Mackintosh Academy-Boulder recently received a $1.5 million grant to launch a new Mack Scholars program designed to provide ten students from socio- economically disadvantaged backgrounds full financial support to attend Mackintosh Academy through 8th grade. JJ Morrow, Head of School, said: “The idea for the Mack Scholars Program started with meaningful conversations in our community where we explored ways to expand our school’s reach to a historically unrepresented group of children. This gift will change families’ lives forever.”
The Rodriguez family is one current Mackintosh Academy family that can speak directly to the power of scholarship funding. Last year they were awarded generous tuition support that allowed their kindergarten daughter to attend. Her father, Gabriel, adds: “Since as long as I can remember, I grew up feeling like I was different. I always worried my daughter would struggle in the same way. Since coming to Mack I feel like we are living a dream. It’s hard to describe how lucky we feel to find a place where our daughter is herself and loves learning.”
Morrow adds: “Sally’s thriving at Mack – we appreciate her big ideas, spark, and love of learning. Mack Scholars will help us find more children like her in our community who deserve this opportunity.” Numbers of potential applicants could be high as research shows that the largest percentage of gifted learners is likely living below the poverty line. These learners are often under-identified or under-served as schools struggle to offer the depth, pace, challenges, and support that helps gifted learners reach their full potential.
Mackintosh Academy hopes this substantial gift will help attract attention from other potential donors in our community and beyond. “If we can continue the momentum for support, the number of students we can impact could grow exponentially,” Morrow said.
The Mack Scholars selection process will commence during the winter of the 2015-16 school year aiming to enroll potential Scholars mid-year. Applications for the Mack Scholars Program must be submitted directly to the Office of Admissions at Mackintosh Academy where decisions will be based on the merit of application criteria and clearly demonstrated full financial need. Annual financial support for the program will cover the cost of ten scholars attending Mackintosh Academy on an annual basis, in addition to the non-tuition expenses that families might accrue in order to participate fully in Mack’s academic and co-curricular programs.
The Mack Scholars selection process is in line with Mackintosh Academy’s mission to nurture keen minds and compassionate hearts of young learners to prepare them to make a difference in the world they will inherit. Mackintosh Academy blends a small school environment with leading-edge educational approaches. As a fully accredited IB World School offering a full-time gifted program and a student to teacher ratio of 9:1, days at Mack are filled with depth, vigor, and challenge for students who love to learn. A Mackintosh education is deliberately whole child, integrating daily arts, physical education, Spanish, social-emotional learning, and science. As a leading advocate for schools of the future Mack also emphasizes creativity, innovation, and design thinking to prepare students to be next generation leaders, innovators, and problem-solvers. To learn more contact JJ Morrow, Head of School.