Project MEGSSS opens new center for highly talented math students

Project MEGSSS (pronounced MEG’ us), a mathematics program for gifted middle-school students, has opened a pilot site in St. Charles County in cooperation with the Academy of the Sacred Heart, the oldest and largest independent elementary school in the St. Louis area, located at 619 N.Second Street in St. Charles. The new after-school site is located to allow easy access for students in both the St. Charles and North St. Louis County regions.

Qualified fifth- and sixth-grade students are eligible for participation in Project MEGSSS’ introductory summer program in June and July of each year. Nominations to the program are accepted online beginning each January for the following summer. Financial assistance is available at all levels of the program.

In addition, Project MEGSSS offers a number of summer mathematics enrichment courses open to all gifted fifth- through eighth-grade students, such as math contest preparation, probability and logic.

For those students who enjoyed the summer introductory coursework, Project MEGSSS provides tuition-based, after-school programming at two other centralized sites in the St. Louis region. The program provides up to three years of advanced mathematics which may give the gifted math student the ability to place out of certain high school courses.

The program is taught by highly trained mathematics educators, using the Elements of Mathematics, a curriculum designed for gifted students. Students meet one day each week, studying a formal course in logic and a broadened and accelerated course of math.

Project MEGSSS is supported primarily by tuition from participating families and cash and in-kind donations from various sources including AmerenUE, Bryan Cave LLP, Washington University, Maryville University’s School of Education, INDOX Services and Brown Shoe Company. Additional funding and scholarships are contributed by concerned individuals, corporations, and foundations, including generous grants from the Employees Community Fund (ECF) of Boeing St. Louis and The Saigh Foundation.

The mission of Project MEGSSS is to discover, inspire and develop the talents of middle school students with extraordinary gifts in mathematics. Project MEGSSS has been in operation for almost 35 years and is a parent-run, tuition-based, nonprofit organization that bridges the gap between elementary and high school mathematics. Alumni include talented former students working in fields as varied as music, medicine, law and theatre. Many have careers as scientists, engineers and mathematicians.