Academics
We embrace learning across the curriculum.
Our students come to Proof School as math kids. Where they go, and who they become, is discovered each year, in secondary school and beyond.
We are a school for kids who embrace and seek out challenges, who give deep consideration to their ideas and actions, and who look out for others. We aim for our graduates to lead in the world as analytical, literate, compassionate citizens. Our students are well versed in going to great lengths to seek out opportunities.
We have challenging academics, small classes, and a shared love for learning.
Proof School is a full-curriculum, liberal arts school for kids who love math.
Across all seven years of middle school and high school, Proofniks engage in a breadth of disciplines to read and write critically, listen and speak intentionally, practice and experiment, and develop a fearless maker mentality. Along the way, students solve complex problems, take initiative, and pursue substantial projects.
We offer content-rich courses in which students develop transferable skills, spanning literature and language arts, history and social science, art, science, computer science, and (of course) mathematics. We believe deep learning happens through actions and activities, whether that's tackling hard math problems together, analyzing ethics in literature class, or using power tools to build equipment for student-designed science experiments.
With small classes, we are able to meet each student where they are, whether they need individual support or are hungry for challenges beyond standard school curricula. Our guides to middle school, high school, and mathematics introduce our approach to teaching and learning in the classroom.
Our schedule makes room for immersive learning.
With long class periods and fewer transitions during the day, students can focus on collaborative learning, extended projects, and writing studios.
Each year, students take four morning courses that span the entire year in humanities, arts, and sciences. These courses meet twice each week for 80 minutes per class period. These extended class periods allow students and teachers to explore, learn, and work in a substantive and sustained way. Morning courses focus on an arc of content areas, key skills, and goals that build thoughtfully across the year, culminating in a year-end symposium for friends and families.
Afternoons are devoted to math. An entire semester of learning happens within a single six-week block, giving students five semesters of math instruction each year. Our math courses emphasize inquiry with active engagement, and stress conceptual understanding alongside skill mastery. Actively working in class, in the company of a teacher and peers, makes it possible to successfully tackle challenging material.
Across the curriculum, students receive substantial feedback in class, on their work, and at the end of each block, when teachers release ratings and rich narratives that describe a student’s academic achievement, disposition toward learning, and goals for the future. By focusing on just five courses at a time, and just three courses per day, our students are able to deeply immerse themselves in significant and meaningful learning.
Build Weeks, Flex Time, and Clubs invite students to explore, take deep dives, and build community.
Because extracurriculars are built into our schedule, we are able to extend learning beyond the classroom.
We embrace time for curiosity, extended projects, and learning for the sake of learning. Most Wednesday mornings, students participate in extracurricular mini-courses and clubs on topics like photography, cooking, extended science labs, creative writing, web programming, and dance. We see these mini-courses and clubs not as supplements to the curriculum but as integral to creating a culture where learning beyond the conventional classroom is structured into the school experience.
In the week following each academic block, we pause our academic classes for Build Week. These weeks are devoted to deep dives into a range of activities, including the arts, math research, field trips and overnight trips, and more—they give Proof School a sense of summer camp peppered throughout the year.
Build Weeks also give us time to reflect on our growth and goals, work on all-school challenges, play games that build community, and host annual events such as our school-wide AI tournament. A highlight of each year is Proof Camp, during which students can take the lead in designing activities for their classmates.
