Jenna is bright and caring, and this summer she is finishing 7^th grade at the Marin Academic Center (MAC). But when Jenna first arrived at MAC’s intimate, light-filled campus she was repressed, angry, and frustrated. Her mother says emphatically that MAC has been “a fantastic experience for our entire family,” helping Jenna blossom into the young lady she is today.

Jenna came to MAC from a special education program in Alameda County. Her mother explains that it was “a good program but one with an extremely controlled and restrictive environment.” In many ways it was confining for Jenna. She was learning basic skills, but had violent outbursts when things became too restrictive, even resorting at one point to throwing her school desk across the classroom. Jenna was unhappy. Jenna’s mother wanted to see her daughter thrive; so she took her out of that school and began searching for another placement. Eventually, Jenna was placed at the Marin Academic Center. Her mother explains that she appreciated “being able to call the school to check-in on Jenna’s progress; I always got a call back that day and was never rushed off the phone. And ‘no’ was never an answer – the staff was always willing to help.”

Arriving at MAC, Jenna continued to struggle. Staff there started to get to know her, trying to learn as much as they could about her. They learned that Jenna’s life has not always been easy. She lives with mother and younger sister in a household with members of their extended family, and has limited regular contact with her father. Her mother, who has been a constant source of support for Jenna, is struggling with her own health issues and is unable to work. Jenna has always struggled with making friends. There is a history of Asperger’s Syndrome in her family, but she had not been diagnosed despite presenting with socialization issues that were very similar to AS kids. Furthermore, she had a history of difficult behavior and she never, ever wanted to be the focus of positive attention from people at school. In fact, when she received her MAC Club award each month for positive contributions to the school, she would just tear it up.

After just a couple of months at MAC, Jenna’s mother was amazed at the transformation in her daughter. “She just blossomed,” her mother explains. The MAC program was individualized to complement Jenna’s strengths, giving her more structure where she needed it and letting her expand boundaries for herself in other areas. And along with the individualized MAC program came what principal Jolene Yee calls “the MAC community of caring.” As her mother sees it, “Jenna now has a web of other people in her life, friends and caring adults around her in addition to her family.”

Jenna has become extraordinarily successful in her classes, working at the high school level in most subjects. It has taken almost two years, but she now participates each month in the MAC Club assembly, where students are publicly recognized for their positive work at school. Jenna stands in front of her class and accepts her award; the other kids on campus look up to her now.

As a rising 8^th grader, Jenna expects to graduate from MAC a year from now and transition to a college preparatory high school that specializes in kids with Asperger’s Syndrome. While Jenna and her mother will surely miss the community of friends that they have developed at MAC, they are really excited about the potential the future holds. MAC has made a huge difference in Jenna’s life. “She now believes she is smart, talented and interesting; she understands that she has something to bring to the conversation,” her mother explains. And that is exactly what every parent wants for their child.