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Proof School

“For kids who love math”

AKA: ProofSoMaIndependent6-12

Students
~130
Ratio
5:1
Tuition
$57k

Base tuition as published for 2025–26.

Admissions

Applications open
Late August
Application due
Beginning of January
Decisions released
Mid-to-late March
admissions@proofschool.org
Visit admissions site

What makes this school special

  • Built entirely around mathematics: every student spends two hours on math each afternoon, with courses ranging from those accessible to any sixth grader through college-level analysis, topology, and number theory
  • Tiny by design — about 130 students across grades 6–12, a whole-school meeting to start each day, and an average class of 12
  • Need-blind admissions; for highest-need families the Equal Opportunity Fund covers over 99% of tuition plus daily transit, lunch, a laptop, and SAT/AP/college-application fees
  • No APs and no class rank; students map their own multi-year path through a college-level liberal-arts core (SAT averages for recent graduates run about 1538)
  • Draws math-loving students from across the Bay Area, many commuting one to three hours round trip

Academics

Curriculum

No APs — college-level mathematics and a liberal-arts core

World languages

Latin

Schedule

Quarters (plus experiential-learning terms)

Signature programs

  • Two hours of mathematics every afternoon
  • Experiential-learning term after each quarter
  • Student-led public math festivals
  • Independent projects with faculty mentorship

College matriculation

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Georgetown

See the full list

Athletics, arts & activities

Arts

Studio ArtDesign & MakingCreative Writing

Life there

Learning support

Project Studio and faculty mentorship; small classes (avg 12)

Often on the same list

The Nueva School

Independent

The Bay School of San Francisco

Independent

Lick-Wilmerding High School

Independent

University High School

Independent

Sources

  1. About — mission, founding (2015), community
  2. Apply — entry grades, need-blind admissions, no application fee, tuition, Equal Opportunity Fund, address
  3. Profile for College Admissions 2025-26 — enrollment (130), teachers (26), average class size (12), grades, no APs, schedule, curriculum, Latin, SAT averages, college matriculation

Last reviewed July 2026