Mathematics Department

The Mathematics Department at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, acknowledging the core concept of the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Frameworks as approved by the Board of Education in December of 1995, seeks to help “students develop mathematical power through: Problem Solving; Communication; Reasoning and Connections.”

The goal of the Shawsheen Valley Technical High School Mathematics Program is to provide every student with the opportunity to acquire the mathematics skills and concepts necessary to graduate from high school and/or to continue their education at the post-secondary level.

The Mathematics Department at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School further acknowledges that the development and appreciation of mathematical thinking and problem solving skills is a lifelong process that begins and continues in the home and extends to the school and community settings.  The Mathematics Program seeks to develop every student’s appreciation and understanding of the importance and relevance of mathematical thinking and problem solving skills in everyday life.  Each student in the Mathematics Program will be encouraged to develop mathematical skills by working with a staff that integrates into their courses of study the latest developments in teaching strategies and technological applications.  In mathematics students will:

1. Analyze numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems; understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another; compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.

2. Analyze patterns, relations, and functions; represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic symbols; use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships; and analyze change in various contexts.

3. Analyze characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships; specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other representational systems; apply transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situations; use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems.

4. Apply measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement; apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.

5. Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them; select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data; develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data; apply basic concepts of probability.

Three years of mathematics course work are required by this school.  However, seniors who have not passed the Mathematics MCAS test are required to enroll in a fourth year of mathematics to achieve an MCAS competency determination—which is a state-mandated graduation requirement.   Students who plan to apply for admission to a four-year college or university are strongly encouraged to complete four years of mathematics instruction.

Mathematics courses identified as Honors are rigorous and challenging courses whose pace is significantly more accelerated than the pace of college-preparatory courses at other levels. 

Mathematics Course Descriptions