EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT

Osborn Middle School’s A+ Honors Mathematics Program increases academic opportunities for students by accelerating their mathematics coursework. The program has grown from serving 50 students in 2006 to more than 150 this year: One out of four middle school students are in the Honors Mathematics Program, 137 of whom passed the Algebra or Geometry Qualifying Test earning high school credit for math. Strong preparation by Osborn’s elementary school teachers has many students ready to enter Algebra I (a ninth grade course) in seventh grade. As a result, the program expanded to include a tenth grade Geometry course for those students as eighth graders.

Accelerated completion of Algebra I offers students greater access to upper level mathematics courses in high school, which has been correlated with increased college graduation rates and greater opportunities for scholarships. Students are offered two paths: Algebra I as an eighth grader (one year accelerated) or Algebra I as a seventh grader (two years accelerated).

This fall, 37% of Osborn eighth grade students will go to high school having already completed one or two of the four required mathematics courses, giving them greater access to upper level mathematics electives. Four outstanding teachers: Shannon Green, Sarah Saiz, Kelly Doherty, and Eva Gomez, deliver the five sections of high school mathematics and three sections of Honors
Pre-Algebra which comprise the Honors Mathematics program.

Source: Osborn School District