Russian School of Mathematics – Lexington

This school is great. My three daughters attend the school and have been attending now for the last 5 years. The staff is very responsive either by phone or email. If I ever had a question or concern it was addressed immediately. The teachers are very knowledgeable and most of all know how to teach math. Since attending the school my daughters have a deep understanding of math and are very comfortable with the subject. I highly recommend it.

My son joined last September, and he LOVES his class so much. At one point, I was considering to withdraw him from the program, because driving him to Lexington from Boston every Friday is horrible, it takes me more than an hour on the road, plus 2 hours class, my whole afternoon is gone. I found another program closer to home, before I pay for it, I raised my consideration to my son, but he rejected that., and would like to continue at RSM That really surprise me! I know my son, he does not like to do extra activity, I really want to know what magic that the school has done to him!
The curriculum that RSM uses is really advance, I can see a significant improvement that my son has in both school and his logical thinking. I wish I heard about RSM earlier, so I can start my son in the program earlier, because I heard that their elementary school curriculum is very helpful and can develop good reasoning skills.
ps. feel free to talk to the principal, the head teacher or any of the staff members, very helpful and friendly

Love RSM and have sent my kids to various RSM offices. They understand how to teach mathematics. They teach kids great ways to conceptualize and use math in an efficient manner. Many parents are 1^st generation Americans and are in fields where math is used on a daily basis, the rest are parents with an excellent education who see the problems with education today (too vast to mention). I agree with Be a Y, everyday math is a joke. No need to have a Phd in math to understand that fact.
Where they need BIG improvement; Facilities. The parking and drop off is always a joke. (and dangerous for pedestrians). Currently one child in Lexington and another in another location both are abysmal. People driving in every direction. Why not rent a place which has lots of parking.
Billing is also a joke. If RSM had any competitors I would go there just so I could avoid the third party billing company they use (Smart Tuition). Really, I have to share my bank account info so I can come to classes. Why they cannot accept a credit card like other businesses is beyond me. Don’t even get me started about how when you sign up you are not registered until they receive a check (yes, no CC-​a check) sent to Smart Tuition.
So great program and teachers (I haven’t even minded they changed the advanced class teachers 4x in two years but my youngest wonders why they keep changing) and needs real improvement in the admin/​parking category.
My children are on average two years ahead in mathematics. Takes work but it’s worth it.

RSM math curriculum is sound and gives kids a good foundation. I have a Masters in applied mathematics and, like many parents with skills they would like to pass on to their children, am completely incapable of teaching my own kids. However, my math background gives me a good sense for reasonable methods and material in college, high school, middle school and elementary school mathematics.
I despise the Everyday Math many unfortunate children, including my own, must endure in the public elementary schools in MA. Lexington, where we live and supposedly one of the best public school systems in MA, uses Everyday Math in elementary school!
Many fellow parents in Lexington share my consternation with Everyday Math. One of my friends from India, where math and education are taken quite seriously, said Everyday Math, «made her want to cry.» My other friend, a Russian PhD in math whose partner is a Prof. at MIT, feels the same. Both of these individuals send their kids to RSM, as I do.
My daughter, coming to MA in second grade from a bad public school system in NM (also using Everyday Math), was behind her peers in math. She scored in the lower, «Needs improvement» range on the third grade MCAS math section. Her third grade Lexington public school teacher thought she might have a learning disability because she just did not understand the methods used in Everyday Math. Luckily for her, I knew that Everyday Math sucks and that she was fine– just in need of a different approach. After a year of RSM in fourth grade she was scoring two points under Advanced on the math MCAS.
Many smart, wealthy people send their kids to RSM because it is a good, well vetted approach to teaching young children mathematics. It is sad that the «amazing» public school system in Lexington is so backwards in the elementary math curriculum that we rely on RSM as a foundation rather than an extra boost. I am also sad the people who can’t afford RSM or who don’t know any better, have to let their kids suffer through methods like Everyday Math.

We were in this school before moving out of the state. I was very happy with the program and the staff. They have an individual approach to every child and they really care about students’ performance. I highly recommend all parents in the area to check this school out.

I think Russian Math in Theory is a great idea. But there are a lot of problems with RSM. As other reviewers in the past have stated, the RSM business has grown at such a fast rate with many, many more schools opening all over the state and country. Hence, I don’t think they are finding the same quality of teachers as they have had in the past. There is a huge turnover rate amongst the teachers. Its not true that the kids get the same teacher every year, at least for us it hasn’t been the case. Our child has had three different teachers in one year! This is not conducive to learning properly. In addition, there is too much material to cover over the course of the entire year and because of that, there are a lot of concepts that the kids don’t fully understand; The teachers don’t have the time to teach it properly. The teachers expect the parents to be teaching and elaborating on concepts outside of class. My eight year old child’s teacher asked me to spend 20 min. every day teaching her multiplication. For the money I am paying, I expect them to be teaching these concepts. And finally, I find that some of the teachers are not able to discipline the children in the classroom. I find myself being frustrated at seeing and hearing unruly children in/​out of the classrooms. How can the kids learn properly in environments like this?

I would have to disagree! Great school! I never had problems with them! School office always returns my phone calls and replies on my emails. They have been extremely helpful.
My kids love this school. Their teachers are very nice and always willing to help. I recommend RSM to all my friends!

Never answer phones. Never return calls when you leave a message. Stop by the offices, brochure dispenser empty. Impossible… Poorest customer service I have EVER experienced.