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Founders of RSM Inessa Rifkin and Irina Khavinson
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A School Created For Our Children

Our program emerged as a partnership between a passionate parent and gifted teacher, and has since launched a movement.

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Our school was conceived to serve our own children. Most of our teachers continue to send their children through our program today. As parents and educators, our work is our highest honor and responsibility.

Inessa Rifkin and Irina Khavinson fled the Soviet Union in search of a better life for their children. Together, they created a math education that mirrored their own - one of quality and depth. They would spark a movement. 

It has been over twenty six years since that first class was held at Ms. Rifkin's kitchen table outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Today, the grandchildren of RSM's founders and children of RSM alumni and teachers continue as students. Our commitment to the quality of our program means that RSM remains a family business. We do not franchise, and only open a new location once a gifted and experienced teacher becomes available to lead it. Today, RSM serves over 50,000 students across North America, and has been covered by the Boston Globe, TED, NPR, and the Atlantic.

October
1997
Inessa Rifkin and Irina Khavinson, founders of Russian School of Math
Inessa Rifkin and Irina Khavinson found RSM and teach classes at Ms. Rifkin’s kitchen table.
October
1999
Founders at first school building for RSM
Our first dedicated school building opens in a Boston-area suburb.
May
2001
Boston Globe newspaper article featuring RSM on front page
The Boston Globe features RSM on its front page.
September
2003
Brick Russian school of Math building is
Our second location opens in the Boston area.
September
2006
Birds eye view of San Jose, California
Ms. Khavinson travels to California and opens our first branch outside of MA, in San Jose.
October
2006
Three #2 Pencils
RSM enrolls its 1,000th student.
May
2010
Female teacher in front of whiteboard speaking to room of adults
Our first principal training results in two RSM teachers opening additional locations in MA.
September
2011
pencils
RSM enrolls its 5,000th student.
September
2012
Skyline of Seattle, Washington
RSM opens in three new metro areas (Chicago, Seattle, & LA).
October
2013
pencils
RSM enrolls its 10,000th student
December
2014
Group of people standing at the Armenia center for research and recruitment building
Our center for research and recruitment opens in Armenia.
July
2016
iPad featuring a Johns Hopkins article on Russian School of Math
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth names us “one of the top 10 schools” in the world.
October
2016
pencils
RSM enrolls its 20,000th student.
September
2017
Skyline view of Toronto, Canada.
RSM opens first location oustide of US: Toronto.
September
2018
pencils
RSM reaches 30,000 students.
February
2020
pencils
RSM reaches 40,000 students.

Hear our story and the ideas that underpin our approach as delivered on the TED stage.

Our Results

Our students post remarkable scores on math competitions, in school, and see a greater confidence in their math and learning abilities overall. Our alumni go on to attend the best universities in the world.

A+
Our students experience soaring confidence and grades
6th
Team RSM places 6th out of 150 on the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament
4th
Every 4th RSM student who participated scored in the top 5% on the AMC8!
50k+
RSM alumni go on to attend the best universities in the world
Read More
Successful alumni Anna Auerbach
Our Alumni

Meet Anna Auerbach, changing the face of work.

Anna graduated from Harvard Business School and co-founded Werk, a people analytics platform for workplace flexibility. Read about her in the New York Times.

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