Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Department

Supporting Students, Embracing Challenges

Our mission is to support and nurture our students in their own journey so that they can become life-long learners. Our classrooms focus on:

Developing problem solvers and communicators of mathematical ideas who can demonstrate their enduring understandings.
Fostering critical thinking so that our students can make connections and extend their learning beyond the classroom.
Giving our students agency by encouraging a growth mindset, embracing challenges and risk-taking, growing from mistakes, and focusing on the process of learning.
Celebrating diversity of thought and experience.
Actively seeking to uplift the voices of our underrepresented students and finding ways to highlight diversity within the mathematical community.
Sharing our passion for the subjects to inspire an appreciation for the beauty, precision, relevance and systematic efficiencies of our disciplines.

Mathematics

Statistics

Computer Science

Mathematics

Wherever a student is in their mathematical learning journey, we seek to meet them there. We offer a unique entry point into our vast curriculum that meets each student's needs. Our faculty is eager to work with each student to challenge them to grow beyond what they thought possible. Together, our students learn to reason through problems both quantitatively and graphically. They learn to use multiple representations to explain and describe mathematical relationships as well as apply models to interpret physical, social and mathematical phenomena. In addition, they extend their prior knowledge to make connections to newfound concepts. We encourage our students to grapple with ideas and to appreciate that making mistakes is an important part of learning. Finally, we push our students to lean into their classroom community to learn both with and from each other, knowing that diverse perspectives are important.

Sample Courses:

Integrated Algebra and Geometry (Problem Solving and Proof)
Precalculus
AP Calculus (AB/BC)
Multivariable Calculus
Linear Algebra
Honors Mathematics Seminar

Course of Study

MSC Study Center

Available Mon-Thurs during evening study hours. Tutors and a faculty member are available to answer questions and support student learning.

A Calculus Playlist

Chris Odden’s library of videos support a flipped classroom as students benefit from detailed and often humorous explanations of concepts.

Math in Action

Students extend their learning to measure tall objects, build apps, and create beautiful mathematics patterns.

Statistics

Data is all around us and learning to interpret it, analyze it, and make predictions helps us to understand the world in new ways. Our students not only learn the statistical skills to work with data, but they personalize their learning by investigating topics relevant to their own lives. They learn how powerful and important the study of statistics is in today’s world. Our teachers encourage students to use R to solidify their statistical understanding and explore data visualizations.

Our department offers students opportunities to study statistics in both term contained and year-long courses. Both our AP Statistics and Project-Based Statistics courses prepare students for the AP exam.

Sample courses:

AP Statistics
Project-Based Statistics
Statistics for Social Justice

Course of Study

Project-Based Statistics

This service-learning based statistics course enables students to “bring numbers to life” in collaboration with the PA community.

Opportunity Insights

Faculty were the first high school teachers in the country to pilot modules from this Big Data course with the Harvard teaching team.

American Statistical Association Awards

Students can compete in the ASA’s poster project contest. We have had many students win the contest over the years.

Computer Science

From Programming Fundamentals to Honors Computer Science Seminars, our computer science curriculum is robust and evolving to reflect current trends in the field. We seek to both introduce new students to the field of computer science as well as nurture the curiosity and interests of our seasoned CS programmers. We welcome all students to explore computational thinking and computer programming.

Sample courses:

Machine Learning
Data Visualization
Data Structures and Algorithms in C
AP Computer Science
Web App Development

Course of Study

The Ethi{CS} Summer Project

A summer conference for educators to encourage students to actively contribute to building a world where technology and ethics align.

Computer Science Research and Development (CSC630)

Students learn core tools and methodologies for software development and research, then apply them to a project of their own creation.

Our Faculty

Learning happens across all aspects of our campus. Andover's faculty are subject matter experts, mentors, stewards of Knowledge & Goodness, and much more. Joel Jacob is the Department Chair; Heidi Wall is the Assistant Chair.