Board Vice Chair Annie Slothower points out features of our new campus expansion.

Board member Cliff Hickerson explains key construction details.

The meeting provided a wonderful opportunity for parents to mingle with one another, with our teachers, and with our Board of Trustee members who were all wearing red hard hats. Stephanie Gill Kelly, Mack alum parent and Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees, talked with the group about the role of the board and introduced Board members in attendance. Cliff Hickerson, Mack alum parent and Finance Chair for the Board of Trustees gave highlights from the financial audit and shared that Mack’s finances are very healthy and strong thanks to careful planning, and that our reserves exceed industry standards. Diane Dunne, Head of School, took us on a time traveling journey as she shared snapshots of successes from our Strategic Plan and the past 5 years at Mack in the areas of people, program, prosperity, and place.

People

Prosperity

• Front lobby and office expansion
• Additional parking spaces
• Fifth and sixth grade classroom expansion
• New GAGA pit
• Performing and visual arts space expansion!!!

 

Head of School Diane Dunne gives her presentation.

Focus on Place

It’s been a steady march of progress and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished together! With the theme of “Place,” Diane brought the focus to the campus expansion project and the Capital Campaign. Diane explained that the campaign name and theme, “The Max the Potential Campaign- Solving for X by focusing on WHY” arose out of the following goals:

Board Vice Chair and Capital Campaign Committee Chair Annie Slothower explains how her family has supported the campaign.

Supporting the Campaign

Those in attendance also had the opportunity to hear from fellow Mack parent, Board of Trustee member, and Capital Campaign Chair Annie Slothower. Annie shared her heartfelt story of her family’s journey to Mack five years ago and how her family made the thoughtful decision to make their first five-figure charitable gift to Mackintosh. Annie shared that at first they decided to give $83 a month for 5 years for a total gift of $5,000 but that as they learned more about the project and what it meant for the school, they decided to stretch ever further for the school and make the $10,000 gift of $166 a month for 5 years.

Grand Finale

We then closed out the evening with an extra special performance by the Mackintosh Choir, led by Ms. Kates, singing a new rendition of “If you could see me now.” At next year’s meeting, these kids will perform on the new stage!

The Mack Choir gave a lively performance to wrap up the evening.

The post Annual Meeting: State of School is Strong, Building for the Future appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

Why does he seem so different from other kids?

By the time my son was three, he was explaining about precipitation and condensation from a little chemistry game he had on his LeapPad. A mom nearby said, “Did you hear that? He said precipitation! Such a big word. He probably doesn’t even know what it means.” I answered, “Actually, he does. He can explain the water cycle to you, too.” I couldn’t keep this child busy enough. He devoured every bit of knowledge that came his way and could explain or extrapolate concepts in very grown-up ways.

My older son had an obsession with books and the mechanics of heavy equipment from the time he could walk.

Not long after, I registered him for preschool, and on the first day, the teacher called and said, “He wanted to do everything, but I couldn’t get him to put on his coat to go outside.” I explained, “He’s pretty stubborn and loves to explore and experiment at his pace, but you’ll meet with a brick wall when it comes to things like coats, hats, and shoes.” She came to know him really well and by the time he was ready for first grade, we had a frank conversation about elementary schools. The takeaway was — traditional school wouldn’t work for this child. “Have you heard of Mackintosh Academy?” she asked and then went on to explain that it was a school for gifted children.

I didn’t know at that point if my child fit the textbook definition of gifted, but with this conversation, she affirmed the little voice that had been chattering to me for years. The one that asked, Is my child normal? Why do other kids just sit there? Do other kids start every sentence with the words, ‘Actually Mom…?’ Where does he get this? And finally, There’s no way he’s going to sit in a classroom in a row of desks and turn to page 42 to calmly work his way through a worksheet, day after day and year after year. I took the teacher’s advice into account and added Mackintosh Academy to my list of schools to investigate.

There’s no way he’s going to sit in a classroom in a row of desks and turn to page 42 to calmly work his way through a worksheet, day after day and year after year.

When I finally visited, I was astounded. HERE were all these kids just like mine. Active. Inquisitive. Detailed. Engaged. The classrooms were stimulating, the learning hands-on, and the students were alive, delving more deeply into topics than any other school I had ever seen. One grade was even taking a field trip to Summit County to study the effect of pine beetles on the ecosystem. It was everything I wished I had had as a child, and it felt like home for my son.

Middle School students create greenhouse hangers from plastic bottles

Ten years later and my first son now attends an IB high school; my younger son is in 5th grade at Mack Littleton, and I also work at the school. I feel like I lucked out just happening upon Mackintosh and finding a tribe of families like mine. As it turns out, many of the parents I’ve met also had little voices telling them that their child needed something different. Their voices used to ask or say things like:

“Why is my child so alive and engaged at home and so bored at school?”

“My kid refuses to go to school. She says she doesn’t learn anything”

“She talks all the time and asks 100 questions before 7am. I’m exhausted before I’ve even had my first cup of coffee.”

“His teacher says he asks too many questions, and she can’t teach the rest of the class.”

“Her teachers say she talks all the time in class, and it’s very distracting.”

“My kid corrects the teacher, and she doesn’t like it.”

“She qualified for the gifted/talented program, but it seems to be just more busy work. She doesn’t need more work; she needs different work.”

“My child is sweet, but he has no friends at school and he doesn’t get invited to birthday parties. I don’t think he has found children to connect with.”

“She is surviving, but not thriving.”

“He’s pretty intense. His teachers can’t handle it.”

“She’s a perfectionist and she’s holding herself back because of it.”

In the end, parents know when something’s different about their child or when something needs to be changed to support their child. Finding the right school doesn’t come down to school ratings or student test scores. It comes down to something much simpler — listening to that little voice.

Do you have a little voice that won’t leave you alone? Won’t you come chat with us? We’d love to meet you — and it might help soothe that voice! Sign up for one of our many get-to-know you events.

In a hurry and need to meet sooner? Call us at 303-794-6222.
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The post Finding the Right Elementary School for an Exceptional Child appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

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On April 14, at Mack Littleton’s annual auction, Mr. Joe Pausback spoke about his twenty years at Mackintosh Academy, his gratitude to former Heads of School Trip and Whitney Mackintosh, and what he has learned over his two decades as a Mackintosh teacher. Below is the text of his speech, but to get the full impact, please watch the video and absorb Joe’s inimitable humor and style.
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I’m Joe Pausback, and I have taught the fifth and sixth grade students at Mackintosh Academy for the last 20 years. My wife, Lara, teaches the first and second grade class.  My son Samuel, started in the Pre-K and graduated last spring. He is currently a freshman at Littleton High School.  My other son, Henry, is in the sixth grade at Mack, having started in Pre-K as well. From these overlapping roles and relationships, I have garnered a few insights about the nature of gifted education.

It is amazing to me that I would be up here talking to you about the essence of gifted education. You see, I was that child – the youngest of a large family, the one who tried to slip between the cracks.  My grades were all over the place, more a barometer of my interest in a particular subject than a measure of my actual aptitude. The late 70’s and early 80’s in Aspen, Colorado was not a time or a place where people discussed attentional issues. For me, medication was outside the classroom, in the forests, mountains, snow-fields, rivers, and canyons of western Colorado and Utah.

But somehow I persisted in school, developed a knack for getting things done on my own timetable, earned a college degree, got a teaching license and in the fall of 1998 wound up in the office of Trip Mackintosh to interview for a fifth and sixth grade teaching position. In that moment, I lacked both the experience to accurately portray the true sense of confidence necessary to land a job or the improv skills to project a fake sense of confidence. Together Trip and I paged through my student teaching portfolio. Offhandedly he remarked, “You look like a duck, but you do not yet quack like a duck.” I should have been offended, but the truth of this statement was too much to deny.  Last fall, when Trip and Whitney were back on campus for the 40th anniversary, the three of us laughed about this interview and Trip’s comment. In the interview, Trip had asked me to describe what I knew about gifted education. At the time, I had no answer. I knew nothing.

So, true to my own humble calling, after 20 years at Mackintosh, with two gifted children of my own, I finally have an answer to Mr. Mackintosh’s question. And here, tonight, in this room, I will finally complete my Mackintosh interview by answering that question.

Mr. Mackintosh, there are five things I  know about gifted education.

1. With all due respect to Forrest Gump, gifted is as gifted does.  

   Gifted children are a lot like normal kids, but gifted kids arrive at false and incorrect conclusions more quickly, more confidently, and more frequently than normal. The impacts of these false conclusions can be far more entrenched and devastating. But the corollary is also true. Gifted students also arrive at correct conclusions quickly. When Samuel was in the second grade, he was approached by a group of the cool and popular boys in the class who wanted to form a “club” to harass the smallest girl in the class. Sam took them to the mat refusing to join them and obstructing their efforts. After a day, the teachers finally caught wind of what was going on. Sam was vindicated. The other boys got to endure the fruits of their self-selected teachable moment.

2. Gifted children are very sensitive.

   Ms. Kates compares the challenges of costuming your children to the experience of costuming the other casts she works with. Mackintosh students invariably complain about the fit, the smell, the texture of the costumes. My son Sam, still needs the tags taken out of all of his shirts, shorts, and swim trunks. Gifted children are also sensitive to any perceived slight toward themselves and toward others. This makes the at a tender age, more globally minded, and introspective, than a more typical population. At the age of 5, Henry could not talk about heaven, hell, the universe, the speed of light, or black holes, supernovas without a week of sleepless nights.

3. Gifted children need the opportunity to engage with struggle and sometimes not be successful.

   Both of my children earned multiple C’s in their fifth grade year. I did not rush to their rescue and found myself, the parent/teacher entering this grade onto their report card. A year ago, when Henry was done going through his report card, he said, “Dad, I think I did pretty well.” I said, “Really?  What can you tell me about that C in Unit of Inquiry?” He said, “I know why I got it and I am very confident that I can raise it next unit to at least a B-.” What could I say? The boy has emotional resilience and a growth mindset. His next U of I grade was a solid B. Similarly Sam’s grades in the fifth and sixth grade were all over the place, but in the middle of his eighth grade year we were all caught off guard when he earned his way onto the honor roll. He has emerged from Mackintosh and entered Littleton High School with a deep confidence in his ability to take on any academic challenge and succeed

4. If you want to save the world, focusing on quality gifted education is a pretty good place to start.

   Think of an oil tanker. It has a huge mass. But the rudder, the very object that determines which way the entire vessel goes has a mass that is less than one half of 1% of the mass of the entire ship. At Mackintosh we are helping craft the rudder that will steer humanity in the 21st century. When Sam was five, we took him to see Horton Hears A Who, the Dr. Seuss environmental parable. On the way home, Sam sat quietly in the back of the car. As we were nearing our street, he remarked, “I get that movie.” “Really?” we asked. “Yes,” he said, “We all live on that speck.  And if we are going to survive as a planet, we all have to work together like the Who’s in Whoville.”

5. The final thing I know about gifted education comes from a little purposeful word-play.

   Gifted has the root of “gift” and a gift is something you get unexpectedly, might not have asked for, and might not quite know what to do with. At Mackintosh we build human beings by taking those talents and helping to shape them. If you further parse the word “gift” by removing the “g” and the “t” you are left with the word “if”. There are no guarantees in any education. In the general population there is an attitude that gifted kids will figure everything out on their own. But this is not necessarily the case. Gifted students are highly likely to drop out of school, struggle with emotional issues, and under-achieve.  Talent is distributed equally across humanity, but seats in public school gifted programs are not.  The majority of these seats are in affluent neighborhoods, leaving students in impacted neighborhoods to “figure things out on their own.”  Together we can provide opportunities to satisfy “if” for more students.  As any farmer can tell you, “if” is an important word: If the wind blows the right direction, if the seeds fall into fertile soil, if the rains come at the right time and last a good amount of time, if weeds and pests can be kept at bay.  Then maybe just maybe, there will be a harvest in the fall.

Trip did not offer me a job as a fifth and sixth grade teacher. Instead he offered me a job as a third and fourth grade co-teacher. Six weeks later, he had to fire the teacher who he had hired in my place. That night, he and Whitney called me up. They said that they wanted me to take over that job, but not until the following year as I was still growing in my skill set.  This was the most compassionate thing they could have done. The following fall, I took over the fifth and sixth grade class, and together Trip and Whitney nurtured me through my first two years teaching.

I am grateful to Trip and Whitney for giving me this opportunity. In fact everyone in this room owes them a debt of gratitude. They took over Mackintosh at a moment when it was about to go under. This was a big sacrifice to them personally and to their immediate family. But they got the school on stable financial footing and put it on track to be what it is today. If your child has ever had a PE class with Patty Weston, you should know that they hired her. If your child has ever completed a unit of inquiry that was designed by Sharon Muench, they hired her too. If you child ever took a “shaving cream spelling test” or shared a piece of cheese with Mindy Lambert at recess, know that they hired her as well.

In my interview, Trip said, “I want Mackintosh to be the best school for gifted children in the world.  Period.”  We live that vision every single day.  Thank you for your time tonight.
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At the Mackintosh Littleton auction on April 8, Mack alum Dr. Alfie Meister shared her story of how a full scholarship to Mackintosh changed her life. Dr. Meister attended Mackintosh from 1978-1985, when our founder Eve Mackintosh was Head of School. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Dr. Meister shared her story, and attendees were moved to give over $40,000 to support scholarships at Mackintosh Littleton for the 2017-18 school year.

We wanted to share Dr. Meister’s story with our blog readers and community members who could not be present at the auction. Here are her remarks:

“Thank you for the chance to share my story and my immense gratitude for Mackintosh Academy.  I have always told people I could never have achieved what I have in my life without the existence and generosity of Mackintosh Academy.

The way Eva Mackintosh told the story, she opened the front door to Mackintosh one day (back when it was on Emerson Street in 1978) to find a great tall man with a tiny little girl, inquiring about admission.  I am so thankful that he did.  My life was never the same again.  I attended Mackintosh from kindergarten through Intermediate, six years, entirely on scholarship.  My father was a single father, trained as a small airplane mechanic but often unemployed.  He struggled with alcoholism and likely depression.  My life outside of Mackintosh was a struggle.  

When I started kindergarten, we were actually living in a tent in a campground outside of Denver.  Over the years, we rented rooms in various places, sometimes resorting to living in a friend’s basement or living room, or, at times, a van.  The one time we had a place of our own, an apartment off of Colfax and Humboldt, it was so horrible that it has been forever since referred to as “the roach house.”  He would have to shake out my sleeping bag every night before bed to get rid of the cockroaches and we never opened the closed door to the kitchen.  

For transportation, we had a myriad of clunkers over the years. One had to be parked at the top of the hill every night so my dad could push it to a rolling jump start to get it going. One would vapor lock if he stopped once it got going, so I would wait by the door at school and try to jump in at a slow roll.  There were also many periods of using the bus or hitchhiking.  I vividly recall being called into Eva’s office once when some other parent saw us hitchhiking to school, being advised how dangerous it was to hitchhike.

My meals were purchased at either 7-11 or Taco Bueno.  In the worst of times, my dad made me go beg the neighbors for a dollar to buy a burrito for dinner.  

But through it all, I had Mackintosh.  I received scholarship support every year I was there.  My dad also did various types of work for the school over the years…painting, etc.  One year I remember he cleaned the school every night.  I would sleep on Eva’s couch while he worked.  I can still vividly feel the textured pattern of that gold and cream couch on my cheek.  My dad told me recently that he would eat kids’ leftover lunches from the trash to save money.

I was so lucky.   While my life was one of insecurity and struggle, I spent my days with the most amazing teachers in an environment that fostered such a love of learning that I never needed an external source of motivation for the rest of my life.  When I left Mackintosh, I knew who I was and I never doubted that I could achieve any dream I pursued.

I attended public school for middle school and high school.  I went on to achieve a full ride scholarship to the University of California at Davis as a Regent’s Scholar.  During college, I devoted myself to projects of service. I worked for three years at the Cross-Cultural Center on campus.  I mentored a teen mom through the Sister/Friend Project (we are still friends to this day).  Best of all, along with a small and dedicated group of students, I started a student run medical clinic in the impoverished Oak Park community of Sacramento, going strong 20 years later.  Everything I did was focused on giving back the gifts I had received in my life.  While in college in California, I read an article in People magazine about Rocky Mountain Youth Pediatrics, a non-profit clinic here in Colorado that did exactly what I dreamed of doing with my future.

In college, I decided that I wanted to use medicine as my tool for working towards social justice.  I attended med school at UC Irvine (Eva even flew out for my graduation) and then pursued a pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Oakland.  I chose to study in Oakland because of the history of the community and the residency’s program focus on providing healthcare to the underserved.

During residency, I returned to Denver for a month to do a rotation with the clinic I had read about so long ago in college.  I knew during that month, Rocky Mountain Youth is where I was meant to be.  I have now been a pediatrician at RMY for 14 years!  Every day I have the privilege of taking great care of kiddos just like I was, poor and struggling.  While my main job is to offer them health care, I also prioritize literacy with my involvement in the fabulous Reach Out and Read program.  I started programs where we celebrate kids on the honor roll and kids going to college.  I only wish I could offer them an education like the one I had.  I know how life changing it would be for them.

Next month, I will be presented with the Medical Center of Aurora’s physician humanitarian award for my career of service.  All of this has been possible only because of  Mackintosh Academy, and the scholarships that gave me the opportunity to obtain an amazing education, along with the desire to repay that gift every day.

Thank you!”

The post Why Scholarships Matter: An Alum Shares her Story appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

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Our grandson Jaxson is 11 and a half, and our granddaughter Brooklyn is 7 and half.

We are known by them and others as Doc and Queenie.  My husband is fond of saying that our names sound like we are we are a couple of old draft horses who pull a cart downtown –“Come on Doc! Come on Queenie!” — but we have embraced our grandparent names, and needless to say we wear them proudly.

Well, on this special day and in front of all of you, I think I can comfortably say: Isn’t it grand to be a grand?!

I think so, because as a grand we can somehow see ourselves with a special and unique distinction. It’s different than when you are the parent. As a grand you are able to confidently and unapologetically say (potentially even to a relative stranger), “Oh here, just get comfortable for a moment will you, and let me share not one, but one hundred and one pictures…and oh here, let me regale you with fascinating stories of my extraordinary grandchild.”

When Diane Dunne asked me to share what Mackintosh has meant to me and my family, I thought about how I felt the first time I pulled into the driveway off of what used to be an old country road.  I was instantly drawn to the Littleton campus of Mackintosh Academy. I loved it because it is so graceful and unassuming, without imposing arrogance or pretense.  It gives the impression of a quiet respite from the rest of the world.  It seems that the intention is to convey the message “Come on in. You are welcome, and cared for, and accepted here.”

As it turns out this beautiful space happens to also set the stage beautifully as an ideal environment for the children here to learn and grow strong.   A place where they are safe, and free to experiment and express themselves, and yet still have a great balance of clear guidelines that keep them going in an always positive direction.

The teachers and faculty here at Mack have impacted our lives in many ways with their smiling faces in the car line for pick up and drop off, and staying in close communication with the family with observations about the kids and updates and feedback. Sometimes it may be just quick email to share something that the kids did that was particularly sweet, or funny, or thoughtful, or smart. Other times it might be a phone call if something arises that requires a little special attention. The staff always seems to know how to expertly navigate even delicate topics.

An interesting phenomenon that I have noticed, is that every year we have been at this a “little school with the big heart,” we have said among ourselves “Wow! We are so lucky this year, because Jaxson and Brooklyn are in just the right spot with their particular teacher.”    But you know, after many years we have come to learn that it’s not luck at all. It is by brilliant design, the product of tireless hours, and a principled commitment to bring the very best teachers and programming to the school for the betterment of the students and their families. The teachers here are so in tune with the students, seeming to expertly know how to reach out and help them find each of their unique and special gifts, even if they happen to be hidden deep down inside.  Encouraging, them by enthusiastically communicating, “Hey you fabulous kid! What do you want to do?  Where do you want to go? Because you know what?… I’m here to help you do that and go there!”  Here, there is no ceiling, glass or otherwise, that can keep you down – the sky is the limit!  They don’t stop there. They expand that message with, “Hey guys, we are not just going to learn from books and computers. We are going to sing, and act, and run, and jump, and play outside, and learn how to be good sports, and team members, and citizens, respectful listeners (even when we disagree), and empathetic, and good communicators, and how to be a good friend.”

In the end what I have learned is that this little school with its big heart, and all that it embodies, does not happen without the love, care and support of those who reap its benefits.   As with all things that are worthwhile, it calls for participation and sometimes sacrifice from all of us as a community, to cheerfully give of our time and talents and treasure.    In big ways and in small ways, each one doing his or her own part, that’s when the magic happens – when we look for ways to serve.  For us, in our family, the small investment that we have made here, has been returned to us many times over just their smiling faces at the end of the school day. We are grateful every day for the privilege of being a part of this awesome school and family.

Isn’t it grand to be a grand?

The post Isn’t it Grand to be a Grand? A Grandparent’s Perspective on Mackintosh appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

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I know first-hand that the comfort and security of a right-fit school pays dividends as a child grows into adulthood.  I know because I was fortunate to receive a gifted education from kindergarten through middle school myself. My friends and I grew up loving school. We saw it as an integral part of our lives. We felt at home in the classroom and didn’t want to miss a moment.  In short, we loved school.

Surrounded by kids like ourselves, participating a full-time inquiry-based gifted program, we weren’t grouped or stereotyped by our peers based on our sensitivities, learning style, interests, and drive. We perceived ourselves as “normal kids” because everyone at school shared our intense interest in learning and love of complex games on and off the playground. School wasn’t a chore or something we had to suffer through.

Now, as the parent of a gifted daughter, I’ve learned that a full-time gifted program isn’t just better than other options – it is essential for the highly-gifted learner academically and for emotional well-being.  Since I grew up happily surrounded by kids just like me in school, I didn’t realize how gifted learners can be stressed to the breaking point when the school day is filled with frustration and boredom.

Unfortunately my daughter spent two years at this breaking point prior to enrolling at Mackintosh.  Typical of many gifted girls, she is a perfectionist who wants to do the right thing.  She would dutifully perform what was asked of her and her teachers believed she was a perfectly happy, adequately challenged child.  At home the tears would spill out her anger at the frustration she endured all day at school.  Even when a school tried to cater to gifted children through ability grouping, this differentiation was insufficient to meet my daughter’s needs for challenge, depth, and pace.  Worse, they didn’t realize they were falling short.

Within two weeks of beginning at Mackintosh Academy, our daughter transformed. She was happy, engaged, and intellectually satiated at school, and she returned home each day with confidence, laughter, and eager chatter about what she had learned. We had an entirely different child at home.

Families considering the educational options available to their gifted children often ask whether a full-time gifted program, like Mackintosh Academy, is really necessary. Is it that much better than a challenging academic program or GT pull-out program?  Yes, I believe it is.

The post The Gifts of a Gifted Education appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

Choosing Mackintosh was, without a doubt, the single best choice we ever made for our son. He was only able to attend for one year (we discovered the school had just moved to Boulder as he was entering 8th grade) and yet that short time was enough the hit the ‘reset ‘ button for him. He is now successfully making the transition to the pre IB and engineering programs at Centaurus, a step I could not have imagined when he began 8th grade.

My son did not flourish in the public school system, and each year he became less motivated and more unhappy. The system simply did not provide the care and attention he needed to thrive.  I had always avoided labeling him as gifted, somehow hoping that he could fit in and do well without any special attention. How wrong I was, and  by the time we discovered Mackintosh, we felt it was a last resort. When I first talked with Eric and Kate about applying, I worried that he might not be accepted because he was not at the top of his game. However, he was never treated with anything less than kindness, respect, and an understanding of his potential.

We were so thankful as his year unfolded because, for the first time, he felt understood as an individual in a school setting. His teachers challenged him to new levels academically, all the while nurturing him emotionally. If he had only become happier last year I would have been pleased, but he also came away with skills and confidence that are allowing him to be successful in high school. Even after graduating he  feels the support of  teachers and staff who want to stay in touch and are gratified that he is doing well.  That kind of sincere care is not something one finds often.

I am now looking at Mackintosh for my daughter who will be in 6th grade next year and believe it will be an equally wonderful experience for her. We found a more appropriate elementary school for her, having learned from our earlier mistakes, and so she will be starting from a happier place. However, we think she would benefit as much as her brother did from the individual attention and academic nurturing. We want to her to thrive and grow in middle school, not just survive the experience.

My advice to prospective parents would be:  If you are like me and have reservations about idea of a school designed for gifted students, suspend disbelief and at least give the school a chance. This might be the opportunity your child needs to flourish.

The post The Opportunity to Flourish appeared first on Mackintosh Academy.

Mackintosh Academy is a truly remarkable school, and I’m proud to say I went there for 7 years and graduated in 2009. Very few schools can boast of the immense growth and development for their students both socially and academically found at Mackintosh.

Since graduating, I have not experienced a social environment that could compare to that of Mackintosh Academy. The small size of the school created made cliques and bullying practically impossible—an invaluable improvement over the typical social hierarchy of public schools.

For all of the years I attended, my class was never more than twenty-two kids, and often far smaller. I spent all day, every day with the same people. By the time I graduated, my classmates were some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and those friendships have continued into high school and college.

Academically, Mackintosh Academy created an environment where I could thrive and learn more than I thought was possible. For example, in middle school especially there was a strong emphasis on essay writing. Later on, that head start proved to be a huge help throughout high school and into college. I aced honors language arts with ease for the first 3 years of high school and college level writing during my senior year.

Mackintosh helped me to not only master my strengths, but to also improve my weaknesses. For example, I didn’t even know I wasn’t scientifically oriented until high school because I understood the teaching so well at Mackintosh. Also, the small class sizes allowed my teachers to really get to know me well and assess where I was academically. Because of that I was allowed to complete both sixth and seventh grade in one year, graduating early, and I was still ahead of my classmates in high school.

I graduated from Littleton High School with honors and I am now one of the top of my class in the school of Architecture at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Without a doubt, I wouldn’t be where I am today without those seven years at Mackintosh Academy.

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The Boulder area has so many wonderful public and private schools, finding the right one can be tricky. Our son started this year at High Peaks Elementary School in Boulder. We were attracted to High Peaks because of its Core Knowledge curriculum, and its reputation for academic excellence. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be good fit. Mackintosh Academy was, however.

Our son is advanced for his age in a number of areas, and High Peak’s focus on getting everyone “ready for first grade” meant he spent a lot of time doing work well below his capabilities. We asked for more challenging work for him, but the school had a hard time meeting him at his level. When we inquired about math that would be more appropriate for his level, the school informed us that they didn’t do any significant differentiation in math until third grade. We resigned ourselves to another year of “after-schooling.”

Just a few months into the year, he was clearly stressed out at school—spending so much energy fighting a combination of boredom and overstimulation from the chaotic classrooms, trying desperately to not get into trouble. It was overwhelming him.  We decided to seek out a school that could better accommodate his needs. He spent a trial day at Mackintosh and came home happier than we had seen him in weeks. We switched him to Mackintosh that week, and he’s been happy every morning at drop off and pick up—he often complains that we pick him up too early!

Already, the teachers at Mackintosh have made sure that he is receiving individualized learning, being taught at his current level.  His math teacher saw that he needed to move faster—and made it happen so that our kindergartner is now in a group working on second-grade math. Ms. Miner, the art teacher, is his new best friend, and we get the Coach Holloway P.E.  report every day. The Mackintosh faculty is making sure that he’s being taught at exactly the level he needs in all subjects. Thank you, Mackintosh!

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