experience with math teams for middle schoolers

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience with middle schoolers participating in math teams? Our DC's school requires try out but it is unclear what to expect in terms of participating in competitions, etc. Do parents volunteer in these or it is led by school teachers? Any input is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Depending on schools. At TPMS the tryout is competitive. The JV and Varsity will participate weekly afterschool club at Tues and Weds, respectively, where they participate different math competitions/tournaments. It's completely organized by the beloved teacher Mrs. M. Parent volunteering is minimal, only occasionally if students participate Saturday competition. I heard some math clubs were run by parents completely at some other MSs.

[Anonymous]

At NB tryouts are also competitive. Parents volunteer to help get kids to the competitions but that’s about it. I think they usually or sometimes have a HS kid that helps the teacher. They can only play a certain number of kids per competition—usually the most is an A, B, and C team with two members per team — so if the team is big there are kids that won’t compete that often. My kid really had fun even if she didn’t make the cut for the competitions—as a 7th grader she rarely did, but by 8th grade she was often on the B, C or D team. There were a couple of real math geniuses that dominated the A team! She had fun with the meetings, the teacher was great and it was a good group of kids.

[Anonymous]

Frost is running 6 people per team, not 2.

It's going to be awkward if the official rule is 2 per team.

[Anonymous]

In what contests do these math teams participate?

[Anonymous]

There are 4 monthly meets, Nov through Feb.
There are 4 regions/divisions: Gaithersburg, Rockville, Silver Spring, and Magnet. Virtual Academy has a team in some region too.

The regions only matter for Jan and Feb when the teams might actually visit it each other in person. The Nov and Dec meets are done at each school separately.

There is no "direct" competition. It's like swimming/golf/Candyland, not basketball/baseball/chess. Each individual and team does events, and the winners are the ones with the highest scores.

First meet of this season is Thursday Nov 10, except for any schools who reschedule it because of the non-school days this week.


High scoring individuals get invited to join the junior team of the Montgomery County ARML team for the rest of the school year, as a preview/prep before high school.

(What's the terminology for a team that actually enters as multiple teams in a contest?)

[Anonymous]

There is also MathCounts, usually run separately at each school (and a student can do both).

And Mathalon, a one-off team event in October in Laurel MD, organized by a teacher or a parent at each school or non-school club. It's pretty informal organizationally (and has no website ).

And other events like MathLeague.com and MOEMS and AMC8, which are administered at school during class or after school, but not a season of many practices and meets.