The
Hill School mathematics department’s primary focus is to challenge its students to learn mathematics as deeply and thoroughly as possible.
Through courses carefully designed at the regular and honors level, all Hill School students have the opportunity to take four full years or more of stimulating and demanding mathematics classes.
Our curriculum supports our belief that a quality education in mathematics is necessary for all people in the 21
st century, and our program seeks to develop a broad foundation of
core knowledge, an ability to use
practical skills, a
universal base for further study in mathematics and an
appreciation of the contributions made by mathematics to the progress of our culture.
The members of the department have extensive and varied experience. Our teachers have an average of 13 years of classroom experience, and several have had careers outside of education, in fields such as engineering, statistics, and the military. Classrooms are small, and teachers are available for extra help in the evenings, providing students every opportunity to succeed. We use wireless projectors and SmartBoards in our classrooms along with the latest software packages to enhance student learning. These software packages include Geometer’s Sketchpad, the TI-SmartView calculator emulator, Minitab, and Mathematica.
Students new to The Hill are placed in mathematics classes based on previous study. While some new students enroll in Algebra 1 first, the most common class for new third form students is geometry, with some advanced students entering at even higher levels. At the upper end of our course offerings, classes are structured to challenge the most talented students at the level of first-year and sophomore-level college mathematics, including courses in Advanced Placement Calculus, Advanced Placement Statistics, Multivariable Calculus, Graph Theory, and Stochastic Processes.
Our students participate in the Pennsylvania Mathematics League six times per year. Typically about one-third of our students sit for at least one of these contests. Also, every February almost 100 selected students take the American Mathematics Contest (AMC). High scores on that test allow our students to then take the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) and sometimes even the U. S. A. Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO).
If you have any questions about mathematics at The Hill School, please contact the department chair, Elizabeth Dollhopf at edollhopf@thehill.org.