New Program in Burlington Benefits not only Students but Whole Community.

Sept. 24, 2011 - PRLog -- Burlington, ON – When Ruchi Varma, realized her 7-year-old son was starting to show signs of boredom at school, she decided to take matters into her own hands. “He was excelling in all his subjects,” said Varma, “but I felt he wasn’t being challenged enough.”

She set out to find a program that would prevent him from losing interest in school and found it in Spirit of Math Schools, an after school system of schools with a unique curriculum and revolutionary teaching methods designed specifically to meet the needs of bright and motivated students.

It was worth the weekly drive to Oakville (at the time the nearest campus), Varma said, “He loved the program and was truly excited about learning again.” Spirit of Math provided a nurturing environment for Varma’s son to excel in math and work closely with other high performing students, “something that would be impossible to find in a regular classroom,” she said.

After a year in the program, Varma decided to apply for a Spirit of Math Schools franchise so that she could bring this opportunity to the children of Burlington. “Starting my own campus just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Varma. “ It feels wonderful to offer such a valuable program to students in the City of Burlington.“

Spirit of Math has been taking students from the top of the class to the top of the nation for over 25 years. It’s revolutionary methods and unique curriculum, designed specifically for highly motivated students with a B+ or higher school average, puts the self-proclaimed “after-school school” alone in its niche among a plethora of programs targeted at helping students who are struggling in mathematics. Spirit of Math Schools has 27 locations across North America, but this is its first in Burlington.

“It will be wonderful to offer such a valuable program to students in the City of Burlington, says Varma.  “For me, giving them the opportunity to shine on a national level will be an outstanding accomplishment.”

Her new role as principal of the Burlington Campus may seem like a departure from her profession as a pharmacist, but Varma points out the parallels that she says will lead to the success of Spirit of Math Burlington.

Working in the healthcare industry for the past fifteen years has given Varma the opportunity to see a variety of changes in our healthcare environment. “It has been necessary for healthcare providers to take a business approach to providing effective healthcare and, over the years, I have been able to implement programs that transition patients from government funded healthcare to low cost, high quality alternatives in the private sector, “ said Varma, who sees this happening more and more in the education field as well, as parents realize that what children get in school is not going to be the ‘right fit’ for every student. “Parents are looking for something more,” she said. “I know because I was one of those parents and I found the ‘right fit’ for my son in Spirit of Math.”

Varma’s goal is to see Spirit of Math Burlington grow into a true campus community, where families interact and learn from each other on a regular basis.

“Students enjoy coming to our classes and being challenged in an environment filled with other bright students like themselves, said Varma. “I look forward to sharing my own experiences as a parent of Spirit of Math children with other families as we grow.”

The campus opened for the 2011-12 school year on September 6 and will celebrate its Grand Opening on October 18 at the Trinity Christian School, 2170 Itabashi Way in Burlington. Classes are held on Tuesday evenings for grades one to six at the Trinity Christian School. Applications for admission for the 2011-12 school year are now being accepted. http://www.spiritofmath.com/burlington

# # #

Spirit of Math is an after-school program that offers exciting, fast-paced math classes to high-performing students. SMS has been offering courses to students since 1992 and has schools in the GTA, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Vancouver and Edison, New Jersey. http://www.spiritofmath.com