Mathematics is another cornerstone of our students’ curriculum, right next to English. This prepares you for all future work in the sciences, engineering, information technology, business, and economics – and indeed in any area that involves measurement and numbers. Even students who do not expect to use their math later are often surprised by how much it contributes to a better understanding of the world. It fosters accuracy, careful thinking, and the knack of seeing patterns and making connections.
If you come to Thomas Jefferson (TJ) in the seventh grade, you take first-year algebra. In our standard sequence, this is followed by second-year algebra, geometry plus statistics, advanced algebra and trigonometry, precalculus, and finally Advanced Placement calculus in the senior year.
Students who enter in later grades will be placed at a level appropriate for them; for instance, a new eighth-grader who has not taken algebra will join the Algebra 1 class. A student who is very proficient at math and earns high grades in it will have the chance to accelerate and get to calculus in the junior year, occasionally even earlier. Once in a while, a student who was accelerated in this way has pursued math even further by taking a class at a nearby university.
The two Advanced Placement alternatives are Calculus BC, for students who have shown high motivation and achievement in math, and Calculus AB for those who need to learn the subject at a less strenuous pace. Both of these classes culminate in an AP exam.
From ninth grade on, TJ math classes use the graphing calculator as an aid to understanding, not a substitute for it.