May 5, 2016

MPA has a duck problem. On Tuesday, I happened upon Michele Maturen’s math class eagerly marshalling forces outside the Benz Courtyard. “We saw the ducklings! We saw the ducklings!” they shouted. At this point, I wasn’t sure who was more excited, Ms. Maturen or her students.

For many years, a mother duck has laid her eggs somewhere in the Benz Courtyard. It is a safe place, free from predators and somewhat sheltered from the unpredictability of Minnesota springs. However, there is no way for the ducklings, once hatched, to escape. Enter Upper School Science Teacher, Mitch Thomsen. With the assistance of our students, Mr. Thomsen has been successful in safely capturing the mother, while students scramble to carefully collect the ducklings. Once safe in a box, he leads the way with mother duck, trailed by the box of ducklings close by so mother can hear them. Out of the courtyard they all go, following Mr. Thomsen to our own pond where they are released and swim away to safety. Read More

April 28, 2016

“Fiddler on the Roof” opens and closes with an individual balancing precariously on the roof while playing the violin. In the play, it symbolizes the dynamic struggle between tradition and change. During this Spring Show, however, I found added meaning knowing that junior Declan Dahlberg played the part of the fiddler. Declan is an accomplished musician, an athlete who has competed in several state tournaments (in Cross Country and Nordic Skiing), and an outstanding student. He is the embodiment of the core belief at MPA that educating the whole child means offering young people the opportunities to excel in the arts, athletics, and academics.

Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in reading, math, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills, as well as motivation and confidence. The arts also build 21st century competencies such as collaboration and communication. Athletics are equally important in building essential skills necessary such as teamwork, character, physical, and mental strength. Like the arts, research has positively linked athletic participation with academic success. Read More

April 21, 2016

Last Friday, WCCO-TV featured senior Allison Leopold (watch the story). Allison made history, winning her fourth medal in the Minnesota State High School Speech Tournament. Allison is only the 51^st person to earn that distinction in the 47 years the tournament has been in existence. In any given day at MPA, students learn and practice how to communicate effectively in numerous ways in multiple settings. On Monday mornings, students as young as five stand in front of their peers with a microphone, sharing what they are learning in their classes. I could fill several pages with the many ways students gain confidence in both their ideas and themselves as they learn to communicate.

Expressing thoughts clearly, crisply articulating opinions, communicating coherent instructions, motivating others through powerful speech—these skills have always been valued in the workplace and in public life. In today’s 21st century world, with its abundance of news and social media, these skills have become increasingly important. However, if you were to look across public, charter, private, and independent schools, you would be hard-pressed to find communication named as a priority, let alone in the school’s mission statement.  You will find it at Mounds Park Academy. “Communicate effectively” is directly stated in our mission, immediately following “think independently.” Read More

April 14, 2016

My favorite teacher at Parkview Elementary was Mrs. King. I met Mrs. King in the third grade when my family moved to Marquette, Mich. halfway through the school year. I remember feeling sad about leaving my friends behind and terrified about starting over in a new school in a new town without knowing anyone. From the moment I walked into her classroom, however, Mrs. King welcomed me and, after a few days, my concerns were assuaged and I was happy.

I remember how much I learned that year—I was a sponge, soaking up everything. For years afterwards, my parents teased me because I would often contradict them based on what Mrs. King said. I don’t remember much about what we did in Mrs. King’s classroom, but I do remember how she made me feel. Forty-four years later, I clearly recall being engaged, encouraged, challenged, and loved. Read More

April 7, 2016

Dr. Bill Hudson invited Nate Bander, Admission Outreach Coordinator, to share a blog post he wrote about how MPA faculty members use maps in their classrooms.

At Mounds Park Academy, students learn how maps tell a story.

Take, for example, a map that plots the mean center of the population of the United States from the first census in 1790 to the 1940 census at the dawn of the second world war.

In 1790, the mean center of population rested comfortably in Kent County, 23 miles east of Baltimore Maryland. Makes sense, right? Most of the population recorded in the census resided on the eastern seaboard.

Fast forward 150 years. The mean center of population has pushed 603 miles to the southwest, landing precariously in Carlisle, Indiana, waiting to leap across the border into Illinois on its southwesterly march.  Read More

March 31, 2016

I have a very strong-willed daughter. From the time that she was an infant, she possessed an independence many adults have yet to achieve. No matter how hard I tried to help her, she displayed a determination to do things on her own, whether it was taking those tentative first steps or learning to balance on and pedal a bike. As she enters adolescence, I have to continually remind myself that the very qualities that frustrate me now are the same ones that will serve her well as she makes her mark in the world.

Perhaps the greatest single piece of parenting advice I have ever received was, “Parent the child you have. Not the one you hoped for or dreamed of.” The challenge of parenthood is to provide the environment so that our children can be who they really are. It isn’t to remove obstacles, but to be by their side to support our children when they encounter them. Clearly, if they are running with scissors or juggling knives, we need to step in, but we parents must develop the wisdom to know when to intervene and when to let them learn on their own. It can be difficult to watch them makes mistakes as children that we, as adults, can foresee. Letting them learn through trial and error, however, is a powerful teacher. As our school psychologist, Dr. Steve Kahn, believes strongly in the power of experience. When I, as a parent, have asked for guidance in determining when to intervene with my own children, his response was, “Is there a cliff involved?” Read More

February 25, 2016

How do you promote and assess ethical and intellectual engagement? That is the question addressed in a recent report issued by Harvard University regarding the college admission process. It was the result of the “Making Caring Common” project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Through a series of recommendations to schools, students and their families, and higher education, the report directs the college admission process away from too much emphasis on academic achievement. Instead, it encourages a commitment to serving the common good and challenges our larger culture’s overemphasis on individual achievement. Read More

February 18, 2016

When I was a child, I vividly remember calling my grandparents on Sunday afternoons. They lived in the same state, but a couple of hours away, out in the country. We would each take turns unfurling the long, curly phone cord to tell them about our week, but only for a few minutes each, as we were admonished about the cost of long distance phone calls. The connection was often fuzzy, compelling the parties on either side of the line to shout, or at least speak unnaturally loudly, to carry our voices across the wire. Fast forward forty years to 2016 and we have a country in which most people carry phones in our pockets that connect us instantly, anywhere in the country, for a monthly fee, with relative clarity. Read More

February 11, 2016

It was bedtime in the Anderson home and Julia’s mother asked her to get ready for bed. Leah was unprepared for her daughter’s response. “No, Mom. I can’t go to bed. It’s windy outside and I have to go outside and do a science experiment.” Julia and her father bundled up to go outdoors to record the temperature. When she returned indoors, Julia went to work recording her observations and forming a hypothesis. But Julia wasn’t finished. She went out one more time to check the temperature to test her hypothesis in order to finish her experiment. Read More

February 4, 2016

As we begin re-enrollment for the 2016-2017 school year, I’d like to share an insight with you from Rowan, a Mounds Park Academy third-grader: “When there’s a problem, I think to myself, ‘I know how to work this out because my teachers taught me how.’ They teach us all these special things that get us ready for the world.”

Rowan, I couldn’t agree more. For more than 30 years, MPA teachers have engaged thousands of students in an experiential, college-preparatory education where critical thinking and deep content knowledge are used as the basis for developing essential skills in conflict resolution, perseverance, creativity, and collaboration. MPA teachers truly do teach the special things that prepare students for our changing world, and they do so with incredible passion and commitment. Read More