I'm an old curmudgeonly programmer (more hobby than pro), have kids in middle and high school, and have some meager amount of teaching experience. Here's my take: your students (especially in middle and high school) are generally a captive audience. Maybe later, if they have more interest in comp sci, they may be interested in using a more alternative language, but right now they want you to give them something that looks mostly like the current lingua franca and then get out of their way.
For the language I described above:
* it's like JS but with warts removed
* it's like C or C++, but higher level
* it's like Java but doesn't require types or the JVM
* it's like Perl but without the context rules and other zaniness
* it's like Python but with better names, more familiar syntax, and better scoping
(It's even a little like Scheme but with more conventional syntax, and regular lists, maps, and sets.)
Students can use it in your class, then if they want to pursue programming in earnest, can very easily segue to any of those common languages above. Not only that:
* They can easily re-type their classwork programs in any of the above langs, and not feel like their teacher had them using something that was only applicable to their particular class.
* They can show their classwork programs to any JS/C/C++/Java/Perl/Python programmer and it will be easy for that person to make sense of what they're looking at (with no previous experience with the lang described above).
I have no experience with Pyret, and don't want to cast any judgement on it or the people working on it. Maybe it's great and will benefit students even when they move on from their class which uses it.
Your initial list pretty much exactly describes Pyret. It doesn't have JS's warts, but still runs in the browser entirely. It's higher-level than C and C++. It doesn't require types or a JVM. It isn't like Perl in any of the zany ways. It's a bit like Python and with totally sane scoping. And it's very much like Scheme but with conventional (infix) syntax and lists, sets, maps… And it's used in several high schools already.
For the language I described above:
* it's like JS but with warts removed
* it's like C or C++, but higher level
* it's like Java but doesn't require types or the JVM
* it's like Perl but without the context rules and other zaniness
* it's like Python but with better names, more familiar syntax, and better scoping
(It's even a little like Scheme but with more conventional syntax, and regular lists, maps, and sets.)
Students can use it in your class, then if they want to pursue programming in earnest, can very easily segue to any of those common languages above. Not only that:
* They can easily re-type their classwork programs in any of the above langs, and not feel like their teacher had them using something that was only applicable to their particular class.
* They can show their classwork programs to any JS/C/C++/Java/Perl/Python programmer and it will be easy for that person to make sense of what they're looking at (with no previous experience with the lang described above).
I have no experience with Pyret, and don't want to cast any judgement on it or the people working on it. Maybe it's great and will benefit students even when they move on from their class which uses it.