tied to their course calendar

If your student is enrolled in an AP course, we work alongside their teacher's pacing rather than against it.

Live coding together

3.Sessions are hands-on. Your student writes the code and explains their reasoning while the instructor guides, questions, and corrects in real time.

Practice between sessions

Assigned problems that reinforce the concept, plus past AP free response questions as the exam approaches.

Exam preparation

5.Timed practice, scoring against the College Board rubrics, and targeted review of the topics costing the most points.

Who your student will be working with

Mr. Van Hoven leads our AP Computer Science and high school mathematics instruction. Your student works with an instructor who has taught this material and knows where students reliably stumble.

Coombs Test Prep and Tutoring Hub was founded by a certified teacher with over 20 years of classroom experience, named Campus Teacher of the Year. We are a BBB Accredited Business and an approved TEFA vendor.

Format and logistics

Sessions are one-on-one and held live online through Zoom or Google Meet, with shared screens and shared code. Your student needs a computer and an internet connection. Everything else we provide. Scheduling is flexible, including evenings and weekends.