Marin Academic Center is a special education school for children age 5 to 12 whose educational and/or behavioral problems are too severe to be handled in public schools. Known for its strong academic focus and creative ways to avoid physical restraints, MAC serves children from both Sunny Hills Services' Children's Garden program and the community. The staff, including two therapists who lead socialization therapy sessions, relies on consistency to build trusting relationships between students and adults and encourages students by creating a "community of acceptance" in which students find the responsibility to change their extreme behavior. MAC aims to move clients, when ready, into less restrictive academic environments in local public schools.