As we head into winter break, the excitement level at Mounds Park has reached fever pitch.  Friday, December 14th is a good example.  We will begin the day with a free pancake breakfast for all (bleary-eyed if you attend the Vocal Concert the night before), have MPA Spirit Day so kids may be in white and blue MPA gear (jeans if they'd like) or normal dress code, and end the evening with a combination of 7/8 dance and a string of home basketball games.  All this while we ask students to come to school prepared to learn!

That is one of the great challenges of Middle School; balancing children's need to be kids and have fun while also helping them expand their horizons educationally.  Fortunately, these two ideas are not in competition here at MPA, as the faculty has a firm grasp on how to be educational and fun simultaneously.  But, I must say, this time of year can be a bit more challenging than the usual.  Please take a few extra moments at home to take care of your children; their lives, like all of ours, are a touch more frantic this time of year, and anything you can do to help support and encourage them is helpful.

As you have probably heard by now, we decided to postpone our scheduled PIE night this Friday.  Many families were unable to attend due to holiday commitments, and we think the subject (technology and children) too important to have only partial attendance.  We'll send a new date out soon, but in the meantime if you are the parent of a 7th or 8th grade student, please fill out our technology survey.  We have 61 responses as of Wednesday morning (a great response!), but it would be nice to get a couple dozen more.

Robert Cooke

Middle School Director

rcooke@moundsparkacademy.org