Math circles began well over a century ago in Eastern Europe and have been flourishing there and in Russia and Asia for generations. They came to the United States in the mid-1990s and to Califonia in the late 1990s. All math circles take a “problem-discussion approach to math education” and expose young students to professional mathematicians and mathematical scientists. Although some participate in math competitions, most emphasize exploration and discovery.

In the Fall of 2009, SB Family School and UCSB co-started the first math circle in Santa Barbara, for middle schoolers. In January 2010, SBFS started  the first high school math circle in Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Math Ellipse, while UCSB continued running the junior high math circle.
Then in October 2010, UCSB switched its junior high math circle to be a high school math circle, so SBFS started a middle school branch of the Santa Barbara Math Ellipse, which morphed into an upper elementary school math circle in April 2013.
Finally, in February 2015, the Santa Barbara Math Ellipse for lower elementary school students began.  We now have math circles for all grades 1-12.

In 2011, SBFS ran an elementary school math circle at the Santa Barbara Charter School. The Art of Math: The SBCS Math Circle met after school at SBCS once a week from April to December. During the pandemic, we ran upper elementary ones for Montecito Union school online, and we have also run after-school math circles for both upper and lower elementary students at Monte Vista School. If you're interested in having SB Family School bring a math circle to your school, please contact us.