July 29, 2019
Meet Cherie Honan, who will be our executive assistant to the head of school. Ms. Honan comes to MPA with more than 20 years of high level executive administrative experience in the legal and banking fields. She has excellent skills in project management, is organized and detailed, and communicates warmly and articulately. In her role at MPA, she will help best serve MPA families, faculty, and staff in a way that is responsive and helpful. She also has an extremely caring and joyful disposition.
What did you love about MPA right away?
After many years of working in a corporate setting, I loved the close-knit, welcoming atmosphere at MPA. I am honored to be part of the community.
What’s your big dream?
My big dream is to spend a month in Hawaii and visit every island.
What are you (and your family, if you so choose) passionate about?
My husband and I are passionate about our grandchildren, Mallard and Janelle. We are also expecting grandchild number three who is due any day.
What’s your secret talent?
My secret talent started out as a secret to me. I love event planning. The event I am most proud of is my niece Olivia’s wedding.
We can’t wait for our entire community to meet you, Ms. Honan! Stay tuned for more extended Q&A profiles of the amazing faculty and staff joining our community in the 2019-20 school year!
It’s time for the third annual Max’s Muffins fundraiser! Every summer, MPA fourth grader Max sells muffins to raise and deliver funds to a local food pantry. Max was first inspired to host these summer muffin sales by Ms. P’s Kowalski’s food shelf project in kindergarten. When he learned that families struggle more in the summer when children aren’t in school with lunch provided to them, he decided he had to do something to help.
Meet Summer McCall, who is joining MPA as a social studies teacher. Ms. McCall has a Bachelor of Arts in history and Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota, and has been teaching high school for the past fifteen years across the country and internationally in Louisiana, Arizona, and Korea. After moving back to Minnesota, she worked at Bloomington Kennedy High School until joining the faculty at MPA!
Meet Rich Harris, who is joining MPA as a Physical Education teacher. Mr. Harris graduated from Southwestern College in Kansas in 1996 and has been following his passion of teaching ever since. He taught for two years in Kansas, 10 in Massachusetts, three in Qatar, five in London, and the past three in Saudi Arabia. He has also coached a variety of sports, but always basketball.
Meet Tracey Joyce, who will be our new PreK-12 academic technology integrationist. Tracey comes to us from Visitation School where she has worked in the area of technology for 12 years. Prior to that, she was a classroom teacher for eight years. Ms. Joyce has extensive experience developing curriculum and promoting the intentional use of technology to support student achievement in the PreK-12 classroom. She is an exceptional parent educator and advocate of digital citizenship and security who deeply cherishes whole child education and loves to celebrate the joy of learning!
Mounds Park Academy is happy to announce the expansion of its bus services to the Minneapolis area for the 2019-20 school year!
Meet Hannah Lawson, who has been selected as the new director of orchestras and music teacher. Ms. Lawson will join our community and the Twin Cities after eight years of public and private school teaching in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she has been teaching orchestra and general music in Saudi Arabia! She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Music Education from Boston University. We are excited about Hannah’s passion for music, her deep and thorough knowledge of composition and music theory, and her excitement to lead MPA’s orchestras to continued excellence.
Meet Ian Cunningham, who we are thrilled to welcome back after he completed his student teaching with us just last fall! Mr. Cunningham is joining the Middle School faculty as the new social studies teacher for grades five and six. He is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Master of Education in social studies, and his Bachelor of Arts in history with a minor in youth studies is also from the University of Minnesota. He brings a wonderfully positive energy to the Middle School and is already a beloved member of our community, especially by students. He is a talented young teacher with a real passion for the social studies, an ability to connect students with content, and a commitment to equity, justice, and goodness.
As the 2018–19 school year comes to an end, we’re sharing the college choice stories of several members of the Class of 2019!
Meet Lauren Drake, who is joining MPA’s faculty as an Upper School English teacher! A veteran English teacher, she has taught in both Northern California and in Colorado and recently relocated back to Minnesota. After graduating from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., Ms. Drake matriculated to Carlton College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English (magna cum laude) and then received a Master of Arts in British and American literature from Mills College. Learn more about her below!