Nueva Math Circle

Nueva Math Circle is a popular community event that celebrates math at its most engaging, enriching, and fun. Our events draw students from across the Bay Area at all grade levels (PreK to Grade 12) who come to enjoy intriguing mathematical activities, games, and demonstrations led by distinguished mathematicians and leading educators.

After a more than two-year hiatus, we are so thrilled to announce that Nueva Math Circle is BACK and IN-PERSON. Join us at the recently-expanded Nueva San Mateo Campus (Upper School). We have a lot in store for you, including a special 2-hour economic simulation session for Grade 7-12 students hosted by Patrick Berger (Nueva Economics Teacher), Puzzles in the Cafe by renowned local "Puzzle Guy" Stan Isaacs, and much more.

If you think you'll be attending, we strongly recommend you purchase your tickets right away. Sessions fill up quickly and have regularly sold out in the past.

We hope you'll join us, and please help spread the word by forwarding this page to anyone you know who may be interested in an enriching and fun-filled afternoon of math!

We wanted to return with a splash, so we're extremely delighted to have an extra-special 2-hour session in store for Grade 7-12 students.

Patrick Berger is an economics teacher at the Nueva Upper School. He has created and taught a variety of unique classes at Nueva, including Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Game Theory, Environmental Economics, etc.

Grades 7-12: Cap and Trade Carbon Simulation. Come be thrust into the middle of an active market for carbon permits in which you'll compete and collaborate with your peers in order to seek profits amidst constantly changing market conditions! Great for those new to the field as well as seasoned economists.

This special 2-hour session will start at 1pm with a 30 minute break around halfway. Limited to 40 students!

We're thrilled to have Yul Inn return to Nueva Math Circle as special guest presenter for our Gr. 3-4 and Gr. 5-6 students. Yul is a computer scientist, an instructor for Stanford Math Circle, and the Founder / Director of Fun Math Club in San Jose / Los Gatos / Campbell. Fun Math Club offers innovative math enrichment programs for students in elementary through high school.

Kathy Paur has taught math at every level from elementary through college. She has also served as Math Director for the Marin Math Circle. Kathy has a PhD in Mathematics from Harvard and a BS in Mathematics from MIT.

PreK-K: Pentagons, Hexagons, Heptagons, Oh My! We'll build unexpected polygons out of pattern blocks, try our hands at dodecagons, and explore patterns created with mirrors.

Grades 1-2: The Cartographer's Challenge. We'll try out some puzzles that fascinated map makers for centuries, and rebuild them using elegant mathematical ideas. If time permits, we'll create our own puzzles to stump friends and family!

Each session is limited to 20 students so please sign-up quickly!

We're excited to have locally-renowned "Puzzle Guy" Stan Isaacs returning to host Puzzles in the Cafe at this event. Filling the entire space, his vast and dizzying array of mind-bending brain teasers for all ages - mostly personally invented and crafted by him - have been one of our most popular attractions in prior years.

For your convenience, pre-order lunch is available for $15 per person. For this event, we are offering two choices: a burger from Shake Shack or cheese pizza from New York Pizza. Each pre-order lunch also includes a small bag of chips, a tangerine or other fruit, and a bottled water. Doors open at 12:30pm for lunch before the event.

Parents interested in having lunch along with their student may also purchase a pre-order lunch. Simply add-on the number of pre-order lunches you need to your ticket purchase during the Eventbrite checkout process. We will only have a very limited number of extra lunches available for sale on-site, so we strongly recommend pre-ordering in advance. To allow for lead time, the deadline to pre-order lunch is 11:30pm on Wed. Oct. 5.

Snacks and drinks will also be available for purchase at the event as usual.

The Nueva School asks that non-Nueva students and all parents please take an antigen test before coming to the event. Since Nueva students already must submit test results on a regular basis, they do not need to take an additional test for Math Circle.

Doors will open at 12:30pm for those who would like to arrive early and enjoy lunch on campus before sessions begin at 1:00pm. 

This is a community-wide event that is open to the public.

Parking is available in the school garage and adjacent overflow lot. Even better, the Hillsdale Caltrain station is now just across the street from campus!

Please be advised that this is *not* a drop-off event. Parents are invited to join their child(ren) in the LS sessions (required for PK-2, at parents' discretion for Gr 3-4).

Parents generally do not need their own ticket if you are just planning to accompany your students to the event.

We strongly recommend registering ASAP as seats are limited and some sessions fill up quickly.

By registering for this event, activity, class, or program (“Event”), the Registrant indicates their understanding of and agreement to the following:

1.       All amounts paid at the time of registration, excluding service fees, will be refunded if an Event is canceled or admission is denied for any reason. No other remedy shall be offered.

2.       Participation in this Event is voluntary and Registrant expressly waives any and all claims against The Nueva School that may arise from such participation and agrees to hold The Nueva School harmless should injury of any sort or severity occur during or in connection with my attendance. This waiver of liability and agreement to hold harmless extends to children included by Registrant in this registration, and to loss or damage to any personal property Registrant or Registrant’s children bring with them to the Event. 

3.       The Nueva School does not assume responsibility for children attending this Event. Such responsibility remains with each child’s parent or guardian. Registrant shall, therefore, provide adequate adult supervision onsite at all times for the children they register for this Event and promptly address any behavior deemed hurtful or disruptive by Event organizers.

4.       All event participants shall adhere to the policy of The Nueva School that prohibits publishing in any format or on any platform any photographic image or video image of a minor child without the express permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian. 

5.       Registrant is expected to show respect to co-participants and to Event sponsors & hosts, and to ask the dependent children they accompany to the Event to do the same. Registrant accepts responsibility for the cost of repairing or remedying any damage caused by them and/or those included in this registration.

Host or Publisher The Nueva School