All Cate students are required to take three years of math and are encouraged to take a fourth year as a senior elective. Above, Math teacher Tim Smith congratulates winners of the Westmont math competition. A course per year through the junior year, with the final course determined by the initial Cate entry level. Essentially, the requirement is three years of Mathematics, including comparable High School level courses taken prior to Cate, although four years of math are recommended. Honors ccourses are offered in Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus.
Selection is made by the members of the math department.
The purpose of the honors course is to offer the challenge of greater depth and faster pace to the most able students. The AP exam is a course requirement in all advanced placement courses. This course introduces and stresses the basic concepts of algebra, including types of numbers and their properties, variables, operations with expressions, exponents, radicals, axioms, working with polynomials, solving linear and quadratic equations, solving inequalities, working with rational expressions, and the concept of function. This course introduces and stresses the basic topics and concepts of plane and solid geometry and coordinate geometry, including angles, triangles, lines, circles, polygons, area, similarity, congruence, and right angle trigonometry. Emphasis is placed on developing problem-solving skills, logical understanding of theorems and proof, the deductive reasoning process, and relating the material to realistic applications.