John Wark

John started programming professionally at age 19. After a long and multifarious career in technology, he founded NSS in 2012. He believed that Nashville's technology talent shortage would never be solved by trying to import experienced developers from other cities or by waiting for colleges and universities to start graduating enough students and/or appropriately trained students. He also had faith that Nashville had an ample supply of motivated adults with latent aptitude who, if offered a chance, would eagerly pursue a career in technology.
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Recent Posts

From College Dropout To Software Developer | Stories From The Hackery Ep. 1
May 19, 2016
Stories from the Hackery provides an opportunity for our graduates to tell the story of their journeys from 'not a software developer' to 'am a software developer.' It's also a channel that allows our hiring partners to communicate why they hire junior developers, lessons they've learned on how to onboard junior developers, and suggestions for the best ways to help junior developers grow. Finally, the podcast gives us a way to share lessons we've learned about how to develop promising new talent, share opinions about tech education and the local talent market, and otherwise help the community learn about what goes on here at NSS. Read More

Topics: Alumni, Student Stories

Our First UI/UX Class
May 18, 2016
Last week nine students completed our first UI/UX class. NSS programs up until this class have been primarily focused on front-end and back-end development. As we start to expand our training beyond software development, we decided it was a priority to add a program especially for user interface and user experience design. Three students share their experience with our UI/UX class. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, News, UI/UX

Our First Python & Django Bootcamp
May 5, 2016
We are pleased to announce Python & Django as a new server-side technology option in our full-time Web Developer Bootcamp. Full-time cohort 13, which launched on April 4, 2016, will be our first class to learn the Python language, the Django MVC framework and other supporting Python technologies. Read More

Topics: News

You're Invited To Our UI/UX Open House
Apr 28, 2016
Did you think NSS was all code, no color? Not true! Come meet the graduates of the first UI and UX for Digital Product Design course. Read More
Mentor Meetup For June's Graduating Classes
Apr 27, 2016
If you are a software developer, even if you've only got a few months of experience, you can help our current students make their transition from student to working developer. What does being a mentor entail? Our students have questions and need support in two broad areas - technical mentoring and career mentoring. Read More

Topics: Community, Get Involved

NSS Students Make Applications At IBM Watson Workshop
Apr 19, 2016
Last week, a group of 40 NSS students, instructors and recent graduates participated in the IBM Watson Workshop, held at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. The workshop presented 100 and 200 level sessions to teach and practice different ways to utilize Watson’s API tools. The 200 level class was a hands-on developer lab designed for NSS students to build and complete an application using the tools in the API by the end of the session. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, News, Community

Thank You Nashville, For Another Successful NSS Demo Day
Apr 11, 2016
Last week, we graduated 28 new full-stack developers at NSS Demo Day. They are the 11th full-time class to graduate from our intensive accelerated learning program. Over 100 people visited Demo Day, including potential employers seeking developers, and other members of the developer community. Get to know these graduates. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?, News

Nashville Software School Sponsors Craft Content 2016
Apr 8, 2016
This year, Nashville Software School is once again proudly sponsoring Craft Content Nashville. The event is presented annually as an “unconference” for creative writers, podcasters, publishers and others who enjoy and work with content. Read More

Topics: News, Community

NSS Adds Laura Buchanan To Lead Operations Team
Mar 16, 2016
We are pleased to announce another new team member at Nashville Software School. Laura Buchanan has joined NSS as Director of Operations. Laura has spent most of her 15 year career working with non-profit community organizations such as NSS. Read More

Topics: News

NSS Hires Tech Industry Veteran For Business Development
Mar 7, 2016
We're excited to announce that Kristin McKinney, co-founder of the Nashville Girl Geek Dinner, has joined our team and will lead our efforts to partner with local employers. Kristin's role will be to grow the number of employers hiring NSS graduates, increase the number of Employer Partners, and strengthen the relationships with current partner companies. Read More

Topics: News