Woodlands Academy ‘MathCats’ make strong showing at state meet

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart was represented by 18 students at this year’s Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) state competition held at Illinois State University in Normal.

The Lake Forest all-girls college-preparatory high school's "MathCats" finished in the top 10 in five events, highlighted by a second-place finish in the Orals, where students present their solutions as if they were a teacher.

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Woodlands Academy “MathCats” won fifth-place honors in Calculator. This event requires students to work as a team to solve questions designed especially for the calculator. Woodlands finished seventh in the Precalculus Team event, where teams solve precalculus problems.

The team placed ninth in two events: the Junior-Senior 8-person Team, a competition that involves solving 20 non-calculator questions in 20 minutes, and the Geometry Team event, in which students take individual geometry tests, with the top four scores counting.

Overall, Woodlands Academy's "MathCats" finished in 11th place out of the 64 teams competing in Division 1A at the ICTM state meet.

“Our many top finishes show our teamwork and our ability to communicate with one another and work with one another,” said “MathCats” co-coordinator Shao-Yun Guo. “Our second-place finish in Orals shows our students’ ability to not only solve problems, but also communicate solutions orally under time pressure. Our high Calculator finish demonstrates our students' ability to use tools and work together to divide up the problems, given the time constraints.”

Associate Head of School for Academics Rocco Gargiulo, a former Woodlands Academy math teacher, is proud of his school’s participation in this year’s ICTM state meet. “This confirms Woodlands’ commitment to STEM education,” he said. “It also acknowledges the dedication of our ‘MathCats’ co-moderators and the entire math department to leading our students along the way to becoming empowered young women.”

Woodlands Academy is ranked as the best Catholic high school and the best all-girls high school on the North Shore by Niche, an independent research company, in its 2026 rankings. The Lake Forest school is also ranked the #2 Best All-girls High School in Illinois, and it received an overall grade of A+ in this year's report.

According to its organizers, the purpose of ICTM’s math competition is to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement, encourage independent study, stimulate interest in mathematics, and provide a wholesome meeting ground for students and teachers of mathematics through academic competition. It has been an annual event since 1980.

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Founded in 1858, Woodlands Academy is a Catholic, independent, college-preparatory day and boarding high school for young women. It’s part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries. A nonprofit, Woodlands Academy’s identity is rooted in Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat’s desire to inspire young hearts and minds to excel, to lead lives of integrity and to serve. For more information about Woodlands Academy, please visit www.woodlandsacademy.org