This research examined over 200 elementary students' pre and post-test changes in computational thinking from a 10-week coding program delivered as part of the regular school day. Participants benefited from early access to computer science (CS) lessons with increases in understanding and applying coding concepts. Interviews from participants included examples of how CS is connected to everyday life and interdisciplinary study at school. Thus, the study highlights the importance of leveraging CS access in elementary classrooms to promote young students' learning and motivation around science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and CS topics as well as essential soft-skills of collaboration, persistence, abstraction, and creativity to succeed in today's digital world.