Lower School Archives

September 14, 2017

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I am deathly afraid of heights. The higher floors of office buildings or hotels terrify me. Scary movies, too. My mother still teases me about making my father stay up with me to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street when I was home from college one summer.

What are you afraid of? Lower School students gave voice to their fears yesterday morning in the first CHAMP Assembly of the year and made plans to overcome them throughout this school year. Some responses included speaking in front of a crowd with confidence, scary movies, swimming, starting at a new school, competing at a karate tournament, and doing their best in kindergarten.

CHAMP stands for Character Happens At Mounds Park, and is the Lower School character development program. This year’s character trait is courage, defined as “facing your fears with confidence and being brave.” Nelson Mandela was used as a role model as students learned about the courage he demonstrated when he peacefully fought apartheid in South Africa.

Introducing Courage

September 14, 2017

On September 13, a rainbow of MPA Lower School students excitedly awaited a big announcement at their first CHAMP assembly of the year. Everyone was dressed in red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple to represent their grade levels, but all sat together to form a colorful audience for the reveal of a new CHAMP trait. The students cheered as one special word rang out in the cafeteria: courage.

CHAMP, MPA’s Lower School character education program, was originally designed by MPA teachers and founded upon the character traits of friendship, compassion, respect, self-control, responsibility, cooperation, integrity, and inclusiveness. These characteristics are what students at MPA are inspired to demonstrate on a daily basis.

Courage was introduced as the newest CHAMP trait with a read-along of The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger and the unveiling of new encouraging posters for every classroom to serve as reminders. The Little Yellow Leaf was one of the inspirations behind adding courage to the CHAMP program. It’s a story of friendship and encouragement that leads a small voice to a big, bold decision.

Faculty & Staff Appreciation

September 7, 2017

Welcome back to another school year at MPA! Believe it or not, Conference week is fast approaching, September 25-28, 2017. One longstanding tradition at MPA is to provide nourishment for the 100+ faculty and staff during this week. Our faculty and staff spend extra hours at school during this week and one way to help support them is to provide food all day long. (Dinners on Tuesday and Thursday nights that week are provided by the Parents Association directly).

Contributions from families are essential! Please consider signing up for any item(s) you would like to contribute. We will be using Sign Up Genius this year. Please click here to sign up >

Items may be dropped off in the Parents Association Room in the Cafeteria on the designated day between 7:30 AM and 8 AM, or at your convenience. There is a refrigerator for perishable items. Please leave a note on any items left in the Parents Association room.

Contact Tara Matthews-Lafferty or Mary Messner with any questions. Thank you in advance for your support of MPA faculty and staff.

Back to School With Joy

August 20, 2017

It seems like just yesterday we were sharing, Ideas for a Learning-Rich Summer. Now, here we are preparing for the start of school. The back-to-school transition is upon us, and our school community is bustling with excitement.

Everyone, children and adults alike, handles transition differently. Some people naturally embrace it, celebrating and welcoming the change. Others worry about the unknowns or focus on what they didn’t accomplish, instead of what they did, dampening their enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

Wherever you are on the back-to-school-enthusiasm spectrum—and we find that most Mounds Park Academy students and family are high on the scale—we hope that our Lower School families in particular will find some useful tips below as you prepare for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Celebrate The Summer

For parents of school-age children, particularly those in elementary school, summer days can swing from moments of pure joy to ones of frustration. You can wish for the summer to never end one minute, and then beg for late August to arrive the next. That’s why we think it’s important to reflect on the summer as a whole and celebrate the adventures, big and small, that made up your 2017 summer. Here are some suggested ways to celebrate the summer:

Spend a carefree afternoon. Summer should include some relaxation, yet in today’s world, relaxation can be rare. So lounge by a lake, on a beach or in a hammock in these remaining days of summer and enjoy some quiet time.
Create a photo book of summer memories. This could be as simple as creating a collage with photos printed on a home printer. Engage your child in its creation and reflect on their favorite parts of the summer.
Draw pictures of your best family memory or write a story about it. Grab the crayons or the markers and some paper and draw or write away. Don’t let your child have all the fun, though. Release your inner
Focus on what you accomplished, not what you didn’t. Many people start the summer with a long list of potential summer activities. Often we run out of time to pursue them all. Celebrate what you did do instead of starting the school year with a pang of we-didn’t-quite-get-to-that regret.

“I take time to reflect and write down everything I did (big or small) that I can remember. My list usually ends up being so long that I cannot believe I did so much in such a short time. I end up being very excited about all the things I did that summer and look forward to making a new school-year list.” – Karen Rossbach, MPA Lower School and Upper School Art Teacher

Ideas for a Learning-Rich Summer

June 8, 2017

By Dr. Bill Hudson, Mounds Park Academy Head of School

Summer was made for students. That might sound counterintuitive for the head of an independent PreK–12 school to say, but please hear me out.

Consider the words that best describe the students who call MPA home: freethinkers, free spirits, risk takers, right makers. Dreamers and doers. Throughout the school year, we promote these qualities across our academic and extracurricular activities. We create days that are filled with wonder so that students emerge from each year even more joyful, confident, and creative than they were in the fall.

Then summer comes. Extra time, a slower pace, and beautiful weather, all set the perfect stage for MPA students, and all children, to continue developing those qualities on their own and with their families.

Full Circle

June 1, 2017

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

My grandmother used to say that everything comes full circle, that in one way or another, we end up where we began. As we mark the end of the school year, we celebrate the ways in which the academic careers of our graduating seniors have come full circle.

This past week was the seniors’ last at MPA. They celebrated in a number of ways, including a fun senior “prank.” (I must share with you that MPA is the only school I know of where the seniors work with the administration in advance to plan their prank.) Upper School teachers served them waffles for breakfast and I treated them to Chipotle for lunch. For me, the lunch comes full circle from last fall when I met with them in groups of 10 over lunch and asked them to share with me their college dreams. Having come full circle, they received offers of admission from 113 different colleges and universities in 31 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada. Next fall they plan to matriculate to 33 different schools in 14 states.

Advice For Their Kindergarten Friends

May 26, 2017

We asked several members of the Class of 2017 what advice they have for the members of the Class of 2029, current kindergartners. Here are a few of their thoughts …

“Being fair and passionate never goes out of style. Don’t lose sight of what you want to do. Sometimes your kindergarten passion is your lifelong passion. Don’t abandon it too soon.”
–Jack Gangestad

“I would advise the Class of 2029 to be grateful for the opportunities at MPA and to be appreciative of the time they have here, since it goes fast!”
–Eloise Berdahl-Baldwin

Finding The Right Kindergarten

May 26, 2017

by Renee Wright, Mounds Park Academy Lower School Director

What makes a strong kindergarten program? How do you know what will be a good fit for your child? Should you find a program that stresses academics, play, or one that promotes both? Is a public neighborhood school the right choice or a private one with small classes?

There is no one right answer, and every family needs to base the decision on what works best for its individual circumstances and family values. Given our experience at Mounds Park Academy, a private PreK–12 school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, we believe that strong kindergarten programs are places where the following occur: Read More

Get to Know a Kindergartner

April 15, 2017

A Q & A With Maahi, MPA Class of 2029

When did you come to MPA and what was the transition like?

I came to MPA … I’m going to say I did it when I was almost … Umm, I don’t remember. Okay, just before the first part of the year. I came in September. For kindergarten. It felt like fun here. When I was in PreK, I cried. Here I didn’t cry because I thought it was a pretty good place.

If you met someone who was unfamiliar With MPA, what would you tell them about our school?

There are so many fun things to do. We have pajama day and we celebrate really cool things about your birthday and there are so many amazing classes. It’s like a party. Kindergarten is so fun. The teachers are nice and tell you that it’s okay to make an accident. You know, you don’t have to do it perfectly.

What is your favorite MPA memory?

My favorite school memory is going outside and feeling how the weather is. And then I also love staying inside and doing beautiful artwork. And some of my favorite memories are in the Monday Morning Meetings … to find out who won the CHAMP awards. And if Mrs. Wright says a kindergartner, it’s so exciting! Read More

Yoga Calm Featured in MPA Lower School

March 13, 2017

MPA alumna and PreK teaching assistant shares her passion for yoga with her young charges

by Annie Stewart ’11, teaching assistant

Many yoga practitioners remember their first yoga class as the day their life changed. My first class was at the Heartworks Yoga studio in Northfield, Minn. when I was a sophomore at St. Olaf. I was living in the dorms and going through a challenging time. My friends suggested that I try a yoga class—a hot yoga class. I don’t know how I survived the 100-degree heat, the high humidity, and the crazy moves, but I was hooked.

Today I am sharing my love of yoga with the Lower School students at Mounds Park Academy. I think it’s vitally important for young children to experience yoga. They are experiencing a lot of emotions—and expending even more energy—during the course of the day. As teachers, we often expect them to sit still and listen, not move or chat with their neighbors. Few adults have that control!

I asked some of my students what they like about Yoga Calm. One said, “It calms me, and I just love time to be still.” Another shared, “If I am having a bad day, remembering these techniques really helps me calm down.” A young boy said, “I can get nervous before tests and this really helps relax me.” Another student said, ““I showed my mom how to do the yoga flow. She was really stressed about her annual meeting at work.”