August 12, 2020
We’re delighted to welcome Cory Becker-Kim to the MPA faculty and staff to fill the role of international student program coordinator as Sarah McFarland transitions to teaching English in our Middle School.
Mr. Becker-Kim comes to us from the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University where he was the assistant director of admissions. In addition to general work in admissions, he worked with international student recruitment and retention. Prior to that, he taught English in China and then South Korea for almost five years. Combined, each of these roles have provided Mr. Becker-Kim with the global experience and diverse perspectives that will be so valuable to our international students, and our community as a whole. Read More
MPA seventh graders Teagan O. and Ida L. have been working together this summer to bring a virtual awareness to different problems that are impacting the environment. They are on a mission to generate change, and are currently building a website to mobilize others. With this platform, they plan to use their voices, connect with others, and make a positive impact on our community and world.
We recognize there are many details related to starting school this year that MPA families need to attend to.To help you stay organized, we are providing this handy checklist to ensure that you don’t miss any of the essential action items.
Just as they were this spring, Town Hall meetings will be used as an important way for our community to connect, learn, and get their questions answered, both PreK-12 and by division. The information shared in these Town Hall meetings will support the written communication being shared regularly. Recordings will be distributed afterward should you not be able to attend!
As the new school year approaches, the MPA Upper School Student Council launched their first issue of their new monthly newsletter! Named “The StudCo Scoop,” it will be sent out to all Upper School students and faculty on the last Friday of each month and will include updates on school-wide activities. “Learning to navigate this new learning environment will require diligent communication, and that is what we hope to accomplish with this publication,” they said.
The MPA Alumni Mentorship Program completed its second year full of meaningful connections and a successful networking event to conclude the year. The program is designed to enhance personal and professional development experiences for our senior class students, while also providing alumni with an opportunity to reconnect to MPA and share their own experiences and knowledge with the next generation of graduates.
PreK Students
As we have reimagined our return to school events to ensure all can be on campus safely, we are excited to welcome Middle School students to campus for Back to School Days where we will get to know each other, our new campus health and safety procedures, attend laptop orientation, and learn about all of the new processes and practices that are part of our MPA student experience. We’re also going to have some fun—so we ask that students dress comfortably and ready for outside play! These are student-only events.
It is hard to believe that we are more than half-way through the summer and only five weeks away from being back on campus for the start of the 2020-21 school year. As we look ahead, it is very important that we are all aware of the measures and protocols that have been put in place on campus to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate risk for our MPA community. To that end, our annual Back to School evening will take a new form this year and we will be holding a number of in-person, small group meetings on campus for Upper School students.
It was a long week in the gardens on campus, as our volunteer restoration crew discovered them flooded after heavy rainstorms. Covered in half a foot of water, they weren’t sure what could be done to recover the young seedlings and careful work that had been put in over the past few weeks. Luckily, several heroes came to the rescue. Ms. Johnson and Ms. P had encouraging words of support for the garden crew. Chef Doug helped with moving the excess mulch, raising spirits, and refocusing energy into the garden work. Facilities team members Andy and Josh were also essential in draining the flood with a silk net technique.