If Facebook setting up shop and the city’s Wi-Fi parks initiative weren’t clear enough signals of intent, consider this Mayor Bloomberg’s biggest move yet in his goal of establishing NYC as the new Silicon Valley: the city will open a new high school devoted solely to computer science, Software Engineering Academy, come September.
The Academy’s inaugural class will include 400 to 500 ninth graders. Applicants will not be judged by grades, attendance, or even knowledge of English—a smart move considering the international hacker culture of basement slackers.
The school hopes to feed the economy’s growing need for individuals working in computer science, predicted to be the highest-growing industry in the country over the next six years, adding about 300,000 jobs.
[via Mashable]
