Mackintosh Academy nurtures the keen minds and compassionate hearts of the gifted child in a responsive and caring community of learners. Our students mature into confident, healthy human beings inspired to contribute to a world that needs them.
Mackintosh Academy is a 501(c)3 corporation and abides by all Federal, State and Local laws and regulations. Mackintosh Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or religious affiliation to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Mackintosh Academy does not discriminate on the basis of these factors in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, Tuition Assistance programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
Eve Mackintosh founded Mackintosh Academy in 1977 as Colorado’s oldest “School of Minds,” the first school in our state to focus on gifted and talented students.
Eve believed in the unique gifts of every child. She believed in the power of passion and purpose. She took joy in challenge. She knew children needed an education to match their full potential – one driven by creativity, curiosity and compassion. Eve saw that children thrive on meaningful problems worth solving, not just textbook knowledge. Ultimately they need an education that will nurture their natural brilliance.
In the 1970s, no school in Colorado existed to meet those needs. So Eve Mackintosh founded her own school, Mackintosh Academy. She developed a curriculum based in holistic, well-rounded educational programs that nurture the social, emotional, physical, and creative needs of children, as well as academic ones. Her entire family, including sons Trip, Todd and Andrew and daughter-in-law Whitney, played an integral part in supporting this new school and helping it thrive.
In 1990, Mackintosh Academy purchased property in the heart of Littleton and Eve’s son, Trip, and his wife, Whitney, became joint directors. They built the solid foundation on which the school has flourished ever since. In 2006, Mackintosh Academy was authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization, and in 2011, a second campus (now run independently) opened in Boulder. In 2017, we celebrated our 40th anniversary. In 2020, we completed our gym expansion adding new arts facilities including a brand new stage. Our final expansion to include new design and media labs commenced in the summer of 2022.
Our founders believed students thrive with sustained opportunities to explore and learn in all disciplines – especially the ones often cut first from school programs, such as world languages, the arts, and physical education – and we continue to honor this philosophy today. Mackintosh Academy continues to ask the important questions about education, to evolve to meet the needs of today’s children, to prepare them for tomorrow’s world. Eve’s original vision remains central: To nurture the seed of unique genius in every child.
Mackintosh Academy maximizes learning potential and promotes the development of the whole child: cognitively, socially, emotionally, creatively, and physically. Our rich curriculum incorporates challenging academics with the arts, physical education, languages, and technology.
A child who is academically prepared, however, is only partially equipped to make a meaningful contribution to society. We deeply care and are responsive to the variety of factors influencing a gifted child’s social-emotional and interpersonal development. Students need to respect themselves and others, listen actively, think critically, negotiate conflict, build resiliency, take responsibility, and understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Students in the 21st century are faced with the challenges and opportunities of learning about an interconnected world where knowledge is constantly developing. We prepare students to be active participants in a lifelong journey of learning through inquiry and reflection. We cultivate strong and trusting relationships among students and faculty to support and tend to the optimal growth of each child's unique potential.
Throughout this document you will note additional protocols and procedures. These protocols are noted in blue text for quick referral. At such time as health authorities deem appropriate, some or all of these protocols may be revised and/or removed.