FALLBROOK – Fallbrook Street School (FSS) students are flexing their academic muscle when it comes to math and competing with other in-town schools in the district lately.

"Fallbrook Street School is doing a fantastic job," said Patrick Rusnell, Math Olympiad coach. "A number of individuals are doing an incredible job."

After four rounds of mind boggling math quizzes, FSS is in second place, behind only Live Oak Elementary within the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (FUESD). Compared to years past, FSS students have made a hefty leap into a level of math that can be intimidating to most adults.

Math Olympiad began in Long Island, N.Y. during the late 1970’s. With critical thinking skills and application of math principles as key elements, the concept of Math Olympiad took form and quickly spread throughout the U.S. Since then, it has become a rigorous Advertisement

[ Metalography ] nationwide competition with approximately 100,000 students, including those at US military bases abroad, competing against one another by taking a series of five tests in which each test increases in difficulty.

One more round of competition is all that is left before the final results are tallied for FSS’s "Math O" competitors.

In the meantime, Rusnell is making certain that all FUESD Math Olympiad team members are getting into top shape across the school district. A retired school teacher and the current FUESD school board president, Rusnell volunteers his time at each school on a weekly basis. Coaching math teams ever since "Math O" arrived in Fallbrook in the mid-1980’s, he is proud of the fact that the Fallbrook school district has always had a team in the top 20 percent nationwide.

Math Olympiad results will be announced in May.