Developing Powerful Reasoning

Recent technological advances, newly emerging areas of science, and the information explosion have widened the scope of mathematics applications and multiplied the number of careers requiring high levels of mathematical skill. Upper School math classes prepare students to compete in this new landscape of math and science emphasis and require students to move beyond mathematical literacy to open-ended exercises in creative thinking and problem solving.

We urge students to take four years of mathematics and a computer science course, as computing is a discipline that influences all others in contemporary life. The Upper School offers a full array of courses in algebra, geometry, math analysis, calculus, and AP calculus and statistics. All coursework is learner focused instead of content driven, requiring students to take ownership of their own learning experience. Primary goals include learning to think—conceptually, critically, and analytically, communicating with clarity and precision, differentiating between what is permanent and what is transient, and demonstrating mastery. Our instructors are enthusiastic and passionate about math and are always finding new ways to make it relevant to students’ lives through the use of real-world application problems.