What’s Working: How Imhotep Turned Math Strategy Into Results
At Imhotep Institute Charter High School, school leaders entered the 2025–26 school year with a clear challenge: too few students were demonstrating proficiency in mathematics.
During the previous school year, just 3.1% of students demonstrated proficiency in math. Rather than looking for a single solution, Imhotep focused on strengthening the entire math experience, from what happened in classrooms each day to the additional support students received outside of the regular school schedule.
With support from Elevate 215’s $200,000 High School Beat the Odds Grant, Imhotep invested in both its teachers and its students.
The school hired a full-time math and science instructional coach and partnered with WD Educational Consulting to strengthen math instruction. Leaders also created a shared “Math Compact,” establishing clear expectations for what strong math teaching should look like across classrooms.
Teachers shifted to high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials and received regular classroom feedback. Daily assessments gave teachers a quicker picture of what students understood and where they needed additional support.
At the same time, Imhotep created more opportunities for students to learn.
Through the school’s Mathlete Program, participating students received an additional hour of math instruction before school each morning. The Level Up Program offered targeted academic support after school and on Saturdays, with students compensated for participating. Families and students were also brought into the process, reviewing assessment results, setting individual goals and tracking progress throughout the year.
And school leaders made a point of celebrating progress along the way.
The result was significant.
Math proficiency increased from 3.1% in 2024–25 to 12% in 2025–26, nearly quadrupling in one year.
For Imhotep, the improvement wasn’t the result of one program or one person. It came from creating stronger systems around teaching and learning: clearer expectations, better instructional materials, more support for teachers, additional learning time for students, and consistent attention to data.
That combination helped turn small wins into measurable progress.
“Our progress in mathematics came from creating consistency for our teachers, providing students with additional opportunities to learn, and building a culture where we celebrated growth while continuing to push toward higher expectations.”
Imhotep’s experience offers a simple but important lesson: meaningful academic improvement doesn’t always require one big solution. Sometimes it comes from getting the fundamentals right, aligning adults around a shared approach, giving students the time and support they need, and doing those things consistently.