MACC (Multi Age Cluster Class)

Multi Age Cluster Class is a Vancouver, B.C.-based gifted education program meant to enrich the regular curriculum for students in grades 4-7 commonly referred to as MACC (Pronouced as "Mack" or "M-A-C-C"). Students enter the program by the recommendation of his of her teacher to take a standardized test. A certain I.Q. score is not needed to be achieved to be accepted into the program, but instead you must have a gifted mind and be able to think outside the box.

Location
Currently, there are four schools with MACC classes in Vancouver, B.C., Canada that are administered by the Vancouver School Board. These schools are Lord Nelson Elementary School, Tecumseh Elementary School, Sir William Osler Elementary School, and Queen Mary Elementary School. In two of those schools there is only a grade 6/7 MACC and in the other two there is also a grade 4/5 MACC. However, there are other MACC programs outside Vancouver, such as Berkshire Park Elementary and Bayridge Elementary in Surrey, which is in the Lower Mainland region. Numerous times, students have been shifted back and forth between programs and spaces due to regional and spacial concerns. There is also a high school MACC program in Kitsilano Secondary School.

Courses
The curricula in the elementary MACC classes are similar to one another and are taught by one or two teachers who manage the classes. Mathematics, Language Arts, French, Social Studies, Science, Art, and Computer Studies are the subjects that are usually covered in the MACC. A self-paced independent program is created to enable students to excel at an individual and atonoumous rate.

Events and Projects
In the MACC there are many long term projects. The first is the Evening of Eminence, where the grade 6/7s as well as the grade 4/5s create a project subjected over an eminent person. Depending on your grade, you may do an eminent person anywhere around the world, or in Canada only. The MACC classes go to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, where they display their eminent person along with everybody else. There are lots of projects in between that, but the other main ones are Science Fair, Historica, and PIP (Personal Interest Project). Some people are chosen to attend the Science World Science Celebration and also the Vancouver District Science Fair (VDSF) in March. In 2007, 5 projects were chosen to go to the VDSF, and all were chosen to move on to the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair (GVRSF), which features projects from Bowen Island to Langley. Next up is Historica, a project based on events or people in Canadian History. About 200 people get chosen to go to the regional Historica Fair, and out of them one person gets chosen to go to the nationals. Every MACC student gets to display their project among others in the Celebration of Learning hosted below the Vancouver Library Square.