As the opening date for course selection approaches in late January, a new course will be among the open options for the 2025-26 school year: Finite Math. However, in order for the course to be run, it will have to gain enough signups — a challenge it has so far failed to overcome.
The course offering for Finite Math first emerged last year, but it was not run because not enough students signed up. Curriculum for the course was designed with a couple different objectives in mind.
According to math teacher and department chair Kristen Hamilton, the main goal is to help students revisit and refine basic math skills, ensuring that they have mastery of foundational algebra concepts in case they seek to take any math course following Algebra 2. It will also prepare students for Precalculus through reviewing algebra skills such as fractions, rational functions, recognizing families of functions, exponent properties and more. Finally, it previews Precalculus or calculus concepts such as linear programming. In general, older students such as seniors would take the course.
The College Prep or regular math pathway proceeds at a slower pace and is less rigorous than the Honors pathway; in similar fashion, Finite Math is designed to fill in knowledge gaps for those who struggle at the pace of the regular pathway and may need more practice.
Students who have completed Algebra 2 meet the prerequisites for Finite Math. The additional flexibility provided by the course means that even if students are unsure about whether or not they will take Calculus in college, they can be prepared for it if they wish to. Regardless of the math courses a student decides to take afterwards, they have the potential to be prepared and successful.
As the math requirement for graduation is three years, Finite Math is a good choice for those who need another year of math credit but don’t want to take an AP-level course, said Hamilton. Currently, the only option left for students in this position is to take regular Calculus, taught by math teacher Julie Scola, or not take a math course entirely. In previous years, the regular course Statistics was offered by math teacher Seema Patel, but has since been discontinued due to lack of enrollment.
Take the case of the one regular Calculus period this year, taught by Hamilton. Although 26 students signed up, only 16 students were still enrolled after the drop deadlines passed in the fall.
Some students had other courses they wanted to take instead; some were simply uninterested in taking any course altogether since the only class offered was during 7th period. Hamilton believes that regardless of the math level, it’s always worth taking a math course to continue practicing skills in problem-solving, and it prepares students well for college courses.
“I’ve had several students that graduated in 2020, and I found out through my son, who was friends with them, and he said, ‘They say thank you, because it carried them through their Calculus class — you learn all those skills,’” Hamilton said.
According to Hamilton, there were also several students who dropped out of Precalculus or AP Statistics and chose to forgo taking any math course altogether. For those people, Hamilton said, taking Finite Math would have allowed them to continue learning math and sharpening skills at their level.
Another objective is to cover more practical concepts in applied math. For example, Scola’s friend who was studying business in college took Finite Math to understand a lot of concepts specifically related to finance and business. For example, West Valley College offers courses like 10/10H Elementary Statistics or the optional co-requisite 10C, specifically for business majors.
While scouting for model courses from nearby schools, teachers came across Gunn High School’s intensive business and finance pathway, composed of an introductory Principles of Business class followed by a Business, Entrepreneurship and Math (BEAM) class. The latter involves “the application of mathematical principles” in real projects that teach entrepreneurship, finance and quantitative marketing.
If SHS had run finite math last year, Scola would have served as the teacher. Recalling prior years, Scola said Finite Math closely resembles Statistics in Sports, a non-AP level statistics class also taught by Scola and math teacher Seema Patel. After taking this course, a lot of students did end up in STEM majors, the most popular being data science.
The Statistics in Sports course ran on-and-off for a few years due to inconsistent enrollment, with enrollment hovering around 15 people. Teachers received feedback from students saying that they didn’t feel like the content needed a full year necessarily.
Last spring, Finite Math had only five or six signups — far from enough for the school to offer the class.
Amid the trend of more and more students skipping levels of math — often followed by an increase in students with a shaky foundation in math — courses like Finite Math highlight the fact that there are many options for those looking to explore and complete their math education, regardless of their skill level or future plans.
“We’re seeing so many students trying to jump a level, [especially] for Algebra and Algebra 2 as well,” Hamilton said. “They might get to where they’re going, but it’s not going to be an enjoyable process, because there’s so many things that they don’t know, but then they keep missing and then not getting the grades that they want.”
