Back-to-school season often brings renewed anxiety for kids who struggle with math — and a search for extra support. Joel Knox set out to help kids like that, thinking he’d teach math a couple nights a week. Just for funzies.
Instead, the former supply chain consultant now oversees three Mathnasium learning centers in the greater Grand Rapids area — Grandville, Northview and Grand Rapids — with a fourth location in Portage on the way. Since purchasing an existing center last July and signing a contract in September to take over West Michigan territory, Knox has left his 15-year career in manufacturing to focus full time on a business built around a simple idea: Kids don’t have to hate math.
“We’re a math-only learning center. Math and only math,” Knox says. “At the end of the day, we work on building confidence in math.”
The boomerang effect
Like many West Michiganders, Knox and his wife, Amy, left — and then came back.
The couple spent years managing dual careers that took them from Charlotte to Miami, where Amy stepped into a leadership role in South Florida. Knox transitioned into consulting with Gardner in supply chain management. Their daughter was born. After two decades of bouncing around the country, they felt the pull home.
“We’ve got the boomerang effect worse than everyone else,” Knox says with a laugh. “But Grand Rapids has one of everything that we want. There’s ease. There’s variety. It just feels right.”
Back in West Michigan, Amy launched her own staffing firm, Nimble Staffing, after leaving the corporate staffing world. Knox began exploring something more community-facing — a passion project that quickly grew legs.
“I got into this business because I want to do something that’s good for the community,” he says. “Do well by doing good.”
Individualized — and unexpectedly fun
Walk into one of Knox’s centers during after-school hours — instruction runs 3 to 7:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays — and you won’t see rows of desks or a one-size-fits-all worksheet.
Everything starts with a free consultation and assessment. From there, students receive an individualized learning plan.
“I could have three fifth graders sitting next to each other,” Knox says. “One might be working on skills from second, third and fourth grade. One might be working on sixth or seventh.”
Rather than follow a single school district’s standards or a prescribed “new math” approach, Mathnasium breaks each level into 20 to 30 discrete skills — including 25 skills tied to fractions alone. Instructors use whatever method clicks for a child: writing it out traditionally, talking it through, using blocks for tactile learners or visual models for those who need to see it.
“We have hundreds of ways to teach different concepts,” Knox says. “Once I find the way that clicks, everything changes.”
The centers operate on a membership model, with most students attending twice a week for hourlong sessions. Plans range from seven to 18 months. Below-algebra pricing starts at $289 per month with an 18-month commitment; above algebra starts at $379 per month for shorter terms. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, visit Mathnasium.com.
