Connect With Parents On Wednesday Mornings

MPA campus in bloomThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, September 30: Join us for a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us.

Wednesday, October 7: We’ll meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

No Neighborhood Coffee This Year
Due to COVID and the difficulties of social distancing at a café, the MPA Parents Association has cancelled neighborhood coffee for this year. See you next year!


Show Your Appreciation With The PA

Prek listening to ms lachapelle read a storyThe MPA faculty and staff have been working double-time to keep our kids learning, connected, and safe. We want to express our appreciation in a way that honors everyone’s safety and doesn’t burden the folks we are trying to appreciate. Please sign-up here to make a thank you card for members of MPA’s faculty and staff!

You can create a card in real life and scan it, or create a virtual one. Either way, you will then send it as a PDF to Raphael Coffey at raphaelcoffey@gmail.com on or before October 11. We will print them out (one-sided, in color, on 8.5×11 cardstock), fold them once like a typical greeting card, put them in envelopes, and deliver them with a small token of appreciation from the Parents Association.

Every person plays a role in our children’s education. Please consider thanking some of the folks that we, as parents and family of students, may not come into contact with as often as our kid’s classroom teachers. We can show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them despite our constraints!


Invite A Friend To The MPA Fall Preview

two middle school students in the science labInvite a friend, neighbor, colleague, or family member to join us for MPA’s largest PreK-12 admission event, the MPA Fall Preview! Held virtually on Sunday, November 8 starting at 2 PM, this event will be a structured program that will allow prospective students and parents to get a sense of what makes MPA an exceptional place to learn and grow.

Kindly invite your friends and neighbors to RSVP in advance for this engaging program at moundsparkacademy.org/RSVP. If you have any questions, contact the Office of Admission at 651-748-5577 or admission@moundsparkacademy.org. We can’t wait to meet them!


MPA’s Symptom Response & Contact Tracing Procedures

put your MPA contact tracing on your fridge to remember the processThrough our team of medical advisors and the MPA Community Advisory Group, we have detailed and multi-pronged procedures for symptom response, contact tracing, and confirmed cases. These procedures are a cornerstone of the Back To MPA Plan. Our highly-trained contact tracing team will deploy a swift, personal, and private response that is taken through our 49-point COVID-19 response flow chart to effectively manage each step along the way. Our team will also partner and work hand-in-hand with the Minnesota Department of Health and other local officials.

In order to implement these rigorous procedures, we need families and students to partner with us. You need to notify MPA immediately at covid19tracing@moundsparkacademy.org if your …

  • student or someone in your household is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms;
  • student is a “close contact” of a confirmed COVID-19 case; and/or
  • student or someone in your household has tested positive for COVID-19.

Read More


Picture Day Photos Are Now Available

lower school student smilingPhotos from our first two picture days are now available for for viewing and ordering! An email will also be sent to all parents with a link to the JostensPIX website. Retake day photos will be available after they take place.

Click here to get started >

If your photos are not appearing in your gallery, find your student using the event code FE72620. Photos are shipped directly to your home and high resolution digital downloads are available. You can personalize your photos with a variety of backgrounds and text, too! If you have more than one child, you are able to order together and pay both at once.


Online Spirit Store Flash Sale

mpa spirit weekStock up on your favorite MPA gear and spirit wear this fall! Everything is customizable, from fall favorites like hoodies and hats to classic tees and pullovers. The MPA online Spirit Store is having a 20% off everything flash sale for 48 hours. The sale ends September 18. Use the promo code SEPTFLASH at checkout. Head to the online spirit store and start shopping!


Parents Connect Wednesday Mornings

MPA parents having coffee outsideThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off! We’ll plan something for every Wednesday as long as weather allows and there is interest.

September 23: Let’s meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

September 30: This Wednesday will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick after drop off. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!


New Update For The AUXS Safety App

middle school student on his laptopPlease be sure that your AUXS Safety App is up to date! In this new update, your green daily screening pass will display within the app in addition to being sent via email.

You will see a new “pass” icon in the upper right on home screen within the app, and after completing the screening form, you will also receive an alert with link to “View Safety Pass.” Passes will only display for the current date, and the pass screen will be blank if no form was completed for the day. All email and text messages already set up will continue to be sent to you as usual.

This latest version (version 1.4) is now available on the App Store and Google Play. If your phone already has updates turned on, the update will occur automatically. Thank you!


News From The Parents Of Alumni

Amanda Campbell and Quinn, class of 2018Amanda Campbell is joining the Alumni Association this year as the Parents Of Alumni Liaison. Amanda served on the MPA Parents Association from 2010–2018 when her daughter Quinn [first child of an alum (Ryan Campbell ’90) to attend MPA and 13 Year Club member] graduated. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the POA. It has been a great organization to maintain the connections and friendships made over the course of 13 years as a parent at MPA. Amanda has been the POA Executive Board Secretary and will serve as the Alumni Board POA Liaison for the 2020-2021 school year. She feels fortunate to remain tethered to MPA and its faculty and staff through the POA.

The MPA POA Executive Board consists of Mary Jo Thrane, Amanda Campbell, Jeanne Danaher, Linda Goodno, Carey Ide, Chris Levesque, and Karla Myers. Each are members of the POA with alumni from the graduating classes 2009–2020.

The POA looks forward to hearing from you & catching up at one of our virtual social activities throughout the coming year. For more information, please reach out to the POA directly via email at POA@moundsparkacademy.org.


Four MPA Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

The five national merit semifinalists 2020Congratulations to this group of MPA seniors! Isak Dai, Ryan Ghose, Dhruv Muppidi, and Sungjoon “Sean” Park have qualified as National Merit Semifinalists. They qualified based on their performance on the PSAT they took as juniors.

More than 1.6 million high school students from about 22,000 schools nationwide take the PSAT in October of their junior year. Those with the highest PSAT Selection Index scores are recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their exceptional performance. These four students were honored this fall by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, based on their scores on last fall’s PSAT.

Semifinalists proceed in the scholarship competition by submitting their academic records throughout high school, endorsements and recommendations by a high school official, written essays, and SAT® scores that confirm their prior performance on the qualifier test. If they are named Finalists, they will be eligible for National Merit Scholarship opportunities. Over 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and nearly half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. Read More