Lower School Archives

October 28, 2021

from Natalie Waters Seum, Director of Admission and Communication

Once per month throughout the school year, a member of the Institutional Advancement team will be writing a guest Head’s Message in place of Dr. Bill Hudson’s. We hope these articles provide families with additional perspectives from throughout the MPA administrative team.

If you’ve been through the admission process in recent years, you’ll recognize this question: “What drew you to MPA? What do you want out of a partnership with a school that will help your child grow and learn?” In short, we’re asking families what they are searching for in a new school community.

In my (brief) time in admission, I’ve come to realize there are three relatively simple things that most families seek. They want their child to be:

known and understood—not just a number;
loved for who they are—not who others thing they should be; and
challenged, appropriately—not too much and not too little.

When we searched for a kindergarten for my now-junior, Henry, we were looking for those very same things. My mother-in-law, Robbie Seum, was the Upper School director at the time and it was generally assumed that MPA would be the perfect fit for our family. The sticker shock spurred us to cast a wider net and I brought her with me to every open house in the east metro. Afterward, I wallpapered my dining room walls with Post-it flip charts that detailed the pros and the cons of every school we explored. In the end, it was her wisdom—the wisdom of a trusted friend—that truly helped us make the right decision. As friends, and family in this case, our values were aligned. She knew that we were searching for Henry to be known, understood, loved for who he is, and challenged appropriately and she knew that’s what MPA offered.

Fast forward to this week and I have the privilege of thanking 33 “Robbies” for recommending MPA to a friend, family member, or colleague who completed the application process and perhaps enrolled. Along with the thank you notes are either tuition credits or refunds that range from $125 to $1,000. I’m only able to thank the current families whom we are aware of—there are so many more of you recommending MPA in your networks that we’ll never be able to properly thank, so please consider this a personal note of thanks to you.

Both internal MPA data and external research show the importance and power of these community member referrals. Internally, it continues to be the most important way families come to MPA and the primary indicator that a family will eventually enroll. Why? It is all about aligning values. People in your network have similar values as you—you are searching for similar things—and they trust your recommendation as someone who has found what they are searching for. Nielsen data shows that “92% of respondents trusted referrals from people they knew.” None of this is news to me and it’s likely not news to you either because you very likely came to MPA due to a community member referral, just like we did.

The families of our 138 new students this year are having an incredible experience according to the New Family Survey. On a scale of 1-5, they rate their transition a 4.7 on average. They rate their experience with the admission process a 5.0. On that same survey, they named 40 faculty and staff who have been particularly helpful and 30 students—what an incredibly warm and welcoming community we have!

If you would like to share MPA in your network and perhaps receive a tuition credit next year at this time, please learn how here. Or, simply reach out to me at nwatersseum@moundsparkacademy.org. Sharing your love of MPA with people who are searching is, by nature, a generous act of kindness—you are trying to help the prospective family find a wonderful school community and a second home. And I promise we will take exceptionally good care of them.

Lower School Virtual Family Engineering Night

October 28, 2021

Join us as we celebrate “National Lights On Afterschool Day” with an MPA Lower School Virtual Family Engineering Night with The Works Museum! Our activity theme is Cardboard Creation Challenge, and can be done with materials you easily find at home!

When
Thursday, October 28 from 6:30-7:30 PM.

What
Cardboard Creations Challenge with The Works Museum!

Where
Zoom Link 1 (Last name A-K)
Meeting ID: 832 2664 9255
Passcode: 949823

Zoom Link 2 (Last name L-Z)
Meeting ID: 832 9483 4891
Passcode: 988073

Items to gather/Materials suggestions: shipping boxes, food boxes (cereal, cracker, etc.), scissors, tape (masking, duct, or packing), writing tool (pencils, markers, crayons)
Optional: glue, paper, straws/skewers/toothpicks/beads, art supplies (stickers, yarn, ribbon, fabric, tissue paper, etc.)

Questions: Contact Russ at 651-748-5571 or rpurdy@moundsparkacademy.org.

Boosting Human Connection And Community

October 20, 2021

from Dr. Jules Nolan, MPA school psychologist

As human beings, we are social creatures: having a sense of belonging is a central need. COVID-19 restrictions and safety considerations combined with increasing political polarization have deprived too many people of being connected to each other and feeling part of a community. At Mounds Park Academy, all of us have been working extra hard at building community because we know just how important it is for our health and well-being—and that of our children.

Building community across cultures, beliefs, economic backgrounds, and other points of difference can be challenging and requires open-mindedness, patience, empathy, and understanding. Many children have an immature way to create a sense of community. Too often they connect with the idea that “If I am nice to you, and we are mean to everyone else, then we are connected.”

Uniting in the exclusion of someone else is the easiest way to feel connected. The lack of connection and sense of belonging in the broader world right now is fueling this behavior in grownups. We see it in the tribalism around masking and vaccines and the vitriol spewed in public and online forums across the country. Watching what is going on at school board meetings across the Twin Cities and the country reminds me how grateful I am to work with MPA!

Flight-or-flight reactions increase during times of fear and uncertainty
When we are in conflict with someone, our brain gets stressed and processes information in the most primitive part: the amygdala. The amygdala acts as a manager, assigning emotions like fear or anger to environmental stimuli and triggering the flight-or-fight response. The stress hormone cortisol is released, making us more impulsive, less thoughtful, and often more angry. Read More

Meet The Oliver Family

October 13, 2021

The Oliver Family lives in St. Paul, MN. They joined our community in 2021–Kellen is in third grade and Cameron is in fifth grade.

What do you love about MPA?
We love the community. As a new family, it was important to us to find a school that offered and encouraged a sense of “welcome.” We found this through the enrollment process, when we met “buddies,” met online with several teachers and administrators, and then when school began where (possibly most significantly) we have found that students and teachers say “hello” and smile beneath their masks at drop-off, pick-up, in the halls and on the playground. We have really enjoyed this sense that everyone has a place at MPA and everyone gets seen at MPA.

What initially attracted you to MPA?
In our recent school search brought about by our family’s move from Los Angeles, CA, we were attracted to MPA’s small size and with that, a greater chance for our children to have individualized attention–both academic and emotional. We were inspired by MPA’s commitment to encourage and teach children to be independent thinkers and to honor, respect, and contribute to our diverse community and world. We also appreciate the emphasis on collaboration.

How are your children encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
We are new to MPA, so still assessing how the school’s “Dream Big, Do Right” is implemented on a daily or yearly and individual basis. However, already, our young boys have been given choices that guide their learning, from language to music to reading and science projects. This opportunity has encouraged them to take responsibility for their development to some degree and to look inside themselves as well as in their community of students and teachers for answers. We look forward to more of these chances to ask big questions, explore what excites us, and seek new knowledge during our years at MPA. Read More

Growing Through Experience

October 7, 2021

from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

On Wednesday, 48 seventh graders excitedly boarded buses for a day at the Minnesota Zoo. From the outside it might look like a typical field trip, but in true MPA fashion, it is a thoughtfully crafted lesson that intentionally weaves together science, student agency, experiential learning, critical thinking, creativity, design thinking, and a dose of joy. There is a lot to unpack in that description, but I’d like to focus on just one aspect, experiential learning.

You have no doubt heard the term, “hands-on, experiential learning” sometime during your time at MPA. We use it often but have rarely explained it and its importance to learning. The concept first appeared in “Nicomachean Ethics” written in 350 BC by Aristotle, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Modern educational theorists such as John Dewey wrote about the importance of learning by doing, but it is David Kolb who developed an experiential learning theory and model. It was upon this body of knowledge that MPA developed our founding pedagogy in 1982.

Kolb defined experiential learning as “The process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” Experiential learning recognizes that students come to school with past experience and knowledge and that the school’s job is to provide a rich learning environment that engages the students at their individual levels. Examples of experiential learning abound at all grade levels at MPA and include hands-on laboratory experiments, projects in the Makerspace, work in outdoor gardens, monarch butterfly way stations, prairie restoration, field trips, performances, and more. Read More

Lower School Division News

October 7, 2021

from Renee Wright, Lower School Division Director

Reading Assessment
Lower School teachers are using the Qualitative Reading Assessment Inventory (QRI) as a tool to assess student reading. Our homeroom teachers and our learning support teachers are conducting the assessments. The data collected from the QRI will be used by classroom teachers to group students for instruction, select appropriate books for literature circles, and provide diagnostic information for designing intervention instruction. Lower School teachers have found this tool to be extremely helpful and feel confident that data-driven reading placements and instruction serve students well. The QRI will be used to document student growth in reading over the Lower School years.

What exactly is the Qualitative Reading Assessment tool? The QRI-6 is an individually administered informal reading inventory designed to provide information about word identification, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. The data informs teachers of students’ reading levels and identifies when text is at the independent, instructional, and frustration level.

Why Uniforms?
Lower School students look stunning in their Mounds Park Academy uniforms. MPA was founded 40 years ago and the uniform policy was implemented. Over the years the uniform policy has gone through some revisions, but we continue to feel students benefit from wearing uniforms. We believe uniforms contribute to a positive school climate and keep students in a “learning” mindset. We strive to consistently enforce our uniform policy. We invite parents to join in this effort. Just a reminder that leggings are not part of the uniform unless worn under a jumper or skirt. Also, socks need to be solid colors in navy, dark green, or white. Any dress shoe or athletic shoe is acceptable, but flip flops/shoes with open toes or backs, shoes with flashing lights, or boots are not part of the uniform. Jewelry should not be worn to ensure the safety of our students on the playground or in PE class. You can check out the full uniform policy in the Lower School section of the website. We thank you for supporting our uniform policy. Read More

Coming Home To MPA

September 30, 2021

from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

Love Actually is one of my favorite movies. I love the opening scene of the movie, which takes place in Heathrow Airport in London. As pictures of families greeting friends and loved ones at the arrival gate are shown, the British Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, provides the following voiceover:

“It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there: fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.”

It sounds cheesy and idealistic but I do agree that love is all around us if we are willing and able to see it. I often share that the best part of my day is greeting students at the front entrance of the school each morning. It’s somewhat like the opening scene in “Love Actually” but instead of an airport arrivals gate, it’s like the front door of a home. Home. A place of comfort, love and belonging, of family. For so many of us, MPA is much more than a building or a school. We come together around a common set of values and beliefs as well as a passionate commitment to educate the whole child. Read More

Meet The Cook Family

September 23, 2021

Parent Rebekah Cook and her family live in St. Paul, MN, and have a second grader at MPA.

What do you love about MPA?
I love the communication from faculty and staff. I always feel like I know what to expect and when things are happening, which gives me a sense of agency and allows me to be an active participant in my child’s education.

What initially attracted you to MPA?
My good friend, Summer, works at MPA. She would share about what she was teaching and the discussions she would have with her students, and I was like, “I WANT THAT FOR FRANKIE. How do I get that?!” Also, we visited several different schools and at no other school did kids have such confidence. We were strangers walking down the hallway, and kids would say, “Hi!” Or when visiting their classroom, a teacher would ask them a question and they would all be so eager to respond and share–so eloquent and confident. That’s all we wanted for Frankie–to feel confident and safe to be herself!

How is your child encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
Frankie is curious, empathetic, highly opinionated, and has some natural leadership abilities, but it can sometimes come across at “bossy.” One of Frankie’s goals from her first grade teacher was to not get distracted by others in the room and to put all of her focus on her own work so she could feel challenged and proud. I LOVED this! Her teacher didn’t discourage her to be different or to simulate, but to identify her weaknesses and strengths and channel all of that to make her the best she can be! Read More

Maintaining The MPA Experience

September 23, 2021

from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

It always seems as though the battery on my cell phone is running low. Maybe it’s because I have an older model, or often forget to close apps and plug it in. It is probably the combination of all those factors, although I often blame it on Waze, a crowd-sourced GPS traffic app I use every day that requires a great deal of power to operate.

I think we can all agree that the last 18 months of the pandemic have drained our collective batteries. COVID-19 has been like the Waze app—always open, always draining, hard to close down. Similarly, political discord, social unrest, racial tension, and climate events have also acted like apps that are constantly open and continually draining our reserve. My kids chastise me to close out my apps when I am done using them. (I wish they would do the same with their dirty dishes!) I have decided to follow their advice. Instead of allowing the pandemic to dominate my home screen, it will become just one of many apps on my phone. We must take COVID-19 very seriously, to be sure, but we must also move forward.

That said, our priority is to be on-campus for in-person learning all year. While we are carrying forward many lessons learned during the pandemic, we know how important it is for students to bring their whole selves to school each day. The Minnesota Department of Health (and all available public health guidance) agrees that the benefits of being physically present in school are significant and creating conditions that help safeguard in-person instruction is a priority.

We’ve designed our plan with the MPA mission in mind. Not only are we committed to keeping in-person learning available to students, but we know that preventing on-campus spread may help to reduce the amount of community spread within the Twin Cities. We want to “do right” by doing our part. Layered mitigation remains our shared responsibility: symptom monitoring, prompt reporting of symptoms and exposure, minimizing gatherings and travel, and higher risk activities (particularly for the unvaccinated) in addition to masking, hygiene practices, enhanced ventilation, onsite testing, and the variety of other strategies we have successfully employed during our COVID response.

Thanks to our shared commitment to all of our recommendations and guidelines, we’ve been able to not only have students be in person and learning with their teachers and classmates, but they’re experiencing all that an MPA education has to offer including safe athletics, robust support services, continuity of theatre classes and curriculum, resumed music education, clubs and activities, and a return to many on campus events.

We should celebrate our community’s commitment to vaccinations: 97% of eligible students and 98% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated. Once vaccines become available for younger ages, which may be much sooner than we thought, we strongly urge parents to seek vaccines for those under 12 as well. When that occurs, we look forward to relaxing a number of protocols that are currently in place.

It’s Time For MPA’s Fall Preview

September 23, 2021

Invite 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 7 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!