Proof School is a secondary school in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

that offers a mathematics-focused liberal arts education. Currently, 125 students in grades 6–12 are enrolled in Proof School for the academic year (2024-2025). The school was co-founded by Dennis Leary, Ian Brown, and Paul Zeitz, the chair of mathematics at

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. The school opened in the fall of 2015 with 45 students in grades 6–10. The curriculum is inspired by math circles, which emphasizes communication and working together to solve math problems.

Academics

Proof School is a full-curriculum day school that emphasizes communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. The school is accredited by

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

. The school year is divided into 5 blocks, each of which consists of 6 normal academic weeks and a build week. Each student has 5 courses: 4 morning courses that vary across grades, and a math class. The morning courses meet twice a week for 80 minutes per class. The math courses meet for two hours every day in the afternoon. The (non-post-calculus) math classes focus on a different subject each block: Block 1 varies depending on grade, Block 2 is Algebra, Block 3 is Geometry, Block 4 is Algebra and Pre-Calculus, and Block 5 is Number Theory.

Extracurricular activities

Proof School currently has a number of internal clubs, and used to have a

Zero Robotics Zero Robotics is an international high school Computer Programming, programming competition where students control robotic SPHERES (Synchronised Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) aboard the International Space Station. E ...

team called Proof Robotics. The team qualified for the competition finals and was the leading member of the alliance Hit or Miss with the following teams: Crab Nebula from Liveo Cecioni in Livorno, Italy and Rock Rovers from Council Rock High School South in Holland, PA, USA. Hit or Miss placed 2nd place internationally and performed one of the first satellite hookings aboard the ISS. Students from Proof School have placed highly in a number of math competitions, including Hannah Fox winning the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, narrowly missing qualification for the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the wor ...

in 2024. In 2025, she earned a gold medal at EGMO, and she qualified for IMO. Nearly every year, a student is among the top couple hundred high school students in the country in math by qualifying for the

United States of America Mathematical Olympiad The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) is a highly selective high school mathematics competition held annually in the United States. Since its debut in 1972, it has served as the final round of the American Mathematics Compe ...

. One student attended the

Research Science Institute The Research Science Institute (RSI) is an international summer research program for high school students. RSI is sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) and hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, ...

and was selected among the top 5 research papers completed by participants. Students have also placed highly in other academic competitions. Multiple students have won the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship. In the Regeneron Science Talent Search, two Proof School students have been named finalists and three have been named scholars.

References

{{reflist Private schools in California Schools in San Francisco Mathematics education in the United States 2015 establishments in California