Woodlands Academy finishes third at Chicago Archdiocese math event

A team of six Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart students competed in Division A of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s math competition, held Jan. 31 at Loyola University-Chicago, against students from other Chicago-area Catholic high schools. The contest, sponsored by the Mathematical Teachers Association of Chicago and Vicinity, is open to all Archdiocesan high school students.

The Woodlands Academy “MathCats” team of seniors Margaret Glunz, Taraneh Ragerdi Kashani and Maya Whiteman; junior Emanay Piracha; and sophomores Kian Kaz and Juliette Hopman won two third-place honors in their division. One was an overall award determined by combining the scores from the “MathCats” individual and team tests. Woodlands also earned third place in the team event based solely on its scores from the team competition.

Individually, senior Taraneh Ragerdi Kashani earned sixth-place honors, and senior Margaret Glunz finished in eighth place out of 30 students.

Woodlands was one of only two all-girls schools competing in this year’s event. The Archdiocese of Chicago math contest began its annual run in 1967, typically held at the end of Catholic Schools Week, which celebrates Catholic education in the United States.

Woodlands Academy is a Catholic, independent, day-and-boarding, college-preparatory school for young women of all faiths in ninth through 12th grade. Founded in Chicago in 1858 and located in Lake Forest since 1904, it is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries on six continents.

According to 2026 rankings by Niche, an independent research company, Woodlands is the best Catholic high school and the best all-girls high school on the North Shore. Woodlands is also ranked the Number 2 Best All-girls High School in Illinois, with an overall grade of A+ in this year’s Niche report.