February 5, 2026
from Dr. Lori-Anne Brogdon, head of school
As I reflect on the first half of the 2025-26 school year and look ahead to what remains, I am filled with pride and gratitude to be part of the Mounds Park Academy community. In recent Panther Posts, our division directors have shared thoughtful reflections on the current strengths and future priorities of the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School. Today, I invite you to step back with me and consider the broader picture—how these division-level experiences come together to shape a cohesive, meaningful PreK-12 journey for our students, families, faculty, and staff.
On behalf of the faculty and staff, thank you for believing in the educational growth and experience MPA works hard to deliver each and every day. Working in a PreK-12 school is a rare and special experience. Our shared campus creates natural moments of connection—from simple waves of hello and high-fives to impromptu conversations in hallways between students of all ages and adults. There is a shared ownership, appreciation, and respect for the space we all inhabit together throughout the day.
A Community Rooted in Belonging
For many, MPA is a second home—one where students and adults spend more waking hours learning, studying, volunteering, and growing together than they do in their own homes. Community is built everywhere and often. Lower School CHAMP assemblies, along with Middle and Upper School gatherings, provide consistent opportunities to celebrate shared values and reinforce what it means to be part of this community.
Clubs and activities—including affinity groups, theatre, music, athletics, debate, speech, robotics, and more—offer students many ways to find connection and purpose both in and beyond the classroom. The day-long presence of engaged community members creates an energy and sense of belonging that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.
An Intentionally Small School
Mounds Park Academy is intentionally smaller than many PreK-12 schools. This purposeful choice allows for smaller class sizes and greater visibility across our community. With an approximate 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio, students are seen, known, heard, and cared for by the adults around them. This environment fosters trust, accountability, freedom, and a deep appreciation for individuality.
Academic Rigor and Intellectual Freedom
MPA’s rigorous college preparatory, liberal arts program is centered on nurturing curiosity and developing the skills students need to thrive today and in the future. As part of our ISACS self-study, we continue to review our curriculum with a focus on both conceptual understanding and essential skills.
From kindergarten, students engage in world languages, outdoor learning, fine and performing arts, and physical education. By Upper School, the academic program includes advanced and AP coursework across a wide range of disciplines. Each year, Upper School students sit for AP exams with a strong pass rate, and MPA graduates go on to attend highly selective colleges and universities across the country and around the world.
Dedicated Faculty and Staff
MPA’s faculty and staff are deeply committed to helping students dream big and do right. Whether in or outside the classroom, they design learning experiences that challenge students to think critically and engage deeply. Many faculty members serve as mentors, and alumni frequently reflect on the meaningful relationships they formed with teachers during their time at MPA.
In recent conversations with alumni, one theme emerges consistently: confidence. Confidence to approach professors, advocate for their learning, and navigate new environments—skills they trace directly back to their experiences at MPA.
Educating the Whole Child
At MPA, we are committed to educating the whole child. Students are encouraged to use their voices, develop empathy through service learning, and discover personal interests from the earliest grades. Practices such as morning circle, advisory, and seminars in the Middle and Upper School create intentional time and space for social-emotional growth, reflection, and connection.
Our student support department includes learning specialists and school counselors in every division, as well as two college counselors. Faculty and administrators meet regularly in grade-level teams to discuss student successes and challenges, working collaboratively to ensure each student is supported.
Spaces That Support Learning and Belonging
Mounds Park Academy’s 32-acre campus offers both indoor and outdoor spaces for learning and exploration. Purposefully designed classrooms, the AnneMarie Thomas Makerspace, the Martin Lenz Harrison Library, Family Commons, Lansing Sports Center, Nicholson Center, and more support collaboration, creativity, and community.
This year, in partnership with our community, MPA installed new stadium seating at the track and, by the end of the year, will have completed a fully renovated, gender-inclusive restroom space. These updates reflect our ongoing commitment to creating spaces where all members of our community feel welcome, supported, and able to thrive.
Looking Ahead with Purpose
As a school dedicated to delivering an exceptional educational experience, we remain focused on both the present and the future. The ISACS self-study and re-accreditation process scheduled for next fall continues to guide purposeful reflection on MPA’s strengths and opportunities for growth. Following the ISACS re-accreditation visits, MPA will naturally move into the strategic plan process, as we ground the future steps of MPA based on validated evidence and continued feedback from our community, which will undoubtedly center the experience of the whole student.
The priorities our division directors named—strong relationships, meaningful learning, and systems that support students well—are the same priorities guiding our work at the school-wide level. Our responsibility now is to ensure these strengths remain aligned and coherent across the full PreK–12 experience, so students experience continuity, clarity, and care as they move from one division to the next.
In the months ahead, we will continue emphasizing curricular alignment across divisions, clarifying the purpose and pathways of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning, and deepening our commitment to equity and inclusion. This spring, MPA will conduct searches for a director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and a director of curriculum—roles that will help strengthen our practices, programs, and policies across the school.
As head of school, my responsibility is to hold both the daily experience of students and the long view of the institution. That balance—care for what is happening now and clarity about where we are going—will continue to guide our decisions.
The Year Ahead
On February 9, families will receive re-enrollment agreements via Clarity (read more about the transition from TADS to Clarity), with a completion deadline of February 20. Re-enrollment is more than an administrative step; it is a recommitment to a shared vision for your child’s growth and learning. As you plan for the year ahead, I encourage you to reach out to your division director or to me with questions or reflections.
By choosing to re-enroll at MPA, you ensure your child continues to experience an educational program unlike any other—defined not only by the depth and breadth of academics, arts, and athletics, but by a community rooted in creating dreamers, doers, and right-makers.
Thank you for your trust, partnership, and commitment to Mounds Park Academy—a place of growth, community, and care.
