Aliso Niguel High School is adding an Advanced Placement Cybersecurity course to the catalog for students to take, starting in the fall of 2026. This course will be a college-level introduction to cybersecurity, covering topics such as network and device security.
It will be available to be taken in grades nine through 12, so classrooms will be diverse in age. Currently, the number of students taking this course is not known, so there is no determined number of class periods that will be taught.
Ms. Lee currently teaches Advanced Placement Computer Science: Principles, Advanced Placement Computer Science: A, and Algebra I. She is the teacher who will teach the new Cybersecurity Course. Her background in teaching coding and other technology related concepts makes her a great fit for this role.
Ms. Lee recommends for students interested in taking this to first have some background in computer software and coding.
She says, “I think it’s best that students planning to take this course take AP Computer Science Principles first, just so they have a reasonable foundation in the field.”
AP Cybersecurity has been deemed a challenging but manageable course, focusing on real-world problem solving, technical concepts, and critical thinking, rather than simply just coding.
The course is still relatively new, so there is minimal data suggesting how students tend to perform in this class. The course is intended to come out nationally next coming school year, with select schools piloting it in 2024-2025 school year and 2025-2026 school year.
This class is meant to align with industry standards. Key topics include risk assessment, cryptography, social engineering, malware, firewalls, and authentication. These topics will be covered over the course of the school year in preparation for the AP exam.
AP Cybersecurity will have an exam in May, but students don’t receive college credit. Instead, they are able to then take a CompTia certification exam. This allows students to be industry certified and gives them a jumpstart for taking more rigorous cybersecurity courses in college.
Rohan Patel (11) says, “I’m taking it next year because I’ve already taken the Computer Science AP courses and I might be interested in pursuing something tech-related in college.”
Students like Patel are signing up for this course because they see the value in taking it. Since Patel already has a strong background in computer science, taking this course made sense to him. His goal is to develop his security skills and critical thinking while taking this course.
Other students lack interest in this course, since it doesn’t align with their future interests.
Karla Davila (11) says, “I don’t think I would ever take this course because in college I plan on majoring in something completely different. The field of technology never really fascinated me.”
Though some students are incredibly excited about this course addition, many don’t plan on taking it. It is probable that there will only be a couple periods of this class, like the other technology related AP courses taught by Ms. Lee.
