My MPA Experience Archives

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

Meet Alumni Board Member Rex Hendrickson ’11

September 21, 2021

Rex Hendrickson ’11

For what grades did you attend MPA?
K-12

Why did you choose to pursue a position on the Alumni Association Board?
I wanted to get more involved in many aspects of my life. I wanted to engage with the world around me and the world I know. I know MPA quite well after being there for 13 years – it seemed like a natural way to get involved and a way to give back.

In what ways do you see yourself as a supporter of MPA and its mission?
I believe, deep down, we all know what doing right is. We all have our own unique role to play, which gives us purpose and direction. I support MPA’s mission in passing on that wisdom to its students and encouraging them to dream big and do right.

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?
I am an account director at a brand strategy agency called vnzo. We work with other companies to create differentiation in the marketplace – how to claim their own space and increase marketshare. We strategize to come up with solutions; we incorporate that into their brand; and ultimately, grow through marketing.

How did you get to where you are in your career? Did you attend college and if so, where? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?
I attended the University of Denver for a couple years before moving back to MN to start working. I worked a few odd jobs before meeting a good friend of mine with whom we started a company together. Now, that company is no longer, it started to make me think in an entrepreneurial way and that has been exciting to see.

How did your MPA experience prepare you for your life today? How did MPA help you dream big and do right?
I think one of the major takeaways from MPA was the notion to think for myself. To be learned and to stay curious – to keep dreaming for something bigger and better for my life. MPA also taught me to do the right thing, to have my own moral code and ethics to live by. To have this personal set of rules that governs me and every one of my choices. I think that compass started at a young age.

What’s next? Any aspirations – personal or professional – that you’d like to share?
I would like to continue to work hard and keep my head down. I enjoy personal development and seeing where consistency can take you. I would also like to travel again but for now, home is where I need to be.

What do you to see happen during your time on the Alumni Association Board?
I would like to see MPA continue to grow as one of the premier private education systems in MN.

Please share your favorite MPA story.
My favorite MPA story has to include my time on the soccer team. Going to the state tournament my sophomore and my senior year were memories I will hold close to home.

Meet Ms. Hernandez

June 22, 2021

Congratulations to Lauren Hernandez who is moving from Communications Coordinator to Communications and Marketing Manager. Get to know Ms. Hernandez!

What do you love about MPA?
There is so much I love about MPA. I love the energy, the joyful students, the dedicated faculty and staff, and the sense of community. I love collaborating with my colleagues and dreaming up big (and small!) ideas. And of course, I really love getting super cute notes and drawings from kiddos!

How does MPA inspire students who dream big and do right?
MPA is full of role models that even I as a staff member look up to! The faculty is extremely dedicated and creative, but I think what’s especially inspiring is the environment that MPA creates, representative of different talents, passions, skills, backgrounds, and resources .

If you have worked at another school, how has your experience at MPA been different?
At the school I worked at before coming to MPA, my office was in a different building, separate from life on campus. At MPA, I am so connected to everything that goes on. I get to truly feel the joy that is ever-present throughout this school.

What would you tell a parent considering MPA?
Being a part of this community is a gift for your entire family. The educational journey your child will experience and the relationships and friendships you will make are so special.

What do you hope for MPA students in 20 years?
I have seen such brilliant and motivated change-makers graduate from MPA that I have no doubt about the impact they will make on our world. What I hope is that they’ll remember to reach out to us in 20 years so we can continue to share their stories!

Meet Eva Benson ’21

June 8, 2021

Eva graduated on June 6, 2021 as a member of the Mounds Park Academy class of 2021. She will attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

What do you love about MPA?
There are so many things I love about MPA! However, what really stands out to me is the teachers. Every teacher at MPA truly wants to create a personal bond with me and see me succeed. They have shown me true passion in their work, inspiring me to go out and work for my passion every day.

Why do you believe your teachers teach the way they do?
MPA teachers have ignited my love for learning through the ways that they teach. They teach the way they do to inspire their students. Every teacher at MPA has a passion for what they teach and want to see their students thrive. Read More

Congratulations Logan Sand ’08!

May 28, 2021

Congratulations to Logan Sand ’08 on winning MPA’s Alumni Association Award for the 2020-2021 year!

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?
I am program manager for the Seeing and Exploring Life’s Future (SELF) Program at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. We do comprehensive, medically accurate, and culturally relevant sex education all over the Twin Cities. I’ve been with LSS since 2017 when I came back to MN after graduate school. I started as program coordinator and I’ve been managing the program since 2019.

The majority of my work is with middle school students but we also work with youth in the community who are at ‘high risk’ for sexual exploitation/unplanned pregnancy/STIs (in other words, folks who would really benefit from sex education). I’m particularly proud of the fact that our program is one of the few in the area providing sex education to individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities (with content specifically tailored to that population). We always seek to provide our education through an anti-oppression lens. Good sex education is anti-racist, gender inclusive, and honors cultural experiences and worldviews; I like to think that SELF does really good sex education. Read More

Dhruv Muppidi ’21 Named Presidential Scholar Semifinalist

April 28, 2021

Congratulations to senior Dhruv Muppidi on being named one of 625 Presidential Scholar semifinalists from out of 3.6 million seniors across the country! Since 1964, the Presidential Scholars Program has honored the nation’s most distinguished high school seniors based on academic success, leadership, and service to school and community. Dhruv is one of only 10 semifinalists from Minnesota. He will find out if he is selected as one of 160 Presidential Scholarship recipients in early May!

Meet Dhruv Muppidi ’21

What prompted your application to the Presidential Scholars Program?
After receiving the invitation to apply to the Presidential Scholars Program, I decided to apply mostly on a whim to eliminate any regret I may have had if I didn’t at least test my chances. I never once expected to be a semifinalist, and to be considered alongside some of the most accomplished high school seniors in the country is extremely humbling. It’s a testament to the wonderful work being done at MPA by the teachers and the student body.

What’s your big dream?
If we’re talking long-term (and perhaps a tad idealistically), NBA commissioner is my ultimate dream, combining my love of business management, economics, and sports. However, I’m also passionate about combating educational inequities, and I would love to continue working in the non-profit sector during college and beyond.

Meet Margaret Lee ’14

April 13, 2021

Margaret Lee ’14 works as a Production Assistant at The Film Posse, a documentary production company based in Middletown, CT. They are premiering a 2-hour program, American Oz, on PBS for the series American Experience on April 19, 2021 at 8PM CST.

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally?
I am currently working in the documentary production field. I live in New Haven, Connecticut, but will be moving to New York City in the next couple months to pursue other documentary film or TV work there.

How did you get there? Where did you attend college? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?
I attended Yale University, where I majored in Film & Media studies and graduated in 2019. I initially started the major intending to work in academia. My junior year, I took a screenwriting class which drew me to the more creative side of film. My screenwriting professor was a huge inspiration in choosing that path; he was extremely honest and blunt (something I was not used to as a Minnesotan!), but made each of his students feel like we mattered and that he only wanted us to be excellent, as he knew we could be. Taking four semesters of classes with him not only thickened my skin as a writer, but pushed me to rethink the ways in which stories could be told. This is why I pursue filmmaking and writing now. Read More

Meet Dr. Sirid Kellermann ’88

April 13, 2021

Dr. Kellermann, class of 1988, is experiencing MPA again as parent to ninth grader Aixa Kellerman!

What are you currently doing, professionally and/or personally? How did you get there? Where did you attend college? Are there some career moves or other key experiences or relationships that have inspired you?

After graduating from MPA in 1988, I went to the University of Minnesota for a B.S. in cell biology and a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular immunology. Then I had the option to take a job in either Connecticut or Palo Alto, California. The job interviews were both in early December – it wasn’t hard to decide which position to accept! I spent 14 years in the Bay Area at R&D and marketing positions at various drug discovery companies. I also got an MBA in sustainable business management along the way. The Bay Area is a great place to live if you have no kids and you were one of the first 30 employees at Google or Facebook and you don’t mind sitting in traffic on the 101. As none of these applied to me, I found it made sense to return to Minnesota where I ultimately started my own consulting business in 2012. Read More

Meet Caleb Rhodes ‘21

April 9, 2021

Music, particularly singing, has provided me with an opportunity to grow and learn. I attended Minnesota Waldorf School through 8^th grade, and music is a significant component of Waldorf education. I learned to play the pentatonic flute in first grade, the C flute in second grade, the viola in third and the Alto recorder in fifth grade. Singing was an everyday activity in elementary school but I didn’t really enjoy it until my freshman year of high school at MPA.

When I made the switch to MPA, music was one of a activities that felt most familiar and comfortable to me, so I decided I would take varsity choir. At the end of my freshman year, my family encouraged me to audition for Madrigal Singers, MPA’s most select singing group. Getting in to Madrigal Singers ignited my love for singing and gave me the opportunity to express myself. Since that point, I have been in Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers for the last three school years, and I have auditioned for, and been accepted to the MMEA All-State Honor Choir the last two years. Singing provides me with an opportunity to confidently express my emotions in a way no other activity has been able to do. I am able to channel my feelings into music through my voice. This has made it much easier for me to open up to those around me and establish close relationships with classmates, and even with students from other schools, who I have met through our shared love of music. Read More

Meet the Soma Family

April 1, 2021

The Soma Family lives in North Oaks, MN, and have a first grade daughter.

What do you love about MPA?

We love that character education is as much a part of the curriculum as traditional learning, from PreK through Grade 12. MPA has a clear mission and seems to base all of its decisions on that mission. The academics are top notch but learning feels effortless because my child is having so much fun and feels supported in the classroom.

What initially attracted you to MPA? Do your same needs/desires hold true today?

We were attracted by how friendly and welcoming the MPA community is. From the first day we interviewed, it felt like home. I have always had the feeling that if I had a problem or concern, I could express that freely and that it would be openly received. Read More