Pushing the Limit: Freshman three years ahead of her grade in math wants to be seen as more than that

Freshman Katie Murphy has a mostly average schedule for her first year at East — Honors World Regional Studies and Spanish, with tennis, piano and aerial silks after school. But that’s excluding her first hour Calculus BC class — a math class three years above what the average East freshman takes.

“Most people think it’s funny that I’m in such a high level of math,” Murphy said. “But everybody also thinks if you’re really good at math you’re automatically super nerdy and I’m not.”

With the help of her elementary school teachers, Murphy learned Pre-Algebra in fifth grade, before teaching herself Algebra 1 using textbooks and assignments. 

“My teacher gave me an Algebra 1 textbook and just had me read it,” Murphy said. “It was weird and very unofficial, sitting out in the hall, reading the book and doing an occasional printed test from the teacher while the rest of my class was learning Pre-Algebra inside.” 

Though Murphy was quickly picking up the higher level math material, the process of advancing in math wasn’t supported by the Shawnee Mission School District. Due to these restrictions from the district, she couldn’t take Geometry in seventh grade at Indian Hills since she hadn’t taken Algebra 1 through the school.

“It was a bummer having to repeat the course,” Murphy said. “I had passed the class on my own terms and I knew the material so it was pretty boring.” 

When Murphy started eighth grade she began looking at taking a harder course than Geometry outside of Indian Hills. Murphy then applied and was accepted into Stanford Online High School — an international online high school where Murphy planned to study math. Expecting to take the Algebra 2 course, Murphy was shocked to see she had tested out of the placement test — because she had never studied the course — and instead would find herself taking honors PreCalculus, a math course two years ahead of what she was supposed to take that year.

However, in order to take math classes more advanced than PreCalculus at East, Murphy would still need to take the prerequisite course of algebra 2, regardless of her knowledge. 

After discussing the matter with Indian Hills and East counselors, Murphy was able to take Honors Algebra 2 with East teacher Hannah Pence for the second semester of her eighth grade year.

“[Murphy] had to take the first semester final exam for algebra 2 to make sure she was good to come in for the second semester,” Pence said. “She took it and she rocked it. I think she got a perfect score.”

When COVID-19 put everyone in online school in March, Murphy was still able to take her classes virtually and successfully passed three math courses for her eighth grade year. 

Now, she’s the only freshman to ever be enrolled in Calculus BC, among mostly juniors and seniors. 

According to Murphy, she’s planning to take whatever math classes are left at East in her following three years — hoping that Calculus 3 has enough student interest to be a class next year. If she reaches the highest level East class, she plans to continue with Stanford Online High School or start advanced classes with Johnson County Community College.

“I definitely spend a lot of time on school work because I want to work hard so I can reach my goals and move out of Kansas,” Murphy said. “But I also like to hang out with my friends on the weekends and play tennis and I don’t just do math. It’s just one of the things I like to do.”