Claire and Kim are at opposite ends of the MPA experience, but their stories came to me this past week and both speak volumes about MPA. Claire is in our kindergarten, at the beginning of her MPA journey and Kim is nearing the end of her first semester in college, having graduated from MPA last June.

 Kim told MPA faculty and staff her story in an email this week:

“As I headed off to Macalester just a few months ago, I was excited to join an academic environment that would be as rigorous and challenging as MPA. I was not aware of the extent to which I was prepared for even a "new Ivy-League" school like Macalester. As time passed, I became increasingly aware of the fact that I was one of the most well prepared students for academic college life in general, an attribute that I credit to the curriculum and community of MPA. MPA really is the place to be.

“The first time I began to notice the difference was in my first-year seminar class. The class is meant to be writing-intensive and to thoroughly prepare you for college writing, and thus we are expected to write two copies of every paper - a first-draft and a re-write. With every paper that we have written, I have found that my writing was so well developed at MPA that I hardly even had to do a re-write. Heading off to Macalester, I just assumed that everyone would be able to write well, however I watched as other students struggled to even organize their ideas into a logical sequence, let alone find the words to express their thoughts.

“Besides writing, however, MPA has prepared me for college in many other ways. I feel extremely prepared for giving presentations in front of a class. While the rest of the students in my class are planning to write out their speeches and read from their scripts, MPA has prepared me enough that I can just write out an outline and speak to the class.

“Also, thanks to the small class sizes at MPA, I was prepared to speak in discussions. Even though at MPA I was always one of the quietest participants, I am now one of the most active participants in some of my classes.

“Finally, MPA also prepared me to work in groups on projects. In my computer science class we are required to do a final group project and I have realized how different the preparation for group projects was at MPA than it must have been at other high schools. At MPA, I rarely encountered a problem in a group project, however, for this computer science class, I am in a group in which it is extremely hard to work with the other members because of their lack of preparation for working in groups.

“Overall, I feel that the academic environment and community cannot be rivaled. Whether it is organization and study habits, or preparation for coursework, MPA has prepared me extremely well for college life in general.

“I was originally intimidated by the number of AP credits that my peers were coming in with, however I have found that the AP coursework did not prepare them as well for college as the curriculum at MPA prepared me.

“As my mom said to me earlier today, ‘the money that we spent at MPA was probably more worthwhile than the money which we will spend for you on college because MPA so well prepared you for what was to come.’

“My time spent at MPA prepared me for everything that has been thrown my way, and I cannot express how deeply grateful I am to all of you and to the MPA community as a whole.”

Thank you, Kim, for reminding us that our work with students at MPA really pays off!

The MPA journey that ended with graduation for Kim, begins for many students in Kindergarten. New to MPA in kindergarten this year, Claire has two stories for us. The first happened a few weeks ago and is recounted by her mother:

"My daughter, Claire, was leaving school loaded down with the odds and ends of the day: coat in one hand, backpack in another, communication folder balanced in between.  An older girl, Emily, must have also noticed Claire struggling, because she walked over and offered to help Claire carry her things. Needless to say, Claire was awestruck --- a 3rd grader coming to talk to a Kindergartener!  The girls walked together down the pickup lane (Claire beaming, Emily smiling back), with Emily holding Claire's backpack along with her own.  When they reached our car, Emily passed over Claire's bag, introduced herself and gave Claire a smile and a wave.  Claire slid into the car and said to me, 'They have really nice kids here, Mom.'

"It was a small gesture, but one that really made an impact on Claire.  'Helping others' was a big theme around our house after that day.  I could see how Claire wanted to be helpful and kind, in the same way that Emily had reached out to her.  That kind of mentoring --- the kind that happens day-to-day, child-to-child --- is so powerful, and so deeply appreciated."

And last week, once again, older MPA students came to Claire's aid. This time, to find a tooth.

For most of you reading this, the memory of losing a baby tooth is likely quite distant. As someone who encounters excited loose-toothers with some frequency in our lower school hallways, I can tell you that it can be a BIG deal. As young as these children are, they understand at some level that there is a momentousness to losing a tooth - a rite of passage and a sign of maturity, becoming older and more responsible. The fallen tooth becomes a symbol of having arrived, of becoming grown up.

And if you lose a tooth at school, the challenge is to hold onto it all the way through the day until you can bring it safely home and prepare it for the arrival of the mythical tooth fairy. We have special capsules for just such an occasions - a plastic shell in the shape of a tooth dangling by a red string around the neck of the proud newly-minted "grownup".

Unfortunately for Claire, the tooth disappeared sometime after lunch.  "We saw her coming out of the PE class and learned that she had lost a tooth,” said Kathryn and Natalie, both tenth graders. So the two older girls took matters into their own hands and set off with Claire to find the missing tooth.

Sometime later, as Clair was becoming increasingly distraught at their lack of success at finding the tooth, the upper school girls hit on an idea. A short while later, Claire had a "replacement" tooth, carved out of an Altoid mint to catch the attention of the tooth fairy. Along with the special new tooth, the girls wrote notes to the tooth fairy on Claire's behalf, explaining what happened.  

On the ride home, Claire's mother learned of the care her daughter had received from these two upper schoolers and wrote them a note.

Kathryn, Claire (sans tooth) and Natalie

"We really appreciate the compassion, caring and ingenuity you showed when Claire was so upset over not having that tooth to give the Tooth Fairy.  Your empathy made Claire feel so respected --- she told me you really understood the problem, and that you knew just how to fix things so that the Tooth Fairy would still visit that night.  The way you created a substitute tooth and wrapped it up tightly (to avoid another disappearance!) was wonderful, and Claire was so proud that older girls would take the time to help her.

"We're a new family at MPA, and I'm continually impressed by the strength of the community here.  You are all such terrific mentors and role models for each other, and that commitment to MPA's values obviously runs deeply, through the whole community. Thank you very much for helping Claire in a real time of crisis for her.  The Tooth Fairy did indeed stop by our house in the night with a gift, and she said was also very impressed by the help that you gave to Claire." 

Of Claire’s two experiences, her mother wrote to us, "it was very powerful for me to see these girls of very different ages (3rd grade and 10th grade) demonstrate the same compassion and leadership on two different occasions. It underscored that MPA students are extraordinary people, and that they really support and care for each other from Day One. 

“It's very exciting for me to see that in action, because when we were looking at schools for Claire, the thing that really set MPA apart for me is the school's commitment to creating a safe, warm, welcoming community where all students are respected and valued, and where their emotional and social needs are just as important as the academics."

Thanks to both Kim and Claire for sharing their stories with us.

Happy Holidays!