July 2, 2019
Due to student interest, MPA is pleased to announce that it will offer an Upper School Girls Swimming and Diving Team starting this fall!
Details:
- This four-day-per-week program is for students entering grades seven through 12 and no exceptions can be made.
- This offering will be in addition to the Lower and Middle School Swim Club for boys and girls, which is offered in the winter. Swimmers may participate in both opportunities (correction from an earlier communication).
- This will be an MPA-only team with no other school partnerships.
- This team will be coached by Ms. Stacy, fourth grade teacher.
- Practices will begin August 12, 2019 at the Maplewood YMCA. Meets will be determined at a later date.
- Transportation to and from practices and meets will be the responsibility of the families.
- A parent/coach meeting will occur later in July.
- The cost for participation will be $175 per student.
To register for the team, email Dan Haase, athletic director, at dhaase@moundsparkacademy.org and include your student’s name, grade level, and preferred parent email address.
Go Panthers!
Mounds Park Academy is happy to announce the expansion of its bus services to the Minneapolis area for the 2019-20 school year!
With 13 athletes plus relay alternates qualifying for the state meet, it was a busy weekend for panthers track and field. On Thursday, MPA’s state qualifiers, alternates and coaches took a bus to Hamline University for the season’s final practice on the track at Hamline. After practice, the team enjoyed a stop at Jamba Juice on the way home!
MPA Track and Field went toe to toe with the best competition in Section 4A and emerged with a record number of runners advancing to the state meet!
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!
In May 2018, Middle School faculty members Ms. Meras, Ms. Powell, and Ms. Nagle first began thinking of ways to better utilize the food waste in the cafeteria. With the help of a Ramsey County grant and members of EcoConsilium, MPA was able to purchase a food recycling system and larger waste bins. MPA’s food waste is now sent to a pig farm, where it can be recycled as feed. There are two other bins available at lunch–one for trash and one for recyclable materials. While this was a significant change from simply dumping all lunch waste into one bin, our community adapted quickly and the student body has been enthusiastically cooperating. MPA has received positive feedback and high remarks that we are doing an excellent job of sorting our food waste and the impact has been positive.
On June 8, 2019, students, families, and faculty gathered in Mounds Park Academy’s Nicholson Center to graduate the Class of 2019. The evening began with the Upper School Band’s rendition of “Pomp & Circumstance” as the junior color guard and MPA faculty and staff presented the graduates. Throughout the ceremony, the Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers shared songs and three members of the Class of 2019 spoke. Gabby Law ’19, Julia Portis ’19, and Valedictorian Ajay Manicka ’19 shared words of pride, encouragement, and inspiration for their fellow classmates.