Mounds Park Academy

Class of 2019: Lance Go, Woodbury

May 24, 2019

As the 2018–19 school year comes to an end, we’re sharing the college choice stories of several members of the Class of 2019!

In what grade did you come to MPA?
I came to MPA in ninth grade. I originally went to St. Ambrose of Woodbury from K-8 before MPA, and I distinctly remember being the only person from St. Ambrose to transfer to MPA in my class. Since I decided to enroll at MPA, I have never looked back.

How did you come to choose the college that you did?
Northwestern University has been somewhere I have wanted to go since I was very young. Northwestern is in the unique position of offering many more options than a traditional liberal arts college while still maintaining a smaller feel than a big university. Although I will be an engineering student, I will still have the option of taking many classes outside of my major. The combination of having a wide selection of courses and the flexibility to try things outside of what I am studying easily made Northwestern my top choice.

What are you most excited about as you embark on your college experience?
As much as I love the great state of Minnesota, I am very excited to see what other cities have to offer! I am always up for trying new things, and Evanston and Chicago will be a nice change of scenery. As someone who does not yet know what kind of engineering is best for me, I’m also excited to further explore a variety of engineering disciplines and the STEM field as a whole. Read More

Taking Responsibility For The Future

May 23, 2019

There are freethinkers, free spirits, risk takers, right makers, dreamers, and doers who are standing up to support Together, We Dream. Here is one story that explains why. Met Jeremy Drucker, MPA alumnus.

What impact do you see the completion of Together, We Dream: The Campaign for MPA having on you or your family?
I see the completion of the campaign as a continuation of the promise of Mounds Park Academy to grow and nurture young people to be the intellectual and moral stewards of tomorrow. The older I get, the more I realize that the future is unsettled and nothing is guaranteed. Ensuring that there will be bright, innovative, and good people improving the world they inherit, is at the core of what MPA does.

Why do you believe it is important to give to both Together, We Dream AND to the annual MPA Fund as you would in other years?
It is important to support the growth of the school so it can maintain its competitiveness, as well as the MPA fund so it can continue supporting the ongoing work MPA does.

How do you see the four priorities (library, cafeteria and kitchen, endowment, and outdoor track) of Together, We Dream impacting the student experience?
With those four priorities, students will be provided with an elite educational environment that prepares them intellectually and culturally for the future,

What is your dream for the future of MPA and how do you see Together, We Dream working toward your dream?
The future belongs to those who take responsibility for it. The Together, We Dream campaign aims to give Mounds Park students a world-class education that positions them them to be the moral and intellectual stewards of tomorrow.

Honor where we’ve been. Power our way forward. Make a gift at moundsparkacademy.org/donate/together.

Middle School Track And Field Wins Conference Championship

May 23, 2019

Congratulations to the Middle School Boys and Girls Track And Field Teams! These Panthers won the Conference Championship last week!

The Middle School Conference Championship Meet was held at Providence Academy and totaled in 29 team and individual events. The Panthers placed first in 11 of them.

In the boys 100 meter hurdles event, Owen L. came in first place and Kai Z. in fifth. Amelia J. placed second for the girls and Kensi B. fourth.

MPA took third in both the boys and girls 800 meter relay.

Hope B. placed first in the girls 1600 meter run. For the boys, all top three places were MPA runners–Jasper P., Owen L., and Evan W.

In the 400 meter relay, the MPA girls team took second place. The boys took both second and third in their race. Read More

A Message From Board Chair Brent Peacock

May 23, 2019

As the school year is wrapping up and my tenure as board chair is coming to a close, I would like to take a moment to thank the dedicated group of parents, alumni and alumni parents who serve as trustees of the MPA Board. These 20 individuals commit to a three-year term where they serve on at least one of five standing committees (Executive, Governance, Finance, Development, and Audit) as well as bi-monthly board meetings. Via countless hours of meetings and emails they set strategic direction and approve budgets, audit risk, and raise critical funds.

Some of our goals this year included:

Vision/Strategy: Developed a collaborative process to launch the next strategic planning effort.
Financial & Risk Management: Oversaw legal risk and financial management for the organization.
Leadership Oversight: Supported Dr. Hudson in leading and managing the school.
Provided Resources: Aligned Board around development strategies and 100% participation in Together, We Dream: The Campaign for MPA (with various members serving on the Committee) and the MPA Fund. Served as MPA Brand Ambassadors by promoting the school in many capacities.

Learning The Legacy Of Lawrence Riley

May 23, 2019

Sophomore Salmah Elmasry and Upper School history teacher Katie Murr are one of 15 student-teacher pairs from across the country to be accepted this year to the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute. The Institute is an intensive, all expenses paid program that will give Salmah and Ms. Murr the opportunity to study D-Day and the Operation Overlord Campaign of 1944. They are participating in an online course this spring, and then will travel to Washington D.C. and France to complete archival research and learn from experts. The program will culminate with Salmah writing a lengthy biography of and delivering a eulogy for a Minnesota soldier buried at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer in France.

This soldier is Lawrence—or “Larry”—Riley, and he has a connection to the MPA community. Upper School English teacher David Loo introduced Salmah and Ms. Murr to his wife’s uncle, Bob Riley, who is Larry’s son. Bob’s father was killed as a paratrooper in WWII, and he grew up knowing very little about who his father was, how he died, the regiment he served in, or anything related to his military service. After months of rigorous research, Salmah and Ms. Murr were able to piece together Larry’s story, and they met with Bob on campus this week to share with him what they discovered.

Salmah and Ms. Murr learned that Larry was from Minneapolis, lived in a house with his parents and eight siblings, and attended DeLaSalle High School. After finding photos and obtaining records from DeLaSalle, it was clear that Larry was a remarkably talented athlete. “He played football throughout his high school career, and he earned letters in his junior and senior years,” shared Salmah during the conversation.

“He had this high school education, but it was a struggle, and right at the moment he seemed to be getting back on his feet he secured a job at the Twin Cities Ordinance Plant … The war clearly took over in terms of where he went to get a job and what he was going to do,” says Ms. Murr. Due to his age at the time of the war and having three children, Larry was likely not going to be drafted, so he volunteered instead. He enlisted as a paratrooper. Paratroopers were paid an extra $50 a month, and there were a lot of men who tried to join the airborne for that reason.

Celebrating MPA Spirit

May 22, 2019

The Spirit Committee gathered yesterday to celebrate the contributions of long-time members, and senior parents, Kathy Bourne and Kathi Peterson. After many years of dedication to the Spirit Committee they bid a fond farewell with their seniors and leave MPA Athletics stronger than ever. Mounds Park Academy would like to sincerely thank them for their many hours of volunteer service and incredible contributions through the years.

We would love for you be a part of the 2019-20 MPA Spirit Committee. Please email Dawn Zimmerman at dzimmerman@moundsparkacademy.org in the athletic office if you are interested or would like more information. Read More

Deepening Our Global Connections

May 22, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

Planes, trains, and automobiles—and even a boat. I write this message while flying over the northern Pacific Ocean on my way back from a one-week trip to China. It was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of the Chinese people and delighted in the wonderful culture and cuisine. Together with several other heads of school from the Midwest, I visited a number of schools in Nanjing, Beijing, and Guangzhou to learn more about the Chinese educational system.

The Chinese educational system is very different than ours in a number of ways. The National College Entrance Examination, Gaokao, is required for college entrance and the score dictates a future path for each student. There is tremendous pressure to earn a high score and get into a top college. Teaching is focused on preparing students for the exam, particularly in math and science, leaving much less time for other subjects or critical thinking. Curriculum is limited, and Chinese pedagogy is very teacher-centered. There is far less attention paid to student engagement and agency. Read More

An MPA Soccer Reunion

May 21, 2019

A group of former MPA girls soccer players, some of their partners, eight little ones, and coaches Mike Scinto and Al Greimel recently got together for an MPA soccer reunion!

Thank you to Caitlin Coomes ’01, Beth Dunbar ’01, Victoria Simmonds ’01, Anna Kelly ’02, Karli (Gastezoro) McGill ’03, Kate Allen ’03, Clare Halloran ’03, Kelsey Suddard ’03, Stephanie Eyerly-Webb ’03, Amelia Lyle ’03, Mary Brainerd Dujovski ’05, and Sara Coomes ’07 for the group photo!

Pa Chia Thao ’13 Speaks At Booyah Bash 2019

May 20, 2019

MPA alum Pa Chia Thao ’13 was a featured speaker at this year’s Breakthrough Twin Cities annual gala, the Booyah Bash. Pa Chia is a Mount Holyoke College Class of 2017 alumna majoring in astronomy and physics. She shared about the impact of Breakthrough Twin Cities and Mounds Park Academy during her remarks.

This fall, Pa Chia will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholar. Her current research is in understanding how planets beyond our own solar system formed and evolved throughout their lifetime. Congrats to Pa Chia as she continues to make an impact on the world through her studies and research! Read Pa Chia’s full speech here.

Meet MPA Parents Leah And Karl Anderson

May 16, 2019

What do you love about MPA?
We love the whole child approach MPA takes to learning and development … pushing each child to pursue the best version of themselves that they can be, but in a manner uniquely designed for who that child is. This is the case not just academically, but also socially, artistically, athletically, and musically. And, MPA wraps a supportive, welcoming, positive community around all of it to make asking big questions and sharing ideas safe and possible. It’s a killer mash-up that means we have a kid who jumps out of bed in the morning excited to go to school and nearly always enthusiastically answers “GREAT!” when asked “how was your day?” Really, what more could parents ask for?

How is your child encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
MPA’s “there’s more than one way to solve the problem” approach is a game changer. For example, our daughter shared a story just this week about a lesson she working on in math. She said she was struggling to understand it as presented in class but thought she had found a different way to solve for the answer that she told her teacher about. In some schools, the teacher might have said “no, that’s not how you do it.” At MPA, her teacher said, “Great idea! Why don’t you try your approach with some of the problems tomorrow and see if it works.”

That is the essence of MPA—challenging our kids to excel and learn and grow in an open-ended way that spawns innovation and creative thinking. Dreaming big about possibilities, being willing to test ideas, understanding that “failing” is okay and part of progress, driving resiliency, and starting all over again is the MPA way.

If your child has attended another school, how has your experience at MPA been different?
Our daughter attended a different school for PreK. She dreaded going in the morning, wasn’t challenged academically, and in general just wasn’t energized by the community around her. It was fine, but it was FLAT. At MPA—it’s the polar opposite: ALIVE, ENGAGING, CHALLENGING, ENERGIZING, you name it. It is just night and day. We have never regretted our decision to send our daughter to MPA and plan to do so until the day she graduates. Read More