Proof School is a secondary school in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

that offers a mathematics-focused liberal arts education. Currently, 118 students in grades 6–12 are enrolled in Proof School for the academic year (2022-2023). The school was co-founded by Dennis Leary, Ian Brown, and

Paul Zeitz Paul Zeitz (born July 5, 1958) is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of '' The Art and Craft of Problem Solving'', and a co-author of '' Statistical Explorations with Excel''. Biography In 1974 Pau ...

, the chair of mathematics at

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

. The school opened in the fall of 2015 with 45 students in grades 6–10. The curriculum is inspired by

math circles A math circle is a learning space where participants engage in the depths and intricacies of mathematical thinking, propagate the culture of doing mathematics, and create knowledge. To reach these goals, participants partake in problem-solving, mat ...

, which emphasizes communication and working together to solve math problems.

Academics

Proof School is a full-curriculum day school that emphasizes communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. The school is accredited by

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

. The school year is divided into 5 blocks, each of which consists of 6 normal academic weeks and a build week. Each student has 5 courses: 4 morning courses that vary across grades, and a math class. The morning courses meet twice a week for 80 minutes per class. The math courses meet for two hours and ten minutes every day in the afternoon. The (non-post-calculus) math classes focus on a different subject each block: Block 1 varies depending on grade, Block 2 is Algebra, Block 3 is Geometry, Block 4 is Algebra and Pre-Calculus, and Block 5 is Number Theory.

Teams and clubs

Proof School currently has a number of internal clubs, as well as a Zero Robotics team called Proof Robotics. The team qualified for the competition finals and is the leading member of the alliance Hit or Miss with the following teams: Crab Nebula from Liveo Cecioni in Livorno, Italy and Rock Rovers from Council Rock High School South in Holland, PA, USA. Hit or Miss placed 2nd place internationally and performed one of the first satellite hookings aboard the

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...

References

{{reflist Private schools in California Schools in San Francisco Mathematics education in the United States 2015 establishments in California