RSM MetroWest School

"We make sure the children get all the necessary tools, but at the same time, we teach and strongly encourage logical thinking from the very start. "By the fourth grade, we see a dramatic difference between our fourth-grade graduates and those who come to us at that time, and with every year the difference grows. "When children come to us in the first, second and third grades, as a rule of thumb, we place them a year behind in our program. By the time they're in fourth grade, it's already somewhere between one and two years. By the time we get to high school, we're facing a dilemma where we have trouble placing children in the class close to their age so we end up creating special classes for these children so we can introduce them to all of the material they have missed." The average class size at the school is 10-12 with classes taking place during the week after school and on weekends. Classes run two hours in length for all grades except kindergarten, where they last 90 minutes. The cost is $135 for eight hours of instruction with a $100 registration fee. Before enrolling, children take a placement test to make sure they're put in the appropriate class. Though some classes are filled, openings are available. "If parents feel their children need math skills, we are a good program," says Charny. "Schools, in general, are not the most lucrative business. Our primary goal is education. We frequently refer children to other schools, in particular the Russian School of Mathematics, when we feel the placement there is more appropriate for the student, either because of timing or level." MetroWest has both an established curriculum and qualified teachers, says Charny, noting that some instructors have 20 to 30 years of experience. "We also have qualified management and a pleasant environment. The kids love it here and they look forward to it." The school is located on a side street in an office building that looks more like a home than a school. Classes are taught in three classrooms. Hemant Singh of Westford, who has two children enrolled in the school, praises the MetroWest staff. "They know what they're doing," he says. Isabel Anderson, 10, a fifth-grader at the school and the Peter Noyes School in Sudbury, says she likes MetroWest because "they teach math at my level. She notes she originally went to the school to be with a friend. While her friend is no longer in her class, Isabel says she enjoys the school so much she decided to stay.