As data science gains prominence in K-12 education and computing standards, there is a growing need for curricula that introduce students to data science from a computational perspective. API Can Code addresses this need by introducing high school students to the computational foundations of data science through computer science (CS)-forward, interest-driven, data exploration activities. The curriculum consists of three units and a culminating project in which students write programs in EduBlocks to retrieve data from public APIs and analyze and visualize it using CODAP. This experience report details the design and implementation of the curriculum, with a particular focus on the computational foundations of data science. We share a student project example and analyze post-survey results and teacher reflections to understand how the curriculum shaped students’ engagement with data and perceptions of data science. We discuss the associated challenges and implications of integrating data science practices into CS settings, and how such experiences can broaden conceptions and participation in computing. This work advances our understanding of the relationship between data science and computer science in high school classrooms, contributing a novel approach that lays the computational foundations of data science by situating it in the lived experiences of students.