Middle School

Defining Character

April 18, 2022

Senior Service project fundraiserAt home, you teach your children values. Shouldn’t their school do the same? Respect and integrity are integral components of the Mounds Park Academy mission, and character development is woven into the MPA experience. Rooted in the idea that the human character is malleable and children are exceptionally capable of positively impacting the world, character has been taught as one part of the whole child at Mounds Park Academy since 1982.

Respect, integrity, and global responsibility are as central to the mission of the school as intellectual ambition and effective communication. Varied, creative, and always evolving, how each teacher approaches character education is as unique as their own DNA. Teacher autonomy applies to all disciplines at MPA and is highly valued by teachers and administrators alike. It relies on mutual trust and is based on the idea that teachers are professionals who know their students best.

When the desire for formal character education during the early, foundational years of MPA rose to the surface, in true MPA fashion, leadership turned to our in-house experts—teachers. A committee composed solely of teachers was formed to establish CHAMP, a cohesive program with a strong academic foundation. The key components of CHAMP (Character Happens At Mounds Park) still hold true today: a partnership between home and school is essential; character education is embedded into the full curricular and extracurricular experience; adults intentionally model the character we expect; strong character and positive behavioral choices should be practiced; and ongoing evaluation and evolution are needed to ensure the program’s viability. Seven character traits of the program were identified—friendship, compassion, respect, self-control, responsibility, cooperation, integrity—with inclusiveness, courage, and mindfulness being added in recent years. Read More

The Importance Of Reading

April 14, 2022

Head's Messagefrom Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I delight in the number of students who come into school in the morning with a book in their hand and a finger holding their place. Clearly, they love reading as much as I do. Reflecting on the great books I’ve read, from Dr. Seuss to Chaucer, I see how reading has changed my life. Through reading, I have plumbed the depths of despair and witnessed the triumph of the human spirit. I’ve lived through momentous battles and traveled the world. Reading has transformed me and made me into the person I am today. While my parents actively encouraged reading, it was in lower school that I learned to love reading, and it was my teachers who introduced me to great books.

The 22nd Annual MPA Book Festival (April 5-17) is a true reflection of our mission as we choose to celebrate reading in such a joyful way. By coming together to celebrate reading, we send a powerful message to our children about its importance. I am very grateful to the MPA Parent Association for sponsoring such a fantastic event. Funds raised from book purchases support the MPA library and directly impact students. Read More

Parents Association Book Festival Details & More

April 14, 2022

LogoLast Chance for Book Festival 2022
Tuesday, April 5-Sunday, April 17
Just a few more days of MPA’s beloved annual Book Festival! The goal is to promote the joy of reading and connect with the MPA community through our shared enjoyment of reading. Every purchase you make helps support our wonderful library, a great resource for both students and families.

  • Make a Teacher’s Wish Come True: Look at your teacher’s wish list and buy books to donate to the classroom.
  • Add to Your Library: To buy books from Valley Bookseller visit this link to place your order. Mention MPA in the order comments or when purchasing in person and 20% of the order will go back to the MPA Library. Visit this link to place an order with Usborne Books & More. Based on your purchases, the MPA Library will earn 50% of the sales back in FREE BOOKS!
  • Library Poem: Enjoy this short poem by MPA third graders, written to express gratitude for our amazing library. Please download or stream the video here.
  • Stories, Songs and Poems Read by the MPA Community: Our many fun book-centered activities include stories and songs to help unwind in the evening. MPA community members have recorded stories, songs and poems, including a new poem by the third grade! You can find the stories and poems here, and the bedtime stories and songs here. Download these stories and poems for easier viewing or to watch later on, or stream them.
  • More Fun Activities: Check out how to draw a superhero here and then draw your own on the back of your Book Festival bookmark. Liz from Usborne Books gives a sneak peak of a wide variety of books including fiction, non-fiction and activity books here.
  • Share your Favorite Books: We created a padlet board for sharing your favorite read. To add to the padlet board click here.

Read More

Meet Retired Faculty Member—Bev Docherty

April 14, 2022

BevBev Docherty

Position while at MPA
Physical Education/Health Teacher, Coach

How many years did you work at MPA?
34 years

What do you miss most about MPA?
I miss so much about MPA; the opportunity to work with such driven, focused students and student athletes, my dedicated, fun-loving Physical Education/Health and Athletics Departments and the entire, supportive Mounds Park Academy community.

What have you been up to since leaving MPA?
I’ve been running, biking and exploring areas of Florida with my recently retired husband, Jim. We returned to St. Paul this summer to enjoy the Minnesota summer, to continue work on our “fixer-upper” home–on our 26th year of updates:), and catch up with our dearly missed family and friends. Cheering on MPA alumni Mason Ferlic this past year throughout his journey to the Olympics has been a wonderful treat! Perhaps it aided in my decision to return to co-coach the MPA Cross Country Team this fall after many, many years, which is bringing me such joy already!

Diving Deeper Into Rigor With Purpose

April 7, 2022

Upper School students in the labAs a top ranked college prep school, MPA has the responsibility to prepare students for college, and more importantly, for life. At every grade level, MPA finds a developmentally appropriate way to incorporate rigor–not just for the sake of a rigorous education, but to challenge students to push their limits, discover what they are truly capable of.

Being experts in their field, MPA teachers are tremendously passionate and dedicated to getting students to not only answer the “what,” but the “why.” They inventively design learning opportunities with real-world applications for our students. They equip their students to use their knowledge to make the world a better place.

This is rigor with purpose.

What does rigor with purpose look like?

MPA’s highly rigorous education does not challenge top students by piling on busywork, nor does it take away support and individual attention from a teacher. It’s about diving deeper.

It looks like PreK, our youngest students, digging into a dinosaur fossil lesson in the Makerspace to explore how the biology and science of the world of the past influences the one of the future.

It looks like Middle School students blossoming into freethinkers, discovering the independent freedom of being resourceful, organized, and adaptable as the guided lessons of early childhood give way to multistep research projects and open-ended discussions in their classrooms.

It looks like Upper School physics students venturing out into our community to address problems, and then reactively designing, engineering, and manufacturing 3D-printed tangible solutions to improve them and our overall physical campus. Read More

Let’s Dream

April 7, 2022

from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

“I need to start living again,” I said to myself last week after exchanging a series of texts with a good friend that I have seen only once in the previous two years. I immediately texted her again, and we made plans to meet for breakfast over the weekend. Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience. The last two years of the pandemic have been difficult for a number of reasons, including the lack of opportunities to socialize with and expand our circle of friends. I noticed this at school also. My heart was bursting at the seams during our Lower School Art and Music Show last week, and I realized how much I missed the casual, joyful interaction with parents.

In just a few weeks, on Friday, April 22, we have an opportunity to burst out of our pandemic cocoons for an evening of fun, strengthen friendships, make new friends, and celebrate our school community. While the MPA Spring Auction, “Let’s Dream,” is the only fundraising event of the school year, it is so much more. Whether you are a new or returning family, you will enjoy the laid-back atmosphere held this year in a stunning setting. A’Bulae is a truly unique venue set atop a building in Lowertown St. Paul with sweeping vistas and a rooftop terrace.

“Let’s Dream” is a wonderful celebration that raises over $200,000, directly benefiting our teachers and students. It is a chance for parents, alumni, grandparents, parents of alumni, and employees to celebrate all we’ve accomplished. Our volunteer planning committee, Karen Chan, Rebekah Cook, Sarah Cotter, Lucia Gray, Amy Kotch, Tara Lafferty, Jennifer Macdonald, Amy Minear, Renee Roach, Mindy Ruane, Kelley Still, Leslie Todero, and Lisa Vale, have been hard at work planning a wonderful evening. Hundreds of community members and area businesses have joined together to create our fantastic 170+ item silent auction. There are also a limited number of golden tickets that are still available that provide the opportunity to pick any one of the fabulous live auction items. Read More

Middle School Division News April 7, 2022

April 7, 2022

from Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School Director

Spring Has Sprung!
While it does not feel like it, we are in the middle of Minnesota spring! We are counting down the days to warm recess time, reading outside, and the eagerness to bust out of the classroom/building to learn outside.

7/8 Grade Dance Party and Parent Social Opportunity
This Friday, April 8, from 7-9 PM, our 7/8 Student Council, lead by Marina Dale and Jocque Warner will host our first dance in the Family Commons. Please note the following details:

  • Entry fee is $10 and includes pizza, beverage, and snack.
  • Outside food/drink may not be brought to the event. No exceptions.
  • Phones will collected from all students upon entry to the building and placed into a bin at the start of the evening and can be picked up at 9PM at the end of the event.
  • Dress is “come as you are” casual
  • In addition to dancing and fun music, we also have bean bag toss in the hallways, card games and other board games available to play and gather with friends.

Please do not drop your student off before 6:55 PM and plan to promptly retrieve them at 9 PM. All drop-off and pick-up happen at DOOR 1 (Lower School office).

Book Festival at MPA
While many of our events remain virtual this year, there are a few places where YOU and your middle schooler can get involved. Please join us from now, until April 17 to share in the adventure of reading and promote literacy at MPA.

Daily, from now until the end of the festival, gently loved books are for sale in our hallways during the day. Paperback books are $.25/each and hardcover just $1.00. You’re welcome to donate books your family no longer wishes to keep and sending a few dollars with your avid reader to select a few new ones is a great way to support the festival!

You can also purchase new books for yourself and others to benefit the library. Visit this link to place your order. Mention MPA in the order comments or when purchasing in person and 20% of the order will go back to the MPA Library. Looking for a different selection? Visit this link to place an order with Usborne Books & More. Based on your purchases, MPA Library will earn 50% of the sales back in FREE BOOKS! Read More

Parents Association Book Festival & April Events

April 7, 2022

LogoBook Festival
Tuesday, April 5-Sunday, April 17
MPA’s beloved annual Book Festival is here! The goal is to promote the joy of reading and connect with the MPA community through our shared enjoyment of reading. This year we have a hybrid model with some on-campus events and online book purchasing from our booksellers, Usborne and Valley Bookseller. If you have any questions, please email michelle_wessely@yahoo.com.

Proceeds from the used book sale and purchases made through the booksellers benefit the MPA library so every purchase you make will help support our wonderful library, a great resource for both students and families. Read More

Rigor With Purpose

March 31, 2022

CircuitLabI enjoyed the opportunity last Friday to visit with fifth-graders about their SEEK (Science, Experiments, Explorations, and Knowledge) Projects. A tradition for more than 20 years, Middle School Science Teacher Courtney Nagle describes SEEK as “the scientific method on steroids!”

As I wandered around the Family Commons, I was impressed by the variety of scientific experiments students chose and was struck by their curiosity. In particular, I was delighted with their ability to critique their project, talk about what they would do differently next time, and how what they learned could be applied in other contexts. The SEEK Project is an excellent example of what we at MPA call “rigor with purpose.”

Rigor is different from difficulty. Traditional applications of rigor most often entail more and harder assignments that are “pushed down” from the teacher and “piled on” to the student. In reality, such an understanding of rigor requires little more than lower-level thinking skills such as factual recall and procedural regurgitation rather than greater cognitive complexity. At MPA, rigor with purpose is meaningful learning that goes deeper to challenge students’ thinking in new and exciting ways. Read More

Parents Association Book Festival Announcement

March 31, 2022

LogoBook Festival
Tuesday, April 5-Sunday, April 17
MPA’s beloved annual Book Festival is almost here! We’ll have many fun book-centered activities, including stories to help unwind in the evening, and our padlet board for sharing your favorite read. Click here to add to the padlet board. The Book Festival’s goal is to promote the joy of reading and connect with the MPA community through our shared enjoyment of reading. This year we have a hybrid model with some on-campus events and online book purchasing from our booksellers, Usborne and Valley Bookseller, more details coming soon.

Used Book Sale
The Book Festival Committee is asking for donations of gently used books and music that will be available for sale (25 cents for paperbacks, $1 for hardcovers) during the Book Festival. Look for donation carts at the North and South entrances from March 24-April 15. We welcome books for all ages!

Proceeds from the used book sale and purchases made through the booksellers benefit the MPA library so every purchase you make will help support our wonderful library, a great resource for both students and families. 

MPAPA One Book, One Community: Book Club with Dr. Hudson April 14, at 6:30 PM
Please join us for a lively discussion of Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel! The PA will be purchasing books for those who would like to take part. Let us know if you plan on attending the book club, and whether or not you would like a copy of the book provided to you. Please fill in this google form to order the book and sign up for the book club.