Mathnasium operates in Salinas, expanding math support through school partnerships.

Mathnasium, a national math-only learning center for students K-12, will celebrate its official grand opening of its Salinas location on the evening of Tuesday, August 25, located at 1534 Constitution Boulevard, highlighting both its growing local mark and new partnerships with local schools.

Mathnasium opened its first learning center in Los Angeles in 2002, by founders Peter Markovitz and David Ullendorff, as they recognized standard textbooks, rigid school pacing, and a one-size-fits-all classroom model left many children feeling frustrated, embarrassed, and left behind, according to Mathnasium's webpage.

As of 2026, Mathnasium has nearly 1,300 learning centers worldwide across 12 countries, including Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Mexico and Singapore.

Though the center in Salinas has quietly been providing instruction since April 1, the ribbon-cutting — in collaboration with the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, First Tee of Monterey County, Latria Pilates and Caulipuffs — will serve as Mathnasium’s formal debut in Salinas, according to the Manager Colby Miller who also oversees the Scotts Valley, San Jose and Gilroy locations.

The 1,540-square-foot center was possible through bank funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration and Miller’s own personal funds. The center has one bathroom and features an open-layout classroom designed for visibility and student safety, with tables arranged to support small-group instruction.

Mathnasium of Salinas currently serves about 35 students, primarily elementary students, with programs available on in-person, face-to-face instruction, with a 1:4 instructor-to-student ratio.

“Right now we do not provide any virtual instruction. We're 100 percent in-person,” Miller says. “Some Mathnasiums do provide virtual. We may do that in the future, but it would only be as a supplement to in-person.”

Instructors work one-on-one with a student and get a customized tailored learning program based on an assessment with their strengths and weaknesses.

“Our goal is not just teaching the student math; it's establishing that relationship for life, where the student actually has a positive relationship with math and builds confidence,” Miller says.

The new Salinas location is also the launchpad for Mathnasium’s latest on-campus partnerships with Toro Park Elementary and San Benancio Middle School.

Building on successful pilots in Scotts Valley earlier this year, the Salinas-area programs will run once a week after school, bringing Mathnasium instructors directly onto campuses.

“Math instruction is really important and we do have a need for math enrichment,” says San Benancio Middle School Principal Joseph Carnazzo. “We have a lot of students that are more advanced than what the state level standards and curriculum offer, so I thought the enrichment piece was a great opportunity for some of our students. We also have a fair amount of students that need remediation. We're going to be running enrichment now, and we have plans to potentially add a remediation too.”

The program at San Benancio Middle School will begin Sept. 15 and be held on Tuesdays at the Library from 3:30-4:30pm. At Toro Park Elementary, the program will begin on Sept. 16 at room five, every Wednesday from 2-3pm.

These on-site programs are framed as an access initiative — supporting families who may struggle to travel within Salinas or afford supplemental education. Scholarships are available to help reduce financial barriers for participating students.

In math, almost seven percent of students met or exceeded the state standard, with 93 percent not meeting the standard: an increase of almost 2 percent from 2024, according to test results from the Monterey County Office of Education. 

“I just really believe that the area could benefit from Mathnasium and I have a lot of faith that it would not only do well as a business, but we could really meet a need in Salinas,” Miller adds. “If you look at places like San Jose or Palo Alto or the Bay Area, there's just tons of these math centers, but there's just not a lot of them in Salinas. So I felt like it was an underserved community.”

Mathnasium of Salinas learning center is open 1-7pm Monday-Thursday and open 10am-2pm on Saturdays.