OUR STORY
Born from a refusal to accept that elite math isn’t for every child.
THE FOUNDING STORY
How one conversation became a movement.
THE SPARK
Dr. Patrick H. Jones II was proctoring a math competition when a colleague made an admission that stopped him cold: “I don’t know how to help Black students access elite math.” It wasn’t malice — it was an honest gap. But for Dr. Jones, it was also a call. He refused to let that gap define another generation of Black and Brown students in Indianapolis.
EXPONENTIA PRIME IS BORN
Dr. Jones launched Exponentia Prime’s first Math Circles — intimate, high-energy sessions where students explore thinking puzzles, sharpen competitive problem-solving, and play strategy games. The sessions were small. The students were eager. The potential was unmistakable. EP had officially entered the room.
SCHOOLS COME CALLING
Word spread fast. School leaders began reaching out — not because EP was marketing, but because families were talking. EP launched its Educator Ambassador Program, going directly into partner schools to train teachers to identify and support high-potential students. Students who had been invisible to the traditional gifted pipeline were finally being seen.
SUMMER MATH CAMP LAUNCHES
EP opened its first Summer Math Camp at The PATH School — a full week of immersive, competition-level mathematics for rising 2nd through 8th graders. Families drove from across the city. Students who had never seen themselves as “math people” left with the confidence of competitors. Scholarships ensured that cost was never a barrier to access.
THE PIPELINE DEEPENS
Advanced Math Cohorts launched to give EP’s strongest students year-round, sustained competition instruction — the kind of rigorous preparation reserved for elite programs nationwide. EP students began competing in the AMC 8 and Math Kangaroo, two of the most respected international competitions for middle schoolers. They weren’t just participating. They were placing.
A MOVEMENT AT SCALE
EP now partners with 14+ schools across Indianapolis, serves 210+ students, and has helped 75% of participants improve their SAT math scores. What started as one man’s refusal to accept an unjust answer has become the region’s most dynamic math education organization for Black and Brown students. The mission hasn’t changed — only the scale of its reach.
THE WORK CONTINUES
Every student who walks into an EP Math Circle, sits down at Math Camp, or competes for the first time is part of the next chapter. We are just getting started.
JOIN THE MISSION