All School Archives

July 8, 2026

from Tanner Sunderman, head speech coach

Oprah Winfrey, Senator Ted Cruz, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are three of the most powerful people in American history. But their rise started at the same place: their speech and debate team.

My origin story also started in that very same place. Now, it wasn’t an interest in politics or aspirations of something larger that brought me into the Le Sueur-Henderson choir room on a cold December day in 2006. It was, in fact, a garbage can.

A family friend of ours thought speech was the perfect fit for me as a seventh grader, and their method of convincing me to show up for the interest meeting was to threaten to put me in a garbage can if I didn’t. I figured, why not? I have nothing to lose. At that moment in time, I was the outcast. You know, the kid who sat by himself at lunch, no friends to hang out with on summer vacation, and unfortunately, the most bully-able. I was, as a call back to the garbage can, trash. What I didn’t know then is that the decision would kick off a now 20-year campaign, with an activity and space I hold near to my heart.

MPA Announces Early Childhood Expansion & Accreditation

June 23, 2026

from Dr. Lori-Anne Brogdon, head of school

In my first year as head of school, few moments have brought me more joy than sharing this news with you.

I am delighted to announce two significant milestones for Mounds Park Academy’s Early Childhood program—milestones that reflect years of dedication, thoughtful leadership, exceptional teaching, and the trust families continue to place in our school.

MPA has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s leading accrediting body for early childhood education. MPA is the only PreK-12 school in the state—and the only independent school in Minnesota—to hold NAEYC accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience from a child’s very first days on campus.

In addition, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, we will expand our Early Childhood program to include two dedicated classrooms: a Preschool classroom for our youngest learners beginning at age three and a PreKindergarten classroom designed specifically for children in their final year before kindergarten.

Together, these accomplishments represent an exciting new chapter for MPA and a powerful affirmation of the exceptional work happening every day in our Early Childhood program.

NAEYC accreditation is widely regarded as the gold standard in early childhood education. The process requires schools to demonstrate excellence across every aspect of the program, including curriculum, teaching practices, family partnerships, health and safety, assessment, leadership, and continuous improvement. Read More

Parents Association News And Events May 28, 2026

May 28, 2026

On behalf of the MPA Parents Association Board, thank you to all caregivers, faculty, and staff of the MPA community. Through this school year, we continued traditions, experimented with new efforts, responded to needs that arose, and celebrated the growth and learning of all students at MPA. We look forward to connecting next week and over the summer. May these final days of school be filled with presence, perseverance, and joy.

Don’t miss these final HOORAHS for the 2025-26 school year!

Lower School Division End-of-Year Party | Monday, June 1: 3:30-5:30 PM, Fun City, Maplewood, RSVP >

Middle School Division End-of-Year Party | Wednesday, June 3: 12:30-3 PM | Urban Air, Coon Rapids, RSVP >

Upper School Division End-of-Year Party | Wednesday, June 3: 11 AM-1 PM, Smash Park, Roseville, RSVP >

Summer Events!

Join us for a series of fun, community-building events this summer! It’s a great opportunity to meet new classmates, reconnect with familiar faces, and enjoy time together outside of the school year. We hope to see you there!

Summer Library Night And Lower School Playground & Popsicles | Tuesday, June 30: 6-7:30 PM, MPA Campus, Library night open for all divisions

Middle School Family Night At The Burrow | Thursday, July 16: 6-8 PM, The Burrow (Oakdale), Middle School arcade and dinner night

Kindergarten Family Picnic | Wednesday, July 22: 5-6 PM, MPA Campus

Summer Library Night And Lower School Playground & Popsicles | Wednesday, July 22: 6-7:30 PM, MPA Campus

Upper School Family Night At The Burrow | Tuesday, August 11: 6-8 PM, The Burrow (Oakdale), Upper School arcade, trivia, and dinner night

Kindergarten Family Picnic | Wednesday, August 12: 5-6 PM, MPA Campus

Summer Library Night And Lower School Kona Ice Social | Wednesday, August 12: 6-7:30 PM, MPA Playground

Middle School Playground Hangout & Kona Ice Social | Tuesday, August 18: 6:30-8 PM, Lower School Field

MPA Senior Receives Prestigious Gustavus Premiere Music Scholarship

May 28, 2026

Congratulations to Chali Yang ’26, who has been awarded the prestigious Gustavus Premiere Music Scholarship from Gustavus Adolphus College, earning $25,000 annually—a total of $100,000 over four years—after a competitive audition process. The college awards just one scholarship of its kind each year, and this is the first time a MPA student has received the honor.

For Yang, this represents years of discipline, persistence, and artistic growth.

“I think this scholarship is really a validation of all the hours I’ve put into practicing my instrument over the years, and especially through this absolutely rigorous audition process,” Yang said. “I feel a sense of calm now that it’s all over, and I feel like all the time I put into it was really worth it.”

Yang said guidance from MPA music faculty, including Upper School band director Renae Wantock and Middle School band director Lukas Skrove, helped shape his approach during the audition process. Read More

End Of Year Celebrations

May 28, 2026

from Dr. Lori-Anne Brogdon, head of school

We have so much to celebrate in the next few days! I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming end-of-year celebrations and ceremonies that mark the end of the 2025-26 school year. I want to thank the entire MPA community for your care, honesty, partnership, and energy. Schools are shaped and defined by the people within. Our community continues to show what is possible when people are willing to work together, support one another, and stay committed to our collective growth and success.

This year asked all of us to navigate moments of celebration, change, challenge, and growth. Not every moment was easy. I am deeply grateful that through it all, our shared commitment to dreaming big and doing right remained at the center of our work with students and with each other.

To our parents, guardians, and friends, thank you for showing up. Whether volunteering for field trips, supporting classroom projects, attending performances and games, hosting visiting students, participating in community service, or simply checking in on one another during difficult moments, you helped strengthen the sense of connection that makes MPA special. Read More

Congrats, Upper School Students!

May 27, 2026

Upper School students at Mounds Park Academy dedicate tremendous time and energy to their work, embodying the values that make our community proud. In recognition of their accomplishments, MPA held the Upper School Awards Assembly on Friday, May 22, in the Nicholson Center. The event celebrated students who earned distinctions in areas such as Academics, National Merit, Scholarships, Yearbook, Choir, Band, Orchestra, Visual Art, Math, English, Science, Social Studies, Forensics, French, Spanish, Drama, Athletics, the Spirit of ’86, Certificates of Distinction, and the Alumni Association. Join us in congratulating these outstanding students! View the full photo gallery from the awards here.

Cum Laude Inductees

Nom-Ujin Byambatsogt
Thomas Dickson
Theta Doffing
Piper Hubert
Mina Kim
Liam Kimmerle
Ash Klann
John Shilcox
Matthew Tan
Cosmo Vanzyl
Soren Winikoff

Valedictorian

Liam Kimmerle
Ash Klann
Soren Winikoff

Salutatorian

Thomas Dickson

Parents Association News And Events May 21, 2026

May 21, 2026

Don’t miss these final HOORAHS for the 2025-26 school year!

Lower School Division End-of-Year Party | Monday, June 1: 3:30-5:30 PM, Fun City, Maplewood, RSVP >

Middle School Division End-of-Year Party | Wednesday, June 3: 12:30-3 PM | Urban Air, Coon Rapids, RSVP >

Upper School Division End-of-Year Party | Wednesday, June 3: 11 AM-1 PM, Smash Park, Roseville, RSVP >

Upper School Division News May 21, 2026

May 21, 2026

from Mark Segal, Upper School director

One might think that after three decades in education, saying goodbye at the end of each school year would become easier. In truth, it has not. Each year is shaped by relationships and built on trust, shared experiences, and daily moments that matter. Those connections make May both joyful and bittersweet.

As the year draws to a close, I often find myself reflecting on the opening lines of The Doors’ 1967 song “The End”—“This is the end, beautiful friend…” Originally written by Jim Morrison as a farewell following a relational breakup, the song evolved into something much broader: a meditation on transition, closure, and even the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Morrison himself later reflected that it began as “a simple goodbye song,” but could also be understood as “a goodbye to a kind of childhood.”

That broader meaning resonates deeply with me, and I imagine in many schools. This time of year is not simply about endings—it is about transformation. It is about honoring what has been, while also recognizing what is becoming.

In classrooms across MPA, teachers intentionally create the conditions for students to grow into their next chapter. Research consistently reinforces what we see every day within our hallways and classrooms, that strong student-teacher relationships are foundational to student engagement and success. In fact, a study published in the June 2024 “Frontiers in Psychology” shows that “when students perceive their instructors as supportive, they are more likely to stay motivated, participate actively, and persist through challenges.” Similarly, research in educational psychology highlights that positive student-teacher relationships are directly associated with improved academic engagement and well-being. Read More

Middle School Division News May 21, 2026

May 21, 2026

from Paul Errickson, Middle School director

It is hard to believe that this is my last Panther Post of the school year. Are we really wrapping this school year up in the next two weeks? This year has been filled with so much joy; it is hard to capture it all in one post. One of the things I am most proud of is the fact that every Middle School student was able to “Dream Big” or “Do Right” this year through our Dream Big, Do Right Advisory Challenge.

This year, we made sure to meet, as a Middle School, once or twice a month in our Middle School Meetings. This time was meant to bring us together as a community, reflect on the year, and have students make announcements and share their work—from poetry to prose, persuasive speeches about homework and music performances, we had play previews and presentations from our BIPOC group about monthly cultural celebrations. One constant throughout our Middle School Meetings was the Dream Big, Do Right Advisory Challenge. Each meeting, a new advisory was chosen to do something for our MPA or the broader Twin Cities community, either by dreaming big or doing right.

Our Middle Schoolers did an amazing job with this challenge. We had advisories dreaming big by raising funds for Feed My Starving Children and smattering our hallways and lockers with words of affirmation, doing right by bringing a dance party and games into our Middle School Meetings, and creating goodie bags with personalized notes for our seniors during their last week of school. In the Middle School this year, every student can say that they did something special for someone else. They worked to make others feel included, and they went out of their way to help out in their teachers’ classrooms. One of our advisories even designed and sewed MPA skirts for the auction, made from upcycled MPA gear. Read More

Lower School Division News May 21, 2026

May 21, 2026

from James Ewer, Lower School director

We started this year still finding our footing. New faces in classrooms. New routines being built. New trust being earned. We asked a lot of our kids, and they delivered. We asked a lot of each other and we showed up. Not perfectly. But with intention. That matters.

We learned that students are more capable than we sometimes give them credit for. When we gave them a voice, they used it wisely. When we raised our expectations, they rose to meet them. When we built structures that were clear and consistent, they thrived inside them. That is not a small thing. That is the work.

We also learned that community is not just a word we put in a mission statement. It is what happens when a family sends a hard email and a teacher responds with care. It is what happens when a child is struggling and the adults around them refuse to give up. It is what happens when we disagree and still choose to stay in a relationship. You have been that kind of community this year. I am grateful.

We have grown. Read More