May 6, 2020
The Senior Service Project is an opportunity for MPA students to use their voices and skills, propose, and carry out a service project with an organization or for a cause they are passionate about. All students submit a proposal, complete a minimum of 30 hours of service work, keep a record or journal of experiences, and prepare an exhibit or presentation based on their experience.
For his senior service project, MPA senior Charles Grimes created portraits for The Memory Project. The Memory Project is a nonprofit organization that connects artists with children throughout the world, who then get sent their portraits after completion. His portraits specifically will be sent to children in Venezuela.
“Our participants create these portraits to help children feel valued and important, to know that many people care about their well-being, and to provide a special childhood memory in the future,” states The Memory Project as part of its mission statement. Visit www.memoryproject.org/venezuela to learn more and see a touching video about the project!
COVID-19 is our world’s most unprecedented challenge of our time. In response, May 5 was announced as #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving and May 1-8 as #GiveFromHome week in Minnesota. This worldwide effort will help nonprofit and educational organizations like Mounds Park Academy in very important ways.
In the true spirit of dreaming big and doing right, MPA senior Anna Zeng has donated 1,200 medical face masks to healthcare workers at HealthPartners.
Congratulations to the MPA Middle School students who participated in the Stock Market Game! MPA had fifth grade teams take second and eighth place. A round of applause for second place team Evie R., Olivia C., Kelvyn B., Nico B., and Beckett S. and eighth place team Maggie M., Julia A., Marcel S., and Anna D.! 
Modeling the resiliency we inspire in our students, MPA has been engaged in a collaborative, ongoing process of designing, implementing, assessing, and adapting teaching and learning to meet the needs of our students. Adjustments along the way have been guided by feedback from parents, students, and faculty as well as research on distance learning and best practices. The candid feedback from parents in the two surveys conducted over the past six weeks has been extremely important and useful.
Members of the MPA Class of 2020 are all in our hearts and minds as we approach so many milestones that they should be celebrating in person but are sacrificing in order to keep our local community members safe from COVID-19. One of the joys of graduation is hosting a graduation party for families and friends, whose contributions help graduates gather the necessary supplies for their journey to college in the fall. Since these parties and gatherings may no longer be possible given the realities we’re facing, MPA student representatives had a great idea for a meaningful way the rest of the MPA community can support them during this time.
The MPA Parents Association feels incredibly lucky to be part of the MPA community and in honor of National Teacher Appreciation week, May 4-8, we are asking our community to show us who you feel lucky to have at MPA! Instead of a pot of gold, who, or what, is at the bottom of your MPA Rainbow? Take a picture of a poster or sidewalk chalk drawing that shows your MPA Rainbow and what you love at the end! It could be a teacher, staff member, an entire department, team, club, or a special space on campus that makes you thankful for MPA. Share your photos with us by emailing them to 
Join us to connect, play, and create With MPA’s Virtual Playground! So far we’ve played virtual games together, created with our Fiber Friends, and met at NASA scientist, a physicist, and a professional chef, and more! 
Don’t miss the chance to honor one of your fellow alums!
It is with a growth mindset that the Lower School faculty have collaborated on the next iteration of virtual school. As we reflect on the first five weeks, we celebrate our successes, but also know that we need to put the emerging needs of our students first. We must pay attention to the fact that student engagement may wane as we finish the rest of the school year off campus and away from the excitement and joy of being together as a community.