Mounds Park Academy

A Virtual Visit From Secretary Of State Steve Simon

October 1, 2020

The MPA Upper School Election Club was thrilled to host Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon for a virtual discussion on voting, and for our students who are not yet old enough to vote, ways to get involved and safely participate. They also discussed unexpected obstacles faced during the unprecedented pandemic election.

Nearly 50 students tuned in on Zoom from home or from the big screen in the Upper School Commons. They came prepared with a variety of questions for Secretary Simon, such as what his office has done to encourage voter turnout. They learned that the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State recently worked to double the number of languages translated for voter education pieces, and they are currently working to find local poll workers for the upcoming election. Thirty thousand poll workers are needed for the election, and those as young as 16 are able to apply, be trained, and work to see democracy in action firsthand at the polls.

Thank you, Secretary Simon, for virtually visiting and having such an invigorating discussion on a topic our students are passionate about.

Growing In Unexpected Ways

October 1, 2020

by Ishika Muppidi, MPA senior

Ishika spent her summer with Breakthrough Twin Cities (BTC), a local organization closely partnered with MPA. Breakthrough is a challenging academic enrichment program for highly motivated, under-resourced students, where all the teachers are high school and college students.

I chose to get involved with Breakthrough for a number of reasons, one being that I had heard of it from a variety of different people. I thought it would be a good way for me to see what being a teacher felt like, as that’s always been something I’ve been interested in. I’ve had such good experiences at MPA with my teachers and I wanted to be able to give similar experiences and support to other students. When I was in Mexico, my options were limited because I wasn’t fluent in Spanish, so I couldn’t really join any programs that allowed me to help younger students, and I often just ended up helping my peers. I had a lot of fun, but when I came back and heard of Breakthrough, it was an opportunity for me to do what I hadn’t been able to do before. I’ve always loved helping people, even with the smallest of things, and Breakthrough allows me to do that with those who really need it. Read More

Fostering Essential, Independent Thinkers

October 1, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I recently stepped into a third-grade classroom and taught a lesson on fractured fairy tales. Students were learning about the essential elements of good writing—the setting of the story, the plot, and point of view. By placing the traditional fairy tale of the “Three Little Pigs” in the context of the culture and geography of the Southwest, students critically analyzed the text and discussed the writer’s choices. By asking questions such as the significance of a house made of tumbleweed instead of straw, saguaro instead of sticks, or an adobe house instead of a brick house, they also were learning the important skill of critical thinking.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve written on two particular weighty issues: antiracism and civil discourse. What is common to both topics is critical thinking. The work of dismantling racism depends on the ability to think critically about what laws, cultural norms, and policies perpetuate racism. Likewise, critical thinking is fundamental to civil discourse by insisting that ideas, opinions, and beliefs are both intellectually grounded and evidence-based. Read More

Picture Day Retake Information

October 1, 2020

Picture Retake Days will begin next week. If your student did not have their photo taken or would like a new one, be sure to get your portrait taken on one of these days! If your student is fully virtual, they may come in any time before 12 PM to have your photo taken.

October 5: Prek-4, grades 7 and 8, Upper School Panther Pride cohort
October 12: grades 5 and 6, Upper School Panther Spirit cohort

Important MSHSL Update & Winter Sports Registration

October 1, 2020

Mounds Park Academy Winter Sports Registration is now live on the Athletic website. The Minnesota State High School League approved this morning that winter sports are a go for 2020-2021. Winter sports will be reduced to 70% of a normal season, 2 meets/games per week. Programs may change due to health and safety recommendations. If you have any questions please let contact the athletics office.

Start dates:
Alpine and Nordic Skiing: November 30
Boys Basketball: November 23
Boys Hockey: November 23
Girls Basketball: December 7

Schedules for each program will be reconfigured to meet the MSHSL requirements. Click here to register >

The Minnesota State High School League voted down tournament play past Sections in all Fall sports. There will be no State tournaments for the Fall season.

Finding A Home: The Roseth Family’s Journey To MPA

September 29, 2020

How did your family discover MPA? Maybe you saw a billboard or heard an ad on Minnesota Public Radio. Perhaps you read an article about an MPA athletic team, or searched on Google. But for almost 80% of families, finding MPA meant connecting with someone already within our community like a friend, a neighbor, a colleague, or a family member.

For the Roseth family—parents Aaron and Anna, sixth grader Ari, fifth grader Andrew, and third grader Annika—who started in the fall of 2020, discovering MPA began with a bumper sticker on a teammate’s minivan at football practice. That teammate was Dylan Rengstorf, whose sister Emma, attended MPA. Ari and Dylan became fast friends and so did their families.

Shortly before meeting the Roseth family, Jason and Joana Rengstorf had chosen MPA after looking for a school where Emma could thrive in an inclusive place that provided a safe environment for her to excel as a student. When they found MPA, they knew it was the right fit. Read More

RSVP To Discover Something Remarkable

September 28, 2020

You and your entire family are warmly invited to attend the MPA Preview on Sunday, November 8 at 2 PM.

Though virtual, this event will provide prospective families with an opportunity to truly discover the type of remarkable hands on learning that MPA students do each day.

You will rotate among several classes, taught by expert faculty. These will be interactive, experiential sessions that are actually abbreviated versions of real MPA lessons, modified to be appropriate for all ages.

Prospective families will also have an opportunity to take a virtual tour and experience 17 of our state-of-the-art spaces.
Read More

MPA v. Blake Varsity

September 26, 2020

This morning, you had a dual meet on a course with more twists and turns than a Stephen King novel. Fortunately, the only bears on the course were the Blake runners.

Our boys varsity was first up. Isak chased the top Blake runners for most of the race, finishing 3rd with his second best ever time. Peter started fast and hung on to finish 5th. His time this morning was about 90 seconds faster than his previous meet two weeks ago. Ben ran well the entire race, closing on Peter during the latter stages of the race. He improved his personal best time by 12 seconds. Evan’s breakfast was giving him a little trouble during the race, but he still managed to finish 9th and improve his time from two weeks ago by almost 30 seconds. Trevor wound up as our 5th runner. He improved his personal best by almost a minute! Eddie, in just his second varsity race, improved his personal best by about 40 seconds. Liam also has some trouble with his breakfast choices, and had to stop to get a divorce from his breakfast. He did persist and finished the race.

Next up was our girls varsity. After leading the first part of the race, Margo chased the top girls from Blake, ultimately finishing 4th. Cara started out further back, but made a strong move in the second half of the race, finishing in 5th place, and running just 2 seconds behind her personal best time. Izzy also surged in the latter part of the race, finishing 9th. Teagan, running in her first varsity race, moved up significantly during the second half of the race, finishing just 6 seconds behind Izzy. Abigail was our 5th runner, closing out the scoring for our team. She improved her personal best by 90 seconds. Sophia kept a steady quickish pace the entire race. It paid off, as she improved her personal best time by over a minute!

In this small meet format, with just two teams, I thought you did well to stick with groups of the Blake runners as long as you could. Even if you did fall back later in the race, this helped you run better times. Next up, in just ten days, is our conference championship. We will have a shot at Breck and Providence Academy.

You can see the results for our runners here.

MPA v. SPA JV Meet

September 25, 2020

On a warm, humid afternoon, ten of our JV runners, including many middle school runners, raced well.

Our boys started things off. Leo, running in his first cross country race, ran well to finish in 3rd place overall. Joey finished with a strong kick to earn 5th place overall, against mostly high school competition! Henry S., wearing his signature baseball cap (now a very sweaty baseball cap), ran very well to improve his personal best by over 30 seconds! Sam, running his first 5000 meter cross country race, was only a few seconds behind Henry S.

Andrew was surprised, and perhaps pleased, that many of his friends dropped by to cheer him on. Very loudly. They even tried to run alongside him, but they couldn’t keep up with him. Zain finished a few seconds behind Andrew, and was probably wondering what all the fuss was about. Noah finished with a good kick. And Eilam ran his second 5000 meter race of the season.

Later, our two Amy’s did the girls race. After tiring out their coach by walking the course with him, they raced 5000 meters. For the younger Amy, this was her first cross country race, after she did her warmup on the swing on the new playground. For the older Amy, this was her second time on this course, and this time she did not take any wrong turns and finished with a good kick.

It was a challenging day to race, and you did well to overcome the conditions!

(Click to see the full size images)

Connect With Parents On Wednesday Mornings

September 24, 2020

The Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, September 30: Join us for a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us.

Wednesday, October 7: We’ll meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

No Neighborhood Coffee This Year
Due to COVID and the difficulties of social distancing at a café, the MPA Parents Association has cancelled neighborhood coffee for this year. See you next year!