Upper School Archives

“Some Good News” Premieres Tomorrow, January 22!

January 21, 2021

The upcoming webisode series “Some Good News,” created by the cast and crew of this year’s Middle School play, premieres tomorrow, January 22 at 7 PM on YouTube! Inspired by John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” series, the Middle School students (with Upper School students mentoring) were responsible for pitching ideas, collaborating, and writing stories, interviews, jokes, and sketches to produce four webisodes in the series. This approach allows the cast to go beyond acting, but to be involved in writing, filming, and directing.

The Middle School Theatre Department is proud to offer students and community members meaningful theater experiences year after year. Given the unique challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Middle School production is fully virtual so all community members far and wide can experience the joy of the students involved in this special project.

If you love and support the Middle School Theatre offerings every year, please consider making a gift that is right for you to help offset lost revenue from ticket and concessions proceeds this year. Every dollar you give will directly support the students and staff making these experiences a reality. Click here to make your gift and help us reach our goal in support of the Middle School Theatre Department. Simply add Middle School Play in your gift designation on the easy giving form. If you have questions or want to learn more about giving opportunities at MPA, please contact Jennifer Rogers-Petitt director of development and community engagement at jrogers@moundsparkacademy.org.

Alumni Mentors Make Connections Virtually

January 19, 2021

The MPA Mentorship Program entered its third year with MPA Alumni being paired with a member of the senior class. The MPA Alums and seniors exchange three emails throughout the months of November and December. A survey was sent to both the seniors and alums to determine what their interests, career goals, college choice, etc. Work then began to recruit mentors who matched with the interests of our seniors. The program is proving to be successful and gain traction as for the second year in a row we had more alumni interested than seniors enrolled. Engagement continued to be at a high level and many connections were made that will continue far beyond the seniors’ last year at MPA.

This year’s alumni mentor program concluded on January 12, 2021 with a virtual networking event taking place on both Monday, January 11 and Tuesday, January 12. Switching to a virtual program proved successful for attendance with almost 90 percent of our mentors being able to participate. Mentors logged in from all over the country and the world.

A large thank you to our 63 mentors for their commitment, dedication and kindness to our seniors during this year’s mentorship program. We are grateful for your time and devotion to MPA!

If you have interest in joining the mentorship program in the next school year please contact Ashley Goetzke, Assistant Director of Development at agoetzke@moundsparkacademy.org.

Net Promoter Score At An All-Time High

January 14, 2021

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

We begin a new year with new hopes and resolutions and with optimism that the end of the pandemic is in sight. We begin a new year complete with new understandings of ourselves, our family, our society, and our values after an extremely challenging year. Our task will be to take what we have learned, put it to good use, and work for lasting change.

You may remember that in December, parents were invited to participate in our annual Net Promoter Survey. I was more than pleased with the incredibly high level of participation—a whopping 78% of our parent community completed the survey. If you are familiar with the Net Promoter Survey, you know that is commonly used in business to measure customer service. Similarly, MPA uses the Net Promoter Survey to measure parent satisfaction and solicit feedback for use in continuous improvement in order to make data-driven decisions. The survey and score is also important because word of mouth referrals are the greatest source of admission inquiries and the best predictor of new enrollment. Read More

Stay Tuned For The Middle School Play!

January 14, 2021

Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming webisode series, created by the cast and crew of this year’s Middle School play! Inspired by John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” series, the ensemble came together to produce four webisodes, which will begin airing next Friday, January 22. The Middle School students (with Upper School students mentoring) were responsible for pitching ideas, collaborating, and writing stories, interviews, jokes, and sketches. This approach allows the cast to go beyond acting, but to be involved in writing, filming, and directing.

Congratulations, Upper School Artists!

January 14, 2021

The 2021 Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards (MSAA) have been announced, and we have multiple MPA Upper School artists to congratulate this year! Award winners will have their work included in a virtual gallery and will be invited to an online awards ceremony hosted by the Weisman Art Museum in late February. Gold Key artwork will be submitted into competition at the national level of judging. Congratulations to these ambitious artists! Learn more at www.artandwriting.org/awards and view their pieces here.

Amelia Dickson, “Anxiety,” Drawing & Illustration, Gold Key
Amelia Dickson, “Golden Memory,” Digital Art, Gold Key
Amelia Dickson, “The Old Woman,” Drawing & Illustration, Gold Key
Amelia Dickson, “Through Shattered Glass,” Mixed Media, Gold Key
Amelia Dickson, “Enlightenment,” Painting, Silver Key
Amelia Dickson, “The Watcher,” Sculpture, Gold Key
Amelia Dickson, “2020 – A Lonely Demise,” Digital Art, Honorable Mention
Samantha Forgosh, “Flower in the Wind,” Painting, Silver Key
Amy Xiang, “Untold, unfold,” Painting, Gold Key
Amy Xiang, “Blossoms,” Painting, Honorable Mention

Peacefully Working Through Our Differences

January 7, 2021

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

As I was putting the final touches on my original Panther Post message yesterday afternoon, news broke of the violent protest in Washington DC and the storming of the United States Capitol. The peaceful transfer of power is a cornerstone of our democracy. In the days, months and even years ahead, our nation must engage in serious reflection of who we are as a democratic society. How long can we say, with any sense of integrity, that this is “not who we are” before we must admit that this is who we are.

However, I am an eternal optimist and believe that American democracy is resilient. To me, it makes the case that education is important more than ever. Critical thinking, nurturing student voice and agency, character development, and civic engagement and responsibility are all antidotes to discord, division, and violence. These are important attributes of an MPA education. For instance, quite organically, 40 Upper School students joined a Zoom call last night under the guidance of several Upper School teachers who provided a context for students to think critically about the unfolding events in the context of civic responsibility. Read More

Evan Esch’s Baseball Commitment

December 28, 2020

The following essay is adapted from MPA Class of 2021 member Evan Esch’s Senior Speech.

Playing one of America’s greatest pastimes has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. When I was younger, baseball was always the most fun and something I’d look forward to in the summer. Being an athletic kid, it came particularly easy to me. I was fast, I could also hit the ball pretty well, and I was exceptional at catching and throwing. On top of that, I’m a lefty, among the most desired traits in baseball players. As I continued to progress through youth baseball, my team won a lot of games and tournaments. We had a great coaching staff that was knowledgeable and brought tremendous energy. They really wanted us to succeed. However, when high school came along, and the pressures of the recruiting environment began to ramp up, my relationship with baseball began to change.

Being noticed as a high level baseball player in Minnesota was great, it felt affirming to be one of the best. However, it sometimes made me complacent. That complacency was, at times, detrimental to my game because it made me too comfortable. It was easy to do things that came naturally to me, and they fulfilled me in the short-term, but looking back, I realized I did not accomplish much in those comfortable times. Read More

Meet Sammie Garrity ’23

December 22, 2020

How many years have you been a student at MPA?
I started at MPA in the fall of my ninth grade year, so I have been here for a year and a half.

What do you love about MPA?
I love so many things, but two really stick out. The first is the community, and the second is how my teachers push me to be the best I can be.

How are you encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA?
I am encouraged to dream big and do right at MPA because of my teachers. They expect a lot out of me, and that makes it rigorous, but in the long run, it’s making me a better student.

Why do you believe your teachers teach the way they do?
The moment I walked into MPA, I immediately saw that my teachers knew what they are doing. They have so many amazing stories and it’s clear that their teaching style is based on all of their many years of experience. Read More

Finding Light, Warmth, Joy, And Growth

December 17, 2020

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

In a few short days, the winter solstice will be upon us. Literally and figuratively—a few short days. Monday will be the shortest day of the year, the longest night, and the first official day of winter. The increasing darkness over the last several months has resulted in six additional hours of nighttime. Darkness seems to have also crept into our psyche as we experience the impact and uncertainty of the pandemic, the economy, and the social and political discord. A long winter break is needed now more than ever.

The heaviness of the dark is coupled with what seems to be more anxiety, more stress, more work, and less time to unwind. It has been proven that we have more time for leisure than we did 50 years ago, and it doesn’t seem to be any more relaxing, in part because of the pandemic, the fuzzy line between home and work, and the disintermediating effects of our screens. According to behavioral scientist Ashley Whillans, emails, texts, and social media aren’t just eating 10% of our free time—they’re fragmenting it into tiny pieces of “confetti” that we can’t enjoy. Whillans recommends blocking out uninterrupted time for leisure, just as we do for deep work. (You might enjoy Whillans’ article “Time Confetti and the Broken Promise of Leisure.”) Read More

MPA Board Of Trustees Seeking Nominations

December 17, 2020

MPA’s Board of Trustees collaborates with the Head of School to guide the school’s strategic direction, to protect its mission, to support the school’s development efforts and to safeguard the school’s financial stability.

Nominations for Trustees
We are pleased to share that the Governance Committee of the Board is launching its annual process to identify potential trustees.

If you, or someone you know, could be a strong contributor to the MPA Board of Trustees, please provide the name of your nominee and a short description of their experience and background, directly to Wendy Marko Odeen, Trustee and Governance Chair, MPA Board of Trustees at wendy.odeen@ellester.com by January 16, 2021.

In addition to strong leadership skills, nominees will bring a broad diversity of experience and backgrounds, and a passion to advance the mission of MPA. Areas of desired professional experience include: finance, accounting, investment, banking, business, communications, construction, education, law, governance, scientific training, the arts, IT, human resources, strategic planning, development, marketing, and community service, among others. Read More