Mounds Park Academy

April 26, 2018

This Spring Auction item will have you planning for your four-night stay for four at the luxurious Waterfront Hotel Dungloe in stunning County Donegal, Ireland, in no time! Voted the coolest place on the planet by National Geographic, Donegal boasts spectacular views, endless outdoor activities, and is host to the sets of Game of Thrones and Star Wars. The beautiful Waterfront Hotel with stunning views overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is a 49-bedroom luxurious hotel located in the heart of the Rosses. This stunning property offers amazing food and your stay includes complimentary breakfasts. The Waterfront Hotel on the Wild Atlantic Way has something for everyone with a range of overnight packages including golf, walking, angling and family breaks. The hotel is approximately a 45-minute drive from Letterkenny, voted one of the world’s top 10 most scenic landings and offering daily flights from Dublin and Glasgow, and 10 minutes from Donegal Airport. This auction item includes two rooms for four nights, breakfast each morning, three days with a local, personal concierge/tour guide, and a $4000 voucher with AerLingus.

An MPA Retirement And Celebration

April 26, 2018

Mary Beggin, a beloved Lower School teacher at Mounds Park Academy, has decided to retire at the end of this school year. While she may not come to our campus next year, her legacy will live on through the many students she has taught throughout the past 45 years, 20 of which were spent at MPA.

Mary, who has taught second, third, and fourth grade at MPA, is exceptionally passionate about teaching and has truly enjoyed her teaching career. She loves her children as if they are her own—connecting deeply with each and every one of them and their families.

Mary is known for going above and beyond for every child, having tutored and provided extra learning support for many Lower School students. She genuinely wants each child to recognize and focus on his or her strengths—she wants each child to feel even better about herself or himself when the year ends.

Parents Association Family Dinner Social

April 26, 2018

As you rush to get ready for the Middle School Parent Meetings and Vocal Concert, the MPA Parents Association wants want to take one thing off your plate: dinner! On Thursday, May 3 from 4:45-5:45 PM, the PA invites you for fresh and delicious soup or salad and sandwiches prepared by Sage. The cost is $6 per person, in cash or check made out to the MPA PA, to be paid ahead of time via the Lower or Middle School offices, or pay the afternoon of the dinner. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Please RSVP here by Friday, April 27 at so the PA can plan on your attendance!

Enhancing Play Spaces For All

April 26, 2018

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

At the dinner table, we have a tradition of sharing our day with one another. Among other topics and questions, we often ask the kids, “What did you like best about your day?” Inevitably, the response is one of three possibilities: phy ed class, lunch, or recess. Obviously, we hope it’s about a riveting discussion about a novel or an exciting discovery during a science experiment. However, as an educator, I am okay with their response. Physical activity, free play, unstructured time, and nutrition are all necessary aspects of a student’s life, no matter the age. This is also true for adults!

In a few weeks, we will gather at the historic JX in Stillwater for our annual Spring Auction. It is our only school-wide community builder solely for the grown-ups in our community and our only fundraising event of the year. The newly opened JX is a beautiful setting with wonderful views and plenty of space for socializing and joy-raising. We will have many items in the silent auction, fun games of chance, and some unique experiences in the live auction. As is our custom, we will end the auction with an opportunity to fund a specific need of the school.

Through this Fund A Need portion of the evening, together over the past several years we’ve raised more than $300,000 to enhance the educational experience of our students. Past projects include the Digital Fabrication Studio (an early iteration of the Makerspace), Virtual Classroom, extensive bathroom renovations, sound, lighting, and seating replacement in the Blackbox Theatre.

Two Golds For MPA At State Speech

April 22, 2018

Mounds Park Academy led all schools with two gold medals at the Class A State Speech Tournament, April 21 at Apple Valley High School. Eleven schools followed with one gold apiece. Pranay Somayajula defended his gold in Extemporaneous Speaking and Sarah Ley placed first in Great Speeches. Overall, MPA placed second in the team standings out of 186 schools that competed in Class A speech this year.

All told, MPA had seven medalists:

Pranay Somayajula – Champion – Extemporaneous Speaking
Sarah Ley – Champion – Great Speeches
Emmett Haak – 2nd Place – Great Speeches
Misk Khalif – 5th place – Serious Interpretation of Poetry
Garrett Hollihan – 6th place – Extemporaneous Speaking
Rayaan Ahmed – 7th place – Discussion
Charlie Galicich – 7th place – Humorous Interpretation

MPA now has 37 Speech Champions in its history. That’s the fifth most among all Minnesota schools, regardless of class. Its 164 total medals are second among Class A schools.

Technology, Values, and Advice

April 19, 2018

David Siegel ’04 is a techie, philosopher, and creative thinker. Blending his love of technology with a sensitivity to human flourishing, he is driven to understand how technology affects people. “I’m naturally skeptical of the techno-utopian tenet that technology will inevitably create the world we want,” he shares, “so I’m concerned with building technologies consistent with our core values.”

Currently working as a design leader at Microsoft in San Francisco, he also recently founded a company around his open source project, quicktype.io, which he summarizes in layman’s terms as “autocorrect for data.” After eight months since David began working on quicktype as a side project, it’s approaching 30,000 monthly users and is snowballing in popularity with developers. He expects to reach 100,000 users per month and to build a business on top of the open source foundation this year.

During his years at MPA, David gravitated mostly toward Spanish, film, writing, and critical thinking. He especially loved arguing contentious topics with others, which was encouraged at school. He was also personally motivated to seek knowledge about emerging technologies, and MPA’s laptop program was vital.

After graduation, David attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual degrees in philosophy and computer science engineering. Despite graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, he admits he has never used his resume and has reported directly to the CEO at every position he’s held (until joining Microsoft via acquisition in 2016).

Meet Teja Upadhyaya ’17

April 19, 2018

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?

I am currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota. In addition to this, I am a 4/C Marine Corps option Midshipmen at the NROTC unit here with a commissioning date of May 2021. After commissioning I will serve as a 2nd LT in the United States Marine Corps

How did you get there? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?

MPA inspired me to think about the bigger picture and this was the driving force that inspired me to enter military service. Through MPA I learned to love education which is why I decided to go down the officer route.

Meet Kelsey LaValle ’05

April 19, 2018

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?

I’m a stay-at-home mom who is active in volunteering at my kids’ school as well as serving on the Mardag Foundation Board.

How did you get there?

I pursued some programs at St. Paul College (Massage and Esthetics), however I decided that my priority was with my family when I got pregnant and never made it into the field.

How did your MPA experience prepare you for your life today? How did MPA help you dream big and do right?

MPA taught me the value of a good education with caring teachers and how a tight knit community is so important.

What’s next? Any aspirations-personal or professional-that you’d like to share?

I’d like to grow in my position with Mardag and possibly pursue a para position in our school district when all my kids are in school.

Meet Andrew Grant ’15

April 19, 2018

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?

I am currently in my third year at Vanderbilt University, studying Earth & Environmental Science. This past November through January, I was fortunate enough to participate in the United States Antarctic Program. The purpose of our project was to collect ice core from a body of ancient glacial ice that is preserved under a layer of till. Now, I am San Francisco on the first part of a study abroad program looking at the politics of climate change–specifically food, water, and energy. Over the course of my semester with SIT we will be traveling to Vietnam, Morocco, and Bolivia. I am very fortunate.

Lower And Middle School Parent Events

April 19, 2018

Many Lower and Middle School family and parent events are coming up this spring!

There will be an Lower School Parent AnnMarieThomas Makerspace event on Thursday, April 26 from 5-6 PM and on Friday, April 27 from 8-9 AM! In an effort to accommodate busy schedules, there are two meeting times with the same agenda. If you choose the afternoon time your child is welcome to attend Panther Club/Den at the expense of the Parents Association!

The education topic will cover the Makerspace and Ms Koen, Makerspace Coordinator, is the faculty guest. By consciously connecting liberal arts thinking with 21st century skills and competencies, the Makerspace provides students with the opportunities to construct meaning through making by way of practical, hands-on, interdisciplinary, problem-based projects. Come experience the innovative space and see a glimpse of STEAM at work!

All Middle School parents are invited to the last Middle School Parent Education Event of the year on Friday, April 20 from 8-9 AM in the Porter Conference Room. Dr. Jules Nolan will lead a conversation titled, “It’s All About Emotions: What are developmentally appropriate emotional behaviors for your child? How do we manage our own emotion and that of our children during stressful times?” This session will explore emotional life, how emotions can impede or enhance learning, and how to protect our children by helping them develop emotional resilience. Research from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence will be discussed as well.