The Technology Alliance and Bellevue College Continuing Education have joined forces to offer a Certificate of Completion to students of the Ada Developers Academy (Ada), the programming school for women launched in 2013.
The certificate was granted to students in Ada’s inaugural class upon completion of their internships with one of thirteen local technology companies, including EMC Isilon, Expedia, Marchex, and Zillow.
“We are pleased to partner with the Technology Alliance and Ada to help expand the technical workforce in our state by supporting this alternative pathway to software careers,” said Radhika Seshan, Executive Director, Programs, Continuing Education at Bellevue College. “Bellevue College’s Continuing Education offerings afford the ability to add just-in-time skills to another degree and move talented individuals into a new career direction, and the Ada model aligns perfectly with that goal.”
Ada trains women who do not have prior programming experience but demonstrate high aptitude and interest for careers in the software industry, where there is a significant and long-standing gender gap. It combines six months of intensive classroom instruction with six months of internship experience at Puget Sound-area technology businesses.
“Bellevue College is recognizing the rigor of the Ada curriculum and validating our model for preparing more Washington citizens for software careers,” said Susannah Malarkey, Executive Director of the Technology Alliance. “We are looking forward to a long and productive partnership with the college to help meet the acute and growing demand for diverse programming talent.”
Ada students are immersed in software development and learn the most up-to-date, full-stack web development skills, including Ruby, Rails, HTML/CSS, and JavaScript. During the internship portion of the program, students gain hands-on experience and function as part of a software development team delivering code for real applications.
The students in Ada’s inaugural class began internships at the end of spring quarter 2014. Ada welcomed its second cohort of students in September 2014.
More about CE @ BC
Bellevue College Continuing Education serves the needs of business, industry, and the entire community with high-quality, relevant classes taught by experienced professionals. With over 1,900 classes taught each year, BC CE offers the most comprehensive selection of courses among technical and community colleges in Washington State. This selection provides a wide array of opportunities for the lifelong learner to develop business acumen or technical skills or take courses for personal enrichment. New courses start throughout the quarter and range from three-hour workshops to 10-week classes.
Visit and learn more at: www.bellevuecollege.edu/ce/
Last Updated October 3, 2016