More Than a Math Class
The room is filled with quiet conversations as Upper School students settle into their seats in Integrated Math. Backpacks slide under desks, notebooks open and a few students compare answers from the night before.
Inside the classroom, it looks like any other math class.
But outside the room, some students say the course carries a stigma.
In the traditional Upper School math track at Greenhill, students’ progress from Geometry to Algebra II and proceed to Precalculus. Students in the Integrated Math I and Integrated Math II classes, on the other hand, spend two years learning fundamental algebra and geometry concepts before diving deeper into the material covered by the later math classes.
“People assume students in lower math classes are stupid, even if they don’t say it out loud,” said freshman Oliver Huang, who takes Algebra II.
A National Debate Over Math Tracking
The funneling of students into different math tracks has been a flashpoint of debate over the past decade among students, parents, teachers, administrators and academics across the country. The question of whether to offer algebra to middle school students has been a focal point in the debate.
Supporters of a two-track math curriculum contend that elite colleges factor this sort of academic rigor into their admissions decisions. An elite math track starts with middle school algebra and then immerses qualified students in geometry, advanced algebra, pre-calculus and, ultimately, calculus in high school.
But critics of a two-track math curriculum that begins with middle school algebra for high-achievers contend that disadvantaged students would benefit from a system that emphasizes foundational math through middle school and delays the introduction of algebra until high school.
This debate came to a head in San Francisco in 2014, when the city’s school district stopped offering algebra in eighth grade to address equity concerns. But the decision didn’t reduce racial gaps in math achievement. Parents with greater financial means enrolled their students in off-campus math programs to provide accelerated instruction, while overall enrollment in advanced high school math courses fell.
Thomas S. Dee, a Stanford University economist who studied the results of San Francisco’s math policy choices, recently told the New York Times that the city was among school districts across the country that “tried to achieve equity not by raising the floor, but by lowering the ceiling.”
In San Francisco, parents fought the school board’s math policy decisions in court and promoted a 2024 ballot initiative that resulted in overwhelming voter support for offering algebra to the city’s eighth graders. The San Francisco school board, in a 4-3 vote, recently approved a plan to begin offering algebra to the city’s eighth graders in the 2026-2027 school year.
When Placement Becomes a Label
While Greenhill has avoided the sort of bitter public debate that has played out in San Francisco, the school has maintained a policy of placing students in different math tracks starting in Middle School. Upper School students are placed in different math levels based on placement tests, past performance and teacher recommendations.
Some Upper School students say they’ve been stereotyped and mocked for being placed in the Integrated Math course that focuses on foundational math concepts.
“They kind of think that if you’re in the lower math class, then you’re just dumb,” freshman Emma Sandler, an Integrated Math student, said.
Stereotypes about Integrated Math often pop up in everyday conversations. Some students say stereotypes can go beyond academics and affect how they are treated socially.
“I’ve been told that I was intellectually dubious,” freshman Liam Flanagan, an Integrated Math student, said. “It makes me feel dehumanized.”
Students also say stigma and mockery sometimes surface when they talk about their goals.
Freshman Olivia Medland, an Integrated Math student, said classmates laughed when she mentioned a college she hoped to attend.
“They started laughing,” Medland said. “Just because since I’m an Integrated Math student, they assume that I wouldn’t be able to get into that kind of college.”
Some students say stereotypes surrounding math placement can affect confidence, especially in freshmen. Freshman Bella Esayas, an Integrated Math student, says her math placement path began at the start of Middle School and has shaped how she viewed her own academic potential.
“It lowered my expectations for myself,” Esayas said.
Upper School Math Department Chair Darryn Sandler says it’s possible for a student to do well in Integrated Math and to transition into the higher math track, he said.
“As long as you’re placed in the right course, there should be no shame in what you’re doing,” Sandler said.
Beyond the Track
Senior Aiden White says he believes math placement early in high school doesn’t determine a student’s future.
“Either way you get to take calculus again in college,” White said
In any event, White says colleges evaluate students based on their overall achievements rather than their math level.
“If your math is a little bit lower, then just make sure you have a well-rounded curriculum with everything else,” White said. “Your college application is not just what class you take. It’s you as a whole person.”
Upper School math teacher Steve Warner, who teaches the Upper School Integrated Math course, says he believes students sometimes focus too much on how others see them.
“I’m more concerned about how you see yourselves,” Warner said.
Warner said students can still succeed regardless of their math placement.
“Are you going to be successful in life? Absolutely,” Warner said.
Freshman Grayson Gordon, an Integrated Math student, echoes White’s point that students are not defined by their math level or overall class schedule.
“Some of us are going to be athletes, actors or engineers,” Gordon said. “People just don’t know it yet.”
