Upper School Archives

April 21, 2022

from Natalie Waters Seum, director of admission and communication

One Thursday per month you will see a guest Head’s Message from a member of the Institutional Advancement Team. We hope these additional perspectives will help you catch a glimpse inside the inner-workings of your school.

In honor of the conclusion of MPA’s treasured Book Festival, I want to share with you a book I’ve been listening to on my commute. I believe this book should be required reading for everyone in the business of people: “The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact,” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of “Switch” and “Made to Stick.” Like all great books, it was recommended to me by a trusted friend and colleague as one that directly applies to our work in admission and communication.

The premise is that moments matter—our lives are defined by moments—and through intentionality, some moments can matter much more than others. The opportunity lies in our ability to engineer moments that will have a lasting impact on those we serve. They describe in detail the four elements impactful moments often contain and how to build in these elements: Read More

Upper School Division News April 21, 2022

April 21, 2022

from Mark Segal, Upper School Director

Over the course of the past year, the other two division directors and I have committed to writing an article for the Panther Post every other week. Even though I enjoy writing as a way to express my thoughts and know there is so much to share with families of upper school students, I often find myself waiting until the last moment to write my bi-weekly article. It would be easy to come up with valid and justifiable excuses (spending time with students, responding to emails and voicemails, meetings, etc.), but in reality it is pure and simple procrastination – the act of delaying or postponing something. Now in my twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth year of working with adolescents, I understand that the art of procrastination is real and that it impacts most of us in some way. We may avoid something that is challenging, find alternative things to do, or fear not doing the task “well enough.”

Psychologist and author Alice Boyes published a study in The Harvard Business Review that shared some findings and assumptions of procrastination, and made suggestions to counteract them. The first assumption is that those who procrastinate are undisciplined and do not have the self-control to do what is necessary. Although there may be some truth to procrastinators being headstrong and set in their ways, Boyes suggests that habits and systems be established by setting up a consistent schedule for completing the assigned work or task. The author also found that, “We tend to avoid tasks that stir up negative emotions.” Additionally, the belief is that when experiencing feelings of uncertainty or anxiousness negative emotions are brought to the surface and we are more apt to procrastinate. In this case, the suggestion is to disentangle our emotions from the task, and find a way to make it fun and reward yourself when it’s done. Lastly, the HBR article shares that we often find ourselves stuck in a pattern of unhelpful thoughts that occupies all we think of. The researcher suggests to break this cycle that we, initially, limit ourselves to short work periods and slowly built upon them, like training for a marathon.

Parents Association News & Events

April 21, 2022

Book Festival Update
A huge thank you to all who contributed to this year’s Book Festival. Thank you to the vendors, Valley Bookseller in Stillwater and Usborne Books & More. Valley will donate $775 to our library; they sold 170 books ($3877 total). Usborne sold 79 books ($1046 total) and will provide MPA with a $523 credit to purchase new books. The gently used book sale raised approximately $400. The total raised this year for the library is $1698!

Thank you to all the students, faculty and staff who contributed their time and talents to the reading of stories and poems. Thank you to the many people who made and distributed bookmarks, decorated the library, and coordinated events. Thank you to the IT department, and a huge shout-out to Bakari in Communications, who was instrumental in bringing our ideas to life.

Finally, a whole-hearted and deep thank you to all those who contributed by purchasing books, for their families and for our teachers. It is by your generous contributions that the Book Festival was a great success, even in the virtual format. A sincere and heart-felt thank you from the entire Book Festival committee! Read More

Defining Character

April 18, 2022

At 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

from 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

Last 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.

Meet Retired Faculty Member—Bev Docherty

April 14, 2022

Bev 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

As 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

Upper School Division News April 7, 2022

April 7, 2022

from Mark Segal, Upper School Director

During the past week I have had the opportunity to speak with families who had a child accepted to MPA next year. Some of them are current MPA families and already have children on campus, and many will be new next fall. I love hearing their unbridled joy emanate through the speaker of the telephone as they talk about their happiness for their children and their family. This reaction made me think about how our students and faculty look at the joy experienced on campus.

At MPA the joy of learning is one of the six tenets of our mission statement. It is not just something that we hope our community experiences, but rather something that we thoughtfully and intentionally expect of our faculty and students. As I think about this, I wonder how we measure one’s joy of learning.

My guess is that it is not through the width of a student’s smile, or the decibel levels of laughter coming from a classroom, but rather from the intangible sense that we as educators and parents innately have.

As I think about this, I “measure” the joy of learning when seeing a gaggle of seniors gathered in the Hart Commons working together while huddled around a challenging AP Calculus problem, witnessing a group of juniors leaving their American Studies class discussing the “This American Life” podcast that they listened to, noticing sophomores sharing information about a peer critique in their Photography class, or eavesdropping on freshmen reminding each other to take care of their mental health as they learned in their health class. These genuine and authentic conversations between students about things they learn in class gives me great joy. The happiness that emerges from this community fills me with deep gratitude for the students and the incredibly talented faculty members who teach them. Read More