Business Profile: Educating for the Future at Mathnasium

Children of a variety of ages come daily from school into a building nestled into the Hickory Tree Shopping Center, smiles plastered across their faces, even though they know they'll be working on math for the next hour. But at Mathnasium, where children are greeted by their first names when they walk through the door, that's totally normal, according to owners James and Jodi Ralston.

Mathnasium is a learning center that focuses solely on mathematics, and children come to remedy any struggles they might have. But the Ralstons say they wouldn't be able to run a successful center without having the drive to do so.

The couple has four children aged seven to 13, and the two have strong backgrounds in math.

"When you have a passion for math, you can ignite the spark in other people," said James Ralston. "Some people bring their kids here who are struggling with math, others bring their kids here who love math, but all of the parents are surprised when they come to pick up their kids, and the kids say, 'I don't want to go home—just 10 more minutes.'"

Some students are so enthusiastic about math that they want to come all of the time, and the Ralstons have to encourage them not to come more than three times a week so they don't get oversaturated.

When a child signs up as a member, one of the Ralstons will meet with the child and parents so the child can be assessed. They then figure out their "knowledge gaps" and strengths and put together a learning plan.

Each child gets to spend time with every one of the instructors so the child sees they are responsible for their individual success—not a particular tutor.

"Sometimes a child can be getting good grades and passing the subject and still not clear and strong on the basic concepts," James Ralston said. "In that case, we don't move forward. We go back, because they need a strong foundation. Math is a cumulative subject."

James, who is originally from Canada, has been in United States for 20 years, and has a very strong engineering background. He has also spent some time in Europe, and while he was there, Ralston noticed that Europeans were much more fluent in their numerical knowledge than were Americans. The Ralstons both saw an opportunity to develop a business that could better teach children mathematics.

And Mathnasium provides a better lifestyle for the Ralston family life because James doesn't travel all around the world on a regular basis.

"It's a balancing act for home life and work life," says Jodi. The couple lived in Minnesota before moving to New Jersey five years ago.

The couple runs two locations in Chatham and Summit and will soon open a third in another local community. The teaching and tutoring at the centers includes elementary and middle school math, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus and statistics. Test preparation for the SAT/ACT and AP exams is also provided.

"If we can get them to like math, great," said James Ralston. "If we can get them to love it, even better."