Connect With Parents On Wednesday Mornings

MPA campus in bloomThe 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!


Show Your Appreciation With The PA

Prek listening to ms lachapelle read a storyThe MPA faculty and staff have been working double-time to keep our kids learning, connected, and safe. We want to express our appreciation in a way that honors everyone’s safety and doesn’t burden the folks we are trying to appreciate. Please sign-up here to make a thank you card for members of MPA’s faculty and staff!

You can create a card in real life and scan it, or create a virtual one. Either way, you will then send it as a PDF to Raphael Coffey at raphaelcoffey@gmail.com on or before October 11. We will print them out (one-sided, in color, on 8.5×11 cardstock), fold them once like a typical greeting card, put them in envelopes, and deliver them with a small token of appreciation from the Parents Association.

Every person plays a role in our children’s education. Please consider thanking some of the folks that we, as parents and family of students, may not come into contact with as often as our kid’s classroom teachers. We can show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them despite our constraints!


Invite A Friend To The MPA Fall Preview

two middle school students in the science labInvite a friend, neighbor, colleague, or family member to join us for MPA’s largest PreK-12 admission event, the MPA Fall Preview! Held virtually on Sunday, November 8 starting at 2 PM, this event will be a structured program that will allow prospective students and parents to get a sense of what makes MPA an exceptional place to learn and grow.

Kindly invite your friends and neighbors to RSVP in advance for this engaging program at moundsparkacademy.org/RSVP. If you have any questions, contact the Office of Admission at 651-748-5577 or admission@moundsparkacademy.org. We can’t wait to meet them!


Brave Space

ms. murr's Upper school social studies classAt this moment in our nation’s history and in the midst of vitriol and violence, I’ve found inspiration in poet Micky ScottBey Jones in her call to create “brave space” where healing can take place in the midst of caring community. At MPA, we seek to build a brave place where students are known and valued and together create a space where we treat each other with kindness and respect. In brave space, students learn to truly value one another and work together to make room for diverse perspectives.

At the same time, we are bombarded day and night on social media and the news with the bitterness of socially and politically charged messages that rend rather than mend the fabric of our society. The political and cultural polarization, already exponentially widening, has only been accentuated by the pandemic. Searing language and personal attacks that characterize contemporary political debate, are words contrary to our school culture. In the lexicon of our Lower School, they certainly would not be CHAMP behavior.

Respectful and constructive civil discourse is at the heart of our democracy. Students develop knowledge, skills, and civic responsibility when they are invited into conversations that are emotionally engaging, intellectually challenging, and relevant to their own lives. As the election heats up and the first debate among presidential candidates approaches, we must recommit to ensuring brave space by grounding ourselves anew in our long-standing school policies of respect and respectful discourse that flow directly from our mission and values. Read More


MPA’s Symptom Response & Contact Tracing Procedures

put your MPA contact tracing on your fridge to remember the processThrough our team of medical advisors and the MPA Community Advisory Group, we have detailed and multi-pronged procedures for symptom response, contact tracing, and confirmed cases. These procedures are a cornerstone of the Back To MPA Plan. Our highly-trained contact tracing team will deploy a swift, personal, and private response that is taken through our 49-point COVID-19 response flow chart to effectively manage each step along the way. Our team will also partner and work hand-in-hand with the Minnesota Department of Health and other local officials.

In order to implement these rigorous procedures, we need families and students to partner with us. You need to notify MPA immediately at covid19tracing@moundsparkacademy.org if your …

  • student or someone in your household is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms;
  • student is a “close contact” of a confirmed COVID-19 case; and/or
  • student or someone in your household has tested positive for COVID-19.

Read More


Picture Day Photos Are Now Available

lower school student smilingPhotos from our first two picture days are now available for for viewing and ordering! An email will also be sent to all parents with a link to the JostensPIX website. Retake day photos will be available after they take place.

Click here to get started >

If your photos are not appearing in your gallery, find your student using the event code FE72620. Photos are shipped directly to your home and high resolution digital downloads are available. You can personalize your photos with a variety of backgrounds and text, too! If you have more than one child, you are able to order together and pay both at once.


Online Spirit Store Flash Sale

mpa spirit weekStock up on your favorite MPA gear and spirit wear this fall! Everything is customizable, from fall favorites like hoodies and hats to classic tees and pullovers. The MPA online Spirit Store is having a 20% off everything flash sale for 48 hours. The sale ends September 18. Use the promo code SEPTFLASH at checkout. Head to the online spirit store and start shopping!


Parents Connect Wednesday Mornings

MPA parents having coffee outsideThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off! We’ll plan something for every Wednesday as long as weather allows and there is interest.

September 23: Let’s 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.

September 30: This Wednesday will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick after drop off. 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

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


Antiracism Action Group Established At MPA

upper school literature class in discussionOn the morning of Saturday, May 30, I awoke very early, with only a few hours of sleep and with great sadness. The explosion of anger and frustration manifesting in peaceful protests juxtaposed with the violence and destruction across Minneapolis and the nation the night before was hard for me to fathom. In the months since then, the murder of George Floyd and other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have prompted both dangerous civil unrest and peaceful protest and brought to the forefront systemic racism embedded in our society.

In my Panther Post message the following Thursday titled “Turn To The Voices Of Our Students,” I wrote about the inspiration I found in our students, particularly then-junior Salmah Elmasry. Elmasry issued a call for action, “We are in a particular position that requires us to be active and not to be reluctant. To advocate against these issues publicly. If we display any reluctance, we will only continue with the status quo and allow all of these issues to perpetuate.” I spent much of the summer struggling with my personal role in fighting for racial justice and, as leader of an institution, what MPA must do to dismantle systemic racism in our school and in our society. Read More


New Update For The AUXS Safety App

middle school student on his laptopPlease be sure that your AUXS Safety App is up to date! In this new update, your green daily screening pass will display within the app in addition to being sent via email.

You will see a new “pass” icon in the upper right on home screen within the app, and after completing the screening form, you will also receive an alert with link to “View Safety Pass.” Passes will only display for the current date, and the pass screen will be blank if no form was completed for the day. All email and text messages already set up will continue to be sent to you as usual.

This latest version (version 1.4) is now available on the App Store and Google Play. If your phone already has updates turned on, the update will occur automatically. Thank you!