*Everything said in this article is both fictitious and meant to be lighthearted*

The bell rings in the classroom of Mr. Smith, a local Analysis teacher. In the hordes of sophomores and juniors rushing out of the room to get to lunch, knees hit the face of Julian Jones, who recently entered preschool.

“Julian is a pleasure to have in my class,” Smith said. “Although I will say that grading drool-soaked paper has proven to be a unique challenge.”

The toddler’s predicament may lead one to believe that he’s had pressure put on him to do more advanced math, but as his mother explains, the case is anything but.

“My son, of his own free will, decided to take the skip test to enter Analysis before Pre-K,” Jane Jones says. “In between ‘Paw Patrol’ episodes, he told me he wanted a competitive advantage for college. His words, not mine. If the district doesn’t give him a math lane high enough, what will he do in high school?”

When asked for his comments on the situation, Julian babbled and attempted to bite the microphone.

The concern Jane Jones holds is one shared by many parents: accelerated children left without paths through high school.

“My daughter’s five years old, and she’s already behind! She’s only gotten 35 national awards, and a few of those were second place,” Fakina Nombre, another parent of a child taking accelerated math, said. “It almost feels like by not providing further course options, the district is trying to discourage us from moving her from Counting 101 to Geometry Honors.”

Both Jane Jones and Nombre are part of a growing movement to introduce higher math lanes to the Palo Alto Unified School District.

PAUSD is now offering classes on quantum physics, measure theory, and how to get a life on campus for college credit.