Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
Mathletes Score Big During Competition Season
Nearly 100 students in grades six through 12 participated this year in various math contests – whether it be through Mathcounts or Hamden Hall’s Math Team. Both teams’ advisor, Math Department co-chair Maria Agulian, says it was a special year indeed given some of the feats Hamden Hall mathletes achieved.
“For Mathcounts, we had a student, Alina Yang, who was ranked fifth in the entire state after the state competition and it was the first time we had a sixth-grader, Lucy Xu, qualify to compete at the state level. For our Math Team, we are the only school in the state who is sending five students to compete at a national competition,” explained Mrs. Agulian, who has been coaching both teams for 17 of her 20 years here at Hamden Hall.
As such, Mrs. Agulian labeled the math competition season as “perfect.”
For Mathcounts, which is a national organization that started in 1983 (Hamden Hall has been involved since 1988), nearly 35 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders have been meeting twice a week since the start of the school year. Mrs. Agulian noted that even though the competition season is over, team mates still gather in her room to challenge themselves mathematically and prepare for next year’s competition season.
Mathcounts competed earlier this year at Yale University in a team chapter competition and came in third, thus qualifying for the state competition in March. Five students then traveled with Mrs. Agulian to the University of Hartford for the state match. Hamden Hall came in 11th out of 25 teams – but the bigger news was Alina Yang finishing in fifth place out of 188 students. Finishing in 56th place was seventh-grader Josh Mukherjee.
Hamden Hall’s Math Team consists of about 55 students ranging from grades seven to 12. The team is part of the Greater New Haven Math League – of which Mrs. Agulian is the president, meaning that after she coaches her students her duties are still not finished. Each season Mrs. Agulian and her colleagues are responsible for preparing and proof reading (among other tasks!) 160 math problems.
“The amount of time I spend on the Math Team and with the Greater New Haven Math League is unlimited, but I rise to the challenge,” she joked.
The Math Team’s season begins in September and ends in February. Out of the 18 teams from the Greater New Haven area, Hamden Hall finished third in the regular season. The team’s post-season play began in April with the state competition, in which Hamden Hall placed second out of the state’s top 17 small schools - a first for Hamden Hall in nearly two decades! Because of its high ranking, Hamden Hall was also invited to compete in the New Englands, which just took place last week. Hamden Hall finished seventh out of 16 small schools throughout New England.
Additionally, Mrs. Agulian had students participate in a qualifying test for a national competition called the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML). In June, 45 students from throughout the state will compete at the event, which will be hosted by Penn State. According to Mrs. Agulian, five of the 45 students are from Hamden Hall – Jessica Sun, Val Liu, Wing Li, Jinxin Pan, and Fiona Xu. Because of other commitments, Jessica and Fiona will not be able to attend; stepping in for them will be Anthony Capasso and Mingting Xia.
“This is the first time Hamden Hall is sending five students. In the past, four has been our limit and we achieved that last year,” explained Mrs. Agulian.
And just like an athletics program, “Coach” Agulian is excited about some of her JV mathletes moving up to Varsity next year (this year, Hamden Hall’s JV team ranked number one in its league in the Greater New Haven Math League).
“It’s an energetic and enthusiastic team even though we have no audience participation,” she maintained. “It’s just like a basketball team but no one is in the bleachers cheering for us.”
Hamden Hall Country Day School
1108 Whitney Avenue
Hamden, Connecticut 06517
Phone: 203-752-2600
Fax: 203-752-2651
admissions@hamdenhall.org
Hamden, Connecticut 06517
Phone: 203-752-2600
Fax: 203-752-2651
admissions@hamdenhall.org
About Us
Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.
