About Us

Our Mission

Orlando Math Circle (OMC) is a grassroots, student-driven nonprofit dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community of creative problem solvers.

We provide joyful, challenging, and meaningful mathematics experiences outside of school, where students explore ideas deeply—free from grades, pressure, and standardized testing. Rooted in the Eastern European math circle tradition, OMC prioritizes curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking over memorization.

Our mission is to ensure that every student especially those historically underrepresented in STEM has access to high-quality mathematical enrichment, strong mentors, and a community where they belong.

Our History

Math Circles

Math circles provide different types of mathematical enrichment activities not offered in the standard school curriculum. They originated in Hungary more than a century ago and soon spread over Eastern Europe and Asia.

Math circles have produced many of the great scientists in mathematics and in other disciplines, and eventually led to the start of many national and international math contests, including the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 1959 in Romania.

Math circles finally started appearing in United States in the 1990’s spurred by the arrival of emigres who grew up attending math circles and excelling in math and science. Upon arrival to US, many of them returned to teaching in universities, and a few started math circles to open opportunities to students that led them to become mathematicians.