No, the freshmen are not smaller this year.

This year, two eighth graders from Wydown Middle School, Richard Cheng and Josh Yaffee, are attending math classes at CHS. Cheng and Yaffee are enrolled in Katelyn Long’s first period Honors Algebra/Trig class, a class typically of sophomores.

Every morning, Cheng and Yaffee get dropped off at CHS the same way as many students, hopping out of their cars, backpacks in tow as they are greeted by Principal Dan Gutchewsky. After first period, however, the two students are shuttled back to Wydown where they go through their classes as any other middle-schooler would.

“After we get out of class, we pack up right out of the doors, through the parking lot, to the magical van known as the driver’s ed. car,” Yaffee said.

The two students are driven by a campus supervisor every morning.

“We’re driven by Mr. O, what’s his name? There’s Mr. Leftcourt, and this one lady I don’t know,” Cheng said.

On the ride back, the students mainly keep to themselves, and do not converse with the campus supervisor unless spoken to. The two boys keep themselves entertained during their ride.

“Usually we just sit there, talking about school stuff, since it’s just a topic. Maybe check Powerschools. We always check Powerschools,” Yaffee said.

Due to changes in the scheduling for math at Wydown, Cheng and Yaffee do not have to miss additional class time to travel to the high school, as students traveling for math classes in previous years did.

“We even have like five minutes of free time after we get back,” Yaffee said.

The mathematical prowess of Cheng and Yaffee has drawn a bit of attention from the other students.

“Most people, when they find out, they’re like, whoa, but five seconds later, they don’t care. By now, they know that we’re superior, that we’re of the superior knowledge,” Cheng said jokingly.

Yaffee notices similar attitudes from his fellow Wydown students.

“‘There comes Richard and Josh, walking with their backpacks, back from the high school,’“ Yaffee said, quoting his classmates watching his daily arrival from CHS.

Among high-schoolers, Cheng and Yaffee have built a reputation as math prodigies.

“The other students will tell you that Josh and Richard are very smart, catch on to concepts very quickly and are good at thinking outside the box,” Long said.

Cheng realizes that other students notice his mathematical skills.

“The general thing about me is that I work pretty quickly, and I usually get the problems right. So that makes some people glance at my papers at times. It’s not on tests,” Cheng said.

Yaffee has experienced recognition even more widespread than he would’ve ever predicted.

“I’ve had people I didn’t know, just strangers come up to me just somewhere in Clayton and say, ‘oh, you’re that genius kid, that Josh Yaffee kid. Can you help me in math?’ And I never talked to them again. I sort of like walked away. I’m very confused by that,” Yaffee said.

Cheng and Yaffee both initially got ahead in math through Kumon.

“When I was a youngin’, I took Kumon, and before I forced my parents to let me quit, I got a good length ahead,” Yaffee said.

Cheng has a similar story.

“Unfortunately I was not able to stop my parents, so I took Kumon for a total of six years, and I finished Kumon,” Cheng said.

Both Cheng and Yaffee moved to Wydown from elementary schools outside the Clayton School District, so both had to take placement tests when they arrived at Wydown. Both students skipped two grades in Wydown’s math curriculum as a result of these tests, and took Wydown’s geometry class while in seventh grade.

Cheng and Yaffee represent part of the final crop of the district’s program to place students in math classes ahead of their grade levels. The School District of Clayton announced that it was discontinuing its program. Many students and teachers have attributed this discontinuation to fears of gaps in learning.

Cheng feels that students similar to himself should continue to be allowed to enroll in math classes above their grade level.

“If someone is ahead, they could be really not challenged in a class, and not be doing what they could be doing, like us. I don’t think there are any gaps in our learning,” Cheng said.

Yaffee also agrees that his learning is not missing any major gaps.

“I think I might’ve skipped one or two things, but they aren’t really important things. I would’ve learned them if they were really that important,” Yaffee said.

These small points that may have been skipped do not separate Yaffee and Cheng from the other students in any way.

“If you came into my classroom you would not be able tell that there are 8th graders in the class,” Long said.

However, from appearance, Yaffee and Cheng could easily be spotted among their class of high-schoolers. That is, of course, if they are visible above their desk.

“People say I look small for a middle schooler,” Cheng said.

Amidst their studies at CHS, Cheng and Yaffee maintain a mathematical sense of humor.

“I’m just going to say that three out of two people have trouble with fractions,” Yaffee said.
“It’s four out of three people, Josh. That’s what the poster says,” Cheng said.