Matléticos Helps Teens Build Math Endurance, Accelerate Learning
- Erin Madigan White
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
All the cool kids are doing the “cross-cancellation dance” this summer.
Nope, it’s not the latest TikTok craze. It’s a fun, somewhat silly dance move to help teens learn how to multiply fractions. And it’s just one of the many skills students are learning at the Matléticos, a summer math intensive hosted by the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence (MFEE).
Led by retired Montclair Public Schools math teacher Emmet Murphy, the MFEE program boasts a rigorous curriculum designed to help multilingual middle and high school students build math endurance and accelerate their learning. It meets 12 hours per week, over five weeks, and supports students in middle school math, Algebra I and II, and geometry.
Murphy sets high expectations, and students work hard learning study skills, practicing the application of concepts, honing critical thinking, asking questions, and presenting their work. Students articulate what steps they are taking to solve problems, and why. Hence the need for an occasional dance break. On a recent day, Murphy’s math-dance moves – a sort of diagonal hand-shuffle representing reducing fractions – elicited laughs from his students.
MFEE Executive Director Masiel Rodriquez-Vars said Murphy’s teaching helps students develop confidence in themselves – not just in their math abilities, but in a way that transcends to other areas of their lives.
Now in its second year, MFEE has expanded the program to teach 26 students, serving those who speak Spanish and some who speak other languages. For example, three students who moved to Montclair from Afghanistan and are fluent in Dari (a dialect of Persian), are thriving in the program.
Shirley Grill, a longtime Montclair resident and former Board of Education president, connected the Afghan students to MFEE as she was helping them find academic and other support.
“While this program is focused on math, it is also giving the kids the language and comprehension skills they need through the way the teaching is done. They present their progress,” Grill said. “[The students] know they are seen, and they are given personal attention. It has been remarkable.”
The teens benefit from Spanish-language translation from MFEE’s after-school program staff Jennifer Contreras and Rosario Tula, as well as a team of college-level tutors, including Michael Montoya Ruiz, a Montclair State University student and Americorps volunteer who is studying to become a bilingual high school math teacher, and Kevin Keys, a longtime MFEE volunteer who recently graduated from Montclair High School and is heading to Princeton University in the fall.
“Working with Montclair’s bilingual learners has shown me the power of a fun, collaborative, and inclusive educational environment,” Keys said. “Although not easy, the journey of unlocking their full classroom potential is the most special part for me. Making sure the students know that they belong, and watching them realize that, makes it all worth it.”
MFEE serves more than 100 non-English-speaking families through the Navegadores Escolares program, helping them navigate the Montclair Public Schools, and provides bilingual after-school tutoring through Oruguitas and Entrenadores Escolares. Through this work, MFEE has learned valuable lessons.
“We are cognizant of where the pitfalls are when you’re learning math and English is not your first language,” Rodriquez-Vars said. “For example, decimals and commas may be used differently, or students may read from right to left in their native language. We’re able to apply our knowledge about working with multilingual students to help them grasp concepts and succeed in school.”
This impactful work is only possible because of generous donors. A gift to support Matléticos is part of a successful formula to build foundational math skills and help all Montclair Public Schools students reach their potential. Now that’s something to get up and (math) dance about.
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