May 28, 2020
The annual MPA Parents Association Book Festival has left us with many awesome books to carry us through the summer, along with proceeds for our library to purchase new books to benefit our library, teachers, and greater community! It was so wonderful to see Valley Book Seller, Usborne Books, and Breakthrough Twin Cities highlighted on our social media platforms, and all the great responses from our community.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the Book Festival a success! First, we want to thank all of you who purchased books, for being flexible and willing to try something new this year, and for supporting the Breakthrough summer literature program. Without you, there would be no Book Festival! We want to thank the parent volunteers, as they are key to helping our MPA community put on so many well-loved traditions. We want to thank Nancy Lage, as well as many teachers and administrators, for the time they spent brainstorming wonderful ways to engage our community in reading activities throughout the Book Festival. Finally, both Valley Book Seller and Usborne Books also send a big thank you to our community for supporting their small businesses during this hard time. We don’t know what next year will bring, but we will be excited to offer our Book Festival anytime, anywhere, anyway! Read More
Erin Walsh is a parent, speaker, educator, and writer. She has worked with communities across the country who want to better understand child and adolescent development and cut through conflicting information about kids and technology. She is fiercely committed to bringing an equity lens and asset-based approach to our understanding of, and response to, youth and media. Her signature down-to-earth approach and sense of humor helps families and educators engage in complicated topics and leave feeling capable and motivated.
We are having so much fun participating in the annual MPA Book Festival virtually! From 
by Josh Reimnitz, Executive Director of Breakthrough
We’re thrilled to partner with the beloved independent shop Valley Bookseller for our Virtual Book Festival! As “Stillwater’s gathering place for everything book-related,” Valley has been a neighborhood favorite for more than 25 years.
Find all of the details you need for the Virtual Parents Association Book Festival here!
Valley Bookseller Online Ordering Information
Usborne Books Online Ordering Information
Supporting Our Community
We are excited to partner with Valley Bookseller and Usborne Books for the annual MPA Book Festival—Virtual 2020! The MPA Book Festival is a beloved tradition sponsored by the MPA Parents Association, and we are looking forward to making it possible virtually. As always, the proceeds from the Book Festival sales (10% of sales from Valley Bookseller and 50% credit of total sales from Usborne Books) support local bookstores, MPA teachers, classrooms and library. New for this year, proceeds will also provide books to Breakthrough Twin Cities to support their summer literature experiences. Breakthrough is the amazing college access program that operates at MPA on Saturdays and throughout the summer, to support highly motivated, yet under-resourced students and families.
The MPA Parents Association feels incredibly lucky to be part of the MPA community and in honor of National Teacher Appreciation week, May 4-8, we are asking our community to show us who you feel lucky to have at MPA! Instead of a pot of gold, who, or what, is at the bottom of your MPA Rainbow? Take a picture of a poster or sidewalk chalk drawing that shows your MPA Rainbow and what you love at the end! It could be a teacher, staff member, an entire department, team, club, or a special space on campus that makes you thankful for MPA. Share your photos with us by emailing them to 
Since we transitioned to virtual learning, parents and guardians are no longer able to connect with one another on campus, at events, or at activities. We know that your relationships are just as important to our school community as your children’s relationships, so we have created a virtual way for you to continue fostering them.
The MPA Parents Association invites all parents to gather