FLANDERS, NJ—Mountain View Elementary School was recently honored by the First In Math program. The online math-practice website tasks students with grade-specific math challenges and, as of June 19, 2017, Mountain View students had solved more than 7.75 million of them!
Aradha Jain, Mountain View's top student in First in Math, shows off the school's plaque with Principal Frank J. Fischel, Ed.D.
The Mt. Olive Township District school ranked #1 in New Jersey and #2 in the nation based on the number of math problems solved per student, and the school has been in the FIM Top Ten in the U.S. every year since beginning the program in 2013.
“I’m so proud of what our kids have accomplished,” said Dr. Frank Fischel, Mountain View principal. “So much of our success is due to teachers keeping excitement high and contributing to the recognition program that rewards students for their personal achievements. The friendly competitive spirit that First In Math has helped engender is now part of who we are as a school.”
While they are home to the country’s top third grade class, Mountain View’s success in FIM is a school-wide achievement, thanks to a high level of participation among many students—not just a few driven kids or classes.
Aradha Jain, a fifth-grader in Peg Maute’s class, is Mountain View’s top student with more than 11,000 correctly-solved math problems. Rounding out the school’s top 15 are Riley Cahill, Vrishank Malik, Abhimanyu Nair, Nelith Siriwardhana, Ethan You, Ryan Schafer, Eesha Bosula, Robert Cahili, Sam Mirsky, Chris Pintado, Anthony Walsh, Sal Salafia, Mo Alabssi, and Jenna Klatt.
How important is math achievement—and the First In Math National Top Ten School award—to the students and faculty? The plaque celebrating their success remains on display in the main office, indefinitely.