Lower School Archives

April 23, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

With the health and safety of all members of our community in mind, and in keeping with our commitment to follow the recommendation of the Governor and public health officials, I can now confirm that MPA will remain in virtual school through the end of the school year. This wasn’t an easy decision, as you might imagine. However, it is clear that it is not possible to return to on-campus school while maintaining the necessary social distancing and safety standards. I believe MPA is positioned to successfully navigate this crisis and emerge better and stronger than before. The strength of our community, the durable relationships we enjoy, our dedicated and exceptional faculty and staff, and our history, mission, and values will power us through what lies ahead.

Virtual School
As I said in the beginning, “first different, then better.” Modeling the resiliency we inspire in our students, we have been engaged in an ongoing process of designing, implementing, assessing, and adapting teaching and learning to meet the needs of our students. As we look ahead at the next eight weeks, modifications and refinements are necessary. The administration and faculty have taken to heart the advice of a seasoned head of school from New York City who successfully led his school in the aftermath of 9/11. He said that the ability to adapt is more important than the plan itself. I am so proud of our teachers for continuing to grow and evolve in this new environment. Read More

Virtual Learning Extended: Lower School Update

April 23, 2020

by Renee Wright, Lower School director

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.

Starting the week of May 4, we will be instituting a new weekly schedule with Fridays designated as “Finish-Up Fridays.” Feedback from families shows that managing workload can be challenging at times. Fridays will allow families flexible time to complete assignments and access specialist lessons that were posted earlier in the week. Research shows that young students thrive on structure and need the security of a routine, so Lower School teachers will continue to meet with students for Zoom check-ins and lessons according to the current schedule. The major difference will be that homeroom teachers will not be assigning new work on Fridays. Read More

Spring Athletics And Summer Sports Camps Update

April 23, 2020

Consistent with the Executive Order issued on April 23, 2020 by Governor Walz that schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year, Mounds Park Academy is canceling spring sports for the 2020 season. This is not the information we hoped for. We are holding our students and their families in our minds and hearts, as we recognize the deep loss many are feeling.

To ensure the safety of campers and counselors, we are canceling summer sports camps scheduled for June (soccer camp and basketball camp). We are exploring the possibility of rescheduling the June sports camps to dates later in the summer. We plan to start scheduled summer sports camps on Monday, July 13 and continue them through Friday, July 26.

If you have any questions, please direct them to athletic director Dan Haase.

Thank You For Lighting Up The Night

April 23, 2020

Thanks to our incredibly generous community, the first-ever MPA Virtual Spring Auction: Light up the Night was a huge success! Our community joined together to raise nearly $230,000! MPA families, alumni, grandparents, parents of alumni, and friends joined together as a community to dream big, do right, and light up the world. Thank you for being part of the most successful auction in several years!

In case you missed our incredible live program featuring student performances, guest speakers, and exciting announcements, you can view a recording by clicking here.

Thanks to our community, we have gotten a jump start on our Community Care Fund. These flexible funds will allow us to respond to emerging needs, including:

financial assistance for MPA families in need;
technology access for teachers to continue enhancing virtual learning;
employee support funds for wellness and emergency resources; and
the cost of additional supplies to ensure a whole child education can continue, including art supplies, books and e-books, software and hardware, and devices for families without access to adequate technology or wi-fi for virtual learning.

Middle School Earth Day Celebrations

April 23, 2020

MPA Middle School students were enthusiastic to celebrate the 50th Earth Day on April 22. Dr. Milam challenged students to go outside to be in nature and take photographs, and students in Ms. Atchison’s class wrote poems honoring Earth. Get lost in their beautiful writing and enjoy a few of their poems.

“The Lilac” by Zain A.
The lilac that grew from the rocks,
did what it had to do
to grow its stalks.
Do you know what it went through
to accomplish that?

It had to work.
It pushed and pushed.
Till it became a plant.
Then it soaked and soaked in nutrients,
and with all that effort,
it was beautiful.

It wasn’t easy.
There were rocks piled on it.
and then some snow,
and then some drought.
It should have died.
There was so much to overcome,
but it stayed alive with its will to grow
and be beautiful.

And because of that, it grew.
It grew and grew until the winter came.
Afterwards, it pushed and pushed,
and soaked and soaked,
and became beautiful again. Read More

MPA Goes Virtual: Dhruv Muppidi

April 22, 2020

This story series illustrates how our community is embracing, growing, and connecting through virtual learning together. Read on to hear MPA junior Dhruv Muppidi’s experience as #MPAgoesvirtual!

Upon beginning virtual learning, Dhruv said he was feeling a little bit of anxiousness, but a lot of excitement. To establish a sense of normalcy, he’s been sticking to a familiar routine and curating a classroom space at home.

“It’s important to get into a regular schedule and stick to it. As much as this feels like a break, I believe it’s critical to treat this process as similarly as possible to a normal week at school,” Dhruv said. For him, that means setting an alarm to continue waking up at 6:30 AM and being ready promptly at 8 AM to tune into his Global Voices class. Read More

A Sense Of Community And Commitment To MPA

April 16, 2020

by MPA Spring Auction co-chairs Jennifer and Scott Holloway

When we began this school year with our daughter Grace embarking on her senior year at MPA, we could have never imagined how different school and life would be just a few short months later. We’ve been a part of many milestones at MPA, both as a family, and in the history of the school. One of the great joys we’ve had as parents and volunteers at MPA has been to serve as co-chairs of the Spring Auction for the past four years. Despite this history, this year has shaped up to feel like the first time all over again now that we’re offering our first ever virtual spring auction as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We can’t overstate the importance of our sense of community and commitment to MPA as it has given so much to our daughter and our family. We’ve often been asked why we continue to volunteer and urge others to do the same for the school we love. For us, it’s all about the sense of gratitude and appreciation that you can only understand when you’ve experienced the MPA way. Each year, we’ve witnessed the way that truly amazing things can happen when people join together in a common purpose. That might happen in a big banquet hall with fabulous decorations and amazing food, or it could happen on the basketball court, in the classroom, on stage, or now, in a virtual zoom room.

As co-chairs of this year’s auction, we urge you to join us for this special night. You can be a part of this event in whatever way is right for you: bid on our more than 130 auction packages, join our live Zoom program on Friday night at 6:30 featuring amazing students and guest speakers, share within your networks of family and friends to invite even more people to join in on this important fundraiser, or give at a level that is right for your family toward this year’s Fund-A-Need. Countless people have planned, donated, organized, and contributed in some way to what we’re sure is going to be another successful year. Please join us in building community and funding important needs for our students, faculty and staff, and incredible school. We can’t do it without you.

Keep Your Eye On The Ball And Keep Your Head Up

April 16, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

If you’ve coached or watched seven-year-olds play soccer, you know that there are essentially two fundamental skills: keep your eye on the ball and keep your head up. Those were basically the same two directives I had in mind when I coached middle school soccer and high school basketball. At first, the two seem to be at odds with one another. Since the ball is on the ground, how can you keep your head up? Yet in order to be successful, you have to be able to do both: to see the ball right in front of you and see the field in order to anticipate where the ball might go next.

Education around the world has changed dramatically in the past month and many young people are hurting because of that—academically, socially, and emotionally. Sadly, a recent national survey found that 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds have had their classes canceled and 41% have had no school at all. I have friends at other schools who are very good teachers and exceptional human beings that are frustrated with their inability to teach. Many students find themselves completing packets that review concepts that have already been taught at the expense of new learning. The inadequacies and injustices in the education system of the United States have become more pronounced in the age of COVID-19. Equity and access present challenges that are proving hard to overcome. Read More

Invite A friend To Lunch With MPA

April 15, 2020

Invite a friend to Lunch With MPA on Tuesday, May 12 from 11:30 AM-1 PM!

Joining us via Zoom will be current students, parents, and school leaders to share their perspectives on MPA’s mission and values, academic rigor with purpose, and vast array of opportunities. We’ll start as a large group and then use breakout rooms by division for virtual tours and questions and answers.

Please have friends RSVP here!

We’re All In This Together

April 9, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

There has been a song running through my mind over the last several weeks as we’ve banded together as a school, nation, and world, to battle COVID-19. It comes from a time-honored and critically acclaimed movie, “High School Musical.” “We’re All in this Together” is one of those catchy, syrupy songs that once you hear it, it’s hard to get out of your head. However, deep down, there is an important message. So much so that I adjusted the lyrics a bit and recorded my own version of the song to inspire (horrify, with my tone-deaf singing) our faculty and staff.

The simple truth is that we are in this together, and it is through community that we will emerge successfully, and stronger, on the other side of this crisis. Expressions of community and the affinity members of the MPA community feel for one another abound these days. As a community, we’ve come together to provide stability and continuity for our students. Parents have come together as well, through formal and informal channels, to support, counsel, and learn from one another.

In less than a week, we have an opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate our shared values and aspirations. Our annual Spring Auction was to take place on the top floor of a warehouse in Lowertown St. Paul overlooking the lights of the city. While that will not be possible, we will still come together, virtually, to celebrate the best of MPA. Through Zoom, we have the opportunity to join with one another from our kitchens and dining rooms across the metro area and raise both our spirits and the necessary funds to support MPA. Read More