Mounds Park Academy

October 22, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

For most of our school’s history, MPA was considered the best-kept secret in the East Metro. Our humble beginning led to an institutional humility that while we enjoyed great success, we were a bit hesitant to say that too loud or too often. That humility was one aspect of MPA that I clearly identified with, personally and professionally. The lack of a sense of entitlement and elitism at MPA is consistent with the admonishment of my parents “to let my actions speak louder than my words.” However, when words and actions do align, people begin to take note and affirmation and recognition soon follow.

Such was the case last week when MPA received news that our school is now ranked #1 among the 62 private schools in the state of Minnesota according to Niche.com and #60 among 2,525 private schools in the United States. Many of you are probably familiar with Niche, an online, crowd-sourced review of schools, colleges, and neighborhoods. Built upon the reviews and recommendations, Niche also incorporates quantitative data in making their determinations. Read More

Thriving In Class, On Campus And At Home

October 22, 2020

At the front of her hybrid classroom, Upper School history teacher Katie Murr sits facing her physically-distant classroom of students faces, in person and on screen. Behind her, the virtual students’ faces are also projected on the whiteboard to face the rest of their peers. The room is equipped with an Owl Pro speaker and a brand new mobile screen to keep her virtual students connected in the classroom, even from home.

Though the class is physically in two places at once, the student experience remains whole. In a recent classroom discussion about the presidential and vice presidential debates, students on campus and online popcorned their way through their thoughts and questions. At each hand that was raised, Katie listed who was next in the discussion queue. “It feels ‘normal!'” Ms. Murr remarks. “It’s working, because I can still enable an engaging discussion.” Read More

Garseng Wong ’11 Shares His Knowledge On MPA Talks

October 20, 2020

Our Virtual MPA Talks last month featured Garseng Wong, an MPA Class of 2011 alum and a passionate mental health advocate. He is currently a resident psychiatrist at NYU and hopes to specialize in child-adolescent psychiatry, focusing his work with queer youth and young adults. In his MPA Talk, he discussed mental health, skills and ideas for maintaining it, and how to address the stigma around it. Watch Garseng’s full MPA Talk here.

We are looking for additional MPA Alumni who want to share their passions and stories with the MPA Community. Contact alumni@moundsparkacademy.org if you are interested.

Freethinker Friday: Making Relocations Work

October 19, 2020

Join us live on Facebook Friday, October 23 at 12 PM for “Freethinker Friday: Making Relocations Work.” Relocations can be complicated. There are many moving parts as families transition their lives somewhere new, sometimes with little notice. Finding a warm school community is one of the most important factors in a successful relocation. Mounds Park Academy has become a premier destination for families relocating to the Twin Cities because of its welcoming, inclusive, and globally connected community. With 3M, Ecolab, The University of Minnesota, Medtronic, Boston Scientific and many other corporations and nonprofit organizations nearby, MPA welcomes numerous transplants from across the United States and around the world.

Whether you are moving within the Twin Cities, from a different state, or from a different country – there’s a lot to learn! Hear from three MPA families, representing all three divisions, who have recently relocated to the Twin Cities, and learn how they successfully navigated the trials and triumphs of relocation.

Meet RuoHan (Kitty) Li ’21 and Xinyuan (Ella) Li ’24

October 14, 2020

Between visa issues, parent concerns, and travel challenges, COVID-19 has presented many obstacles for MPA’s international students. In fact, two students from China, 12th grader RuoHan (Kitty) Li and 9th grader Xinyuan (Ella) Li (no relation) have had to stay at home this semester and attend virtually from thousands of miles away. In a testament to their commitment to remaining a part of the community, Kitty and Ella have rearranged their schedules to accommodate the time differences. Hear how they are making this tremendous sacrifice in order to continue their educations at MPA.

What does your daily schedule look like? What time are MPA’s classes for you? Has your sleep and meal schedule changed?

Kitty: Right now, my daily schedule is class from 9:00pm to 2:30am since I do not have 6th block this quarter. However, next quarter, I will have class from 9:00pm to 4:00am since I have Physics. I have been sleeping from 3am to 12pm recently. My meal schedule has not changed too much, but I have reduced it from three meals to two meals since I have not been eating a lot for breakfast. Read More

Section Meet

October 13, 2020

This was a section meet in two acts.

Our girls ran in the morning, enjoying crisp autumn weather but also dealing with blustery winds. Margo ran with the 2nd Breck runner for most of the race, sprinting past her over the last part of the race. She finished 9th overall. Cara ran with another Breck runner for much of the way, but she also kicked hard to finish ahead of her competition. Izzy, running her last high school cross country race, ran one of her best races of the season, finishing strong. And she had to because Teagan was just a few seconds behind her, earning a personal best time. Abigail ran close to her personal best time, set on a flat course at Blake. Sophia, running on legs that were feeling much better after a week of rest, improved her best time on this course from last year.

The girls team, which had been seeded 8th, improved on that, finishing in 7th place in the merged results.

Our boys team ran in the afternoon, enjoying slightly warmer temperatures, but also dealing with the same strong winds. Isak ran with the top Holy Family runner, staying with him until the last hill, when he moved ahead. He finished with a strong kick to win our pod. He finished 3rd overall. Ben moved up steadily the second half of the race, finishing with a good surge to improve his personal best time. Peter, running in his final high school cross country race, started pretty fast, and hung on for his best time of the season. Not bad for someone who broke his ankle in June! Evan started out with Ben, but had some trouble, hanging on to finish as our 4th runner. Trevor ran close to his personal best time and finished well. Eddie also finished well, improving on his best time on this course from last year. Liam also had some trouble during the race, but hung on to close things out for the boys.

The boys team, which had also been seeded 8th, finished in 6th place in the merged results.

Since there is no state meet this year, this section meet marks the end of our season. Thanks to your ability to adapt to many new ways of doing things, your willingness to take responsibility for your own training when you were not on campus, and all your hard work over the summer and during our season, you ran some excellent races today. Congratulations on completing a memorable season!

Results for the girls and boys races can be found at Gopher State Events.

And if you’ve never seen our girls do their pre-race routine, check out this video:

Non-Varsity Time Trial

October 12, 2020

On a beautiful fall afternoon, our non-varsity runners had one last chance to test themselves in a 2400 meter time trial.

Henry led from start to finish. Josh and Leo ran together the entire race, with Josh kicking past Leo over the last 100 meters. Josh ran 10 seconds faster than he did in the virtual meet over the same course. Megan finished only a few seconds behind those boys to lead our two girls. She ran almost 30 seconds faster than she did at the virtual meet a month ago.

Carter and Connor ran close together most of the way, with Carter sprinting ahead at the end. Both Carter and Connor ran much faster than they did over the same course in the virtual meet. Julia finished just ahead of Andrew, running almost a minute faster than she did in the virtual meet! Andrew was slowed by a sore back from hockey.

Ryan wrapped things up for our non-varsity runners.

Almost everyone who had run over this course during the virtual meet a month ago improved on that time. Some of you improved a lot. This is a credit to the work you’ve put in over the course of the season. This ends your season for this year. But hopefully you can make more progress in future seasons!

You can see the results of the non-varsity time trial here.

Meet the Short Herring Family

October 8, 2020

Dr. Courtney Herring, pediatrician and member of MPA’s COVID-19 Community Advisory Group, and her children, Carter (grade 6) and Harper (grade 5) share how their experience is going so far this fall at MPA.

How is MPA making sure you’re safe at school?

Harper: MPA has been and always will be my favorite school. They have spent a lot of time on making sure everyone is six feet apart, wearing a mask, and sanitizing their hands. MPA has kept me educated and safe.

How is MPA incorporating the important tasks of building community and maintaining joy while still ensuring the safety of all constituents?

Dr. Herring: The task of re-opening any school during a population health crisis is daunting. The administration and staff at MPA worked tirelessly to build-in safety provisions with logistical planning required to allow our children to return to the classroom. Whereas safety is first, social development and academic delivery should not be demoted to second-level importance. MPA understood these principles and picked up the gauntlet in a way that makes all of us should proud to be part of our “Dream Big. Do Right.” family. By not losing focus, our students have been re-engaged and families supported while relationships continue to be built through in-person and virtual platforms.

Important Clarification About Virtual Grandparents & Special Friends Week

October 8, 2020

Due to our essential COVID-19 safety measures, we are unable to host Grandparents and Special Friends on campus next week or gather as a school community for any type of live performance. Instead, we are excited to offer a virtual week aimed at celebrating the special relationships between our students and their grandparents and loved ones. Read More

Not Obstacles, Opportunities

October 8, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

Over the summer, a transformation took place at MPA. A little known and underutilized courtyard tucked away between the Lower School and our new Martin Lenz Harrison Library became a magical garden of discovery and joyfulness. What was grass is now a place where students can witness the growth and life, get their hands dirty, reconnect with the earth, and enjoy the bounty of fresh vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Each section of the garden is marked by hand-painted stones with the name of the plant in English, French, and Spanish. The garden is the realization of a vision shared with me by Lower School parent Michelle Mick. Together with husband Tim, children Isaac and Freya, Chef Doug, Upper School student Samantha Forgosh, Class of 2019 alum Jaeden McFarland, and grounds staff Andy and Josh, Michelle created this charming and enchanting space for all to enjoy.

Fast forward to this week when the Lower School gathered virtually to launch CHAMP for the 2020-21 school year. In case you are not familiar with CHAMP, it stands for Character Happens At Mounds Park. CHAMP is a time-honored program wherein a character trait is chosen to explore with students throughout the school year in the classroom, in special assemblies, service-learning, music, art, and drama. This year’s theme, perseverance, is particularly relevant given the challenges presented by the pandemic. Read More