Mathematics Courses

Academic Program

Middle School

Upper School

College & Career Planning

International Baccalaureate Program

Student Support

Course of Study Home

English

Math

Science

Social Studies

World Languages

Arts/Other

International Baccalaureate Courses

College & Career Planning

COLLEGE PREPARATORY (CP) courses are designed to prepare students for the rigors of college courses. Students in college preparatory classes are open-minded and seek to develop the skills necessary to analyze and synthesize information. Students will be provided with scaffolded opportunities to solidify their time management, note-taking, and study skills. Courses are designed to build a solid foundation in a particular content area. Opportunities for enrichment will be available.

ADVANCED (A) courses are recommended for students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement through a combination of ability and motivation. The Advanced level assumes that students are independent learners who can work with limited teacher support. Students are advanced and enthusiastic readers who can make inferences, draw connections, and comprehend texts with sophisticated themes and vocabulary at a fairly fast pace. These courses contain considerable enrichment and acceleration. Instruction will assume that students are able to grasp concepts on initial presentation. There will be little practice or repetition within the classroom. Students are expected to be able to organize their time, to plan long-term assignments, and to seek help when necessary, all on their own initiative. Advanced course enrollment requires teacher recommendation.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

It is essential for any pre-university education to equip students with the depth of discipline-specific knowledge and skills that they will need for their chosen academic and career paths. However, this must be balanced with the breadth needed to develop well-rounded students who can draw connections between different disciplines. As such, the philosophy of the IB Diploma Programme is that students should engage with a range of subjects while being able to explore specific areas of personal interest in greater depth.

• IB STANDARD LEVEL (SL) courses are rigorous core content based classes that focus on the “what” beyond concepts and theories.

• IB HIGHER LEVEL (HL) courses tend to delve deeper into the concepts that SL subjects cover focusing not only on the “what” but also the “how” and “why”. The core content is the same as the SL course in the same discipline, however, additional topics are covered.

Sixth grade mathematics is about (1) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems; (2) completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers; (3) writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and (4) developing understanding of statistical thinking.

The Pre-Algebra course is designed to develop and enhance three key foundational features for Fundamentals of Algebra 1 or CP Algebra 1. The first is formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations; including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations. The second is for grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships. The final feature is for analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.

Fundamentals of Algebra is designed for students who require a different pace and need to improve their foundational skills from Pre-Algebra further.  This course is intended to solidify solving characteristic problems involving line geometry, including writing a linear equation.  Students will further master their skills in adding, subtracting, and multiplying polynomials, including factoring and other algebraic calculations.  Students will also be exposed to two additional models, the exponential and quadratic functions.  Manipulatives such as Desmos (an online graphing utility) and Algebra tiles will visually deepen students’ conceptual understandings.

• Credits: 1 (upper school)

This course is designed to deepen and extend our understanding of (primarily) exponential and quadratic relationships, as well as functions.  Students will apply these models to data that exhibit a trend.  Students will engage in methods for analyzing arithmetic and geometric patterns as well.  Students will continue to use manipulatives, such as Desmos and Algebra tiles, to strengthen their foundational skills.

• Credits: 1

Algebra 1’s purpose is to formalize and extend the mathematics that students have learned in a Pre-Algebra course. The modules deepen and extend our understanding of linear, exponential, and quadratic relationships.  Students will apply these models to data that exhibit a trend.  Students will engage in methods for analyzing arithmetic and geometric patterns as well. Students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that uses their ability to make sense of problem situations. Students are placed in this class based on teacher recommendation.  Students enrolling in this class have demonstrated good work habits such as completing all homework, keeping materials organized, demonstrating perseverance when new material is presented. 

• Credits: 1
• Prerequisite: Algebra 1

The fundamental purpose of this course is to formalize and extend students’ geometric experiences from the middle grades. Students explore more complex geometric situations and deepen their explanations of geometric relationships, moving towards formal mathematical arguments. Important differences exist between this course and the historical approach taken in Geometry classes. For example, transformations are emphasized early in this course. Close attention should be paid to the introductory content for the Geometry conceptual category found in the high school Common Core Standards. The Mathematical Practice Standards apply throughout the course and, together with the content standards, prescribe that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that makes use of their ability to make sense of problem situations.

• Credits: 1
• Prerequisite: Algebra 1, Geometry

Building on their work with linear, quadratic, and exponential functions, students extend their repertoire of functions to include polynomial, rational, and radical functions. Students work closely with the expressions that define the functions and continue to expand and hone their abilities to model situations and to solve equations, including solving quadratic equations over the set of complex numbers and solving exponential equations using the properties of logarithms. The Mathematical Practice Standards apply throughout the course and, together with the content standards, prescribe that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that uses their ability to make sense of problem situations.

• Length: two-years
• Levels: IB Standard Level
• Credits: 2
• Prerequisites: Algebra 1, Geometry

This course emphasizes the applied nature of the subject and is designed for students who wish to understand how mathematics relates to the real world and to other academic subjects. This course is suitable for students who may go on to further study in subjects that utilize mathematics in this way, such as social sciences, natural sciences, statistics, business, psychology or design.

Internal Assessments

• Mathematical Exploration

External Assessments

• Paper 1: Compulsory short-response questions

• Paper 2: Compulsory extended-response questions

• Length: two-years
• Levels: IB Higher Level
• Credits: 2
• Prerequisites: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2

This course is designed for students who wish to study mathematics as a subject in its own right or to pursue their interests in areas related to mathematics. It will appeal to students who are interested in exploring real and abstract applications of mathematical concepts. Students should enjoy problem solving and generalization. This course is suitable for students who may go on to further study in subjects that have a significant level of mathematics content, for example, mathematics itself, engineering, physical sciences or economics.

• Emphasis on algebraic methods

• Development of strong skills in mathematical thinking

• Real and abstract mathematical problem solving

Internal Assessments:

• Mathematical Exploration

External Assessments:

• Paper 1: Compulsory short-response and extended-response questions

• Paper 2: Compulsory short-response and extended-response questions

• Paper 3: Two compulsory extended-response problem-solving questions

• Credits: 1

• Prerequisites: Algebra 2

Extending their understanding of complex numbers to points in the complex plane, students come to understand that multiplying a given set of points by a complex number amounts to rotating and dilating those points in the complex plane about zero. Matrices are studied as tools for performing rotations and reflections of the coordinate plane as well as for solving systems of linear equations. Inverse functions are explored as students study the relationship between exponential and logarithmic functions and restrict the domain of the trigonometric functions to allow for their inverses. The year concludes with a capstone module on modeling with probability and statistics. The Mathematical Practice Standards apply throughout the course and, together with the content standards, prescribe that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that uses their ability to make sense of problem situations.

• Credits: 1

• Prerequisites: Completion of IB SL Math 2 and faculty recommendation

This course prepares students to take the Calculus AB or BC AP exam through an intense study of functions, graphs, limits, derivatives, applications of derivatives, optimization, integration, slope-fields, and applications of integration. BC students will study techniques of integration, volume by cylindrical shells, improper integrals, sequences, series of constants, power series and Taylor polynomials, plane curves and parametric equations, polar coordinates and graphs, cylindrical and spherical coordinates, arc length and surface area, conic sections, vectors, lines, and planes in 2 and 3 dimensions. Students will learn techniques that will help them to solve typical AP calculus problems with and without the aid of technology.

• Credits: 1
• Prerequisites: Completion of IB SL Math 2 and faculty recommendation

Statistics—the use of data to identify and use patterns that occur in the real world—is an exciting and practical branch of mathematics that is changing rapidly in the world of big data and powerful computers. This course will introduce the fundamentals of statistical modeling including the most commonly used techniques for modeling and analyzing data. This course will use applied problem solving coupled with philosophical musings and deeper mathematical thinking to enable students to not only be users of statistics but also more capable communicators and users of data and data analysis.