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Despite gender myths that still circulate today, a study of more than seven million schoolchildren released last summer found that girls and boys share equal success in math. New research also suggests that old stereotypes can act as a barrier for girls. At St. Margaret’s, the faculty focuses on building confidence in a student’s ability by encouraging mastery in each subject.
“We set the expectation that our students will succeed.” Assistant Head for School Life Cathy Sgroi said. “The faculty provides the support and guidance to help them meet our expectations. We show them that being capable in math does not mean that you instantly know the answers.”
The Math Department’s philosophy is to ensure that every student reaches her potential. Recently, math team members Sujin An ’10, Joan Ge ’09 and Erica Houng ’10 placed first in the Rappahannock Community College Regional Team Math Contest in early December. The team had one hour to complete nine questions on topics that included geometry, algebra and logic. Twenty teams representing 13 schools participated in the contest. Before Christmas break, An was also notified that she received a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT II.
“Over the years, as a mathematics teacher in an all-girls school I’ve heard many students declare that they cannot do math,” Sgroi said. “After just several days of teaching I realized that they could all do math and most could do it well.”
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The St. Margaret's School math team placed first in a
competition in early December. Pictured: Sujin An ’10,
Joan Ge ’09, Erica Houng ’10 and Math teacher Keith Krusz.
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Small classes offer a safe, secure environment where students develop confidence through participation. Students are assigned classes based on their skill level, not on their grade level. An all-girls setting removes distraction and drastically reduces the intimidation that many girls feel in a co-ed environment. The math department faculty is experienced; with more than 50 years of combined teaching years and three advanced degrees.
“There’s a lot of collaboration among faculty,” said Dean for School Life and Math Teacher Keith Krusz. “We share the methods that work for our students and mentor new faculty members.”
The faculty encourages exploration, discussion, reasoning, prediction and cooperative learning as ways of problem solving. They also make an important distinction by acknowledging that problems are complex, but not difficult. The emphasis is on the process, not just the product.
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