Upper School Division News

November 12, 2026

from Mark Segal, Upper School director I returned last Monday from a week in China, and I keep thinking about a simple lesson from the trip—hello begins with a smile. I spent time with friends and colleagues at our partner school Vanke Meisha Academy (VMA) in Shenzhen. I also visited several schools operated by an education group in Nanning, toured a large middle school in Shenzhen, and met with prospective students and their families in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Each visit was full of new faces, new places, and plenty of moments when we didn’t share a common language. Still, every meaningful conversation started the same way, with a warm smile that said, “You are welcome here, and I am glad to know you.”

Language barriers can feel like a wall. On this trip, however, they turned out to be more like a doorway. A nod and a grin from a teacher in Nanning, a nervous smile from a Middle School student in Shenzhen, a parent’s encouraging look in Hong Kong—each one quickly settled any nerves and made room for genuine connection. It will be a long time before I forget the interaction I had with a student at the Zhuoli Apple Orchard School in Nanning, where neither of us spoke the same language, but we both knew what the other was conveying based on the look on our faces and the warm smile we gave to each other. Psychologists have studied this for decades. The late Paul Ekman, an American psychologist who studied emotions and their relation to facial expressions, performed cross-cultural research and found that people from very different cultures link a smile with happiness. A smile carries meaning even when words fall short. Mother Teresa said it well in her 1979 Nobel Peace Prize lecture: “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of [connection].”

This matters for our school, not just for travelers. Acclaimed educator Rita Pierson spent 40 years in the classroom. In her well-known TED Talk, “Every Kid Needs a Champion,” she shared her reply to a colleague who said teachers weren’t paid to like their students: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Before learning can happen, students need to feel seen, welcomed, and accepted, and that often starts with something as small as a smile in the hallway, in the carpool line, or at the classroom door. I see our faculty and students do this every day at MPA, and I saw the same thing in classrooms halfway around the world.

As our partnership with Vanke Meisha Academy grows and we deepen these global connections in our community, I invite each of us to remember how much a simple gesture, like a smile, can do. Whether you are greeting a new student or a visiting family, lead with warmth. Conversations, friendships, and authentic learning can follow from there. Hello really does begin with a smile.

PS: As you have likely heard, there is an MPA Spring Break trip to the Greater Bay Area of China this March. There are a few more spaces available for upper school students who are interested in traveling. Please reach out to me at msegal@moundsparkacademy.org with any questions or to learn more about this fabulous opportunity.

Important Notes

Attendance: If your student will be absent, late, or needs to be excused early from school, please reach out to Chanda Williams, Upper School administrative assistant, at 651-777-2555 or cwilliams@moundsparkacademy.org. 

Fall Campaign: At MPA, possibility is everywhere. It is in our classrooms, on our stages and athletic fields, in the spaces where students gather, and in the people who help each student discover who they are and what they can become. Your generosity helps make those possibilities possible. From November 15-21, highlighted by Give to the Max Day on November 19, every gift is an opportunity to make an impact. Please join members of the MPA community next Thursday, November 19, at 2:20 PM in the Nicholson Center for the annual Lip Sync Assembly, a storied and special celebration of community. Learn more by clicking here. 

Second Quarter Conferences: Upper School second-quarter conferences are right around the corner. They will take place on Thursday, December 3 (3:30-8 PM) and Friday, December 4 (8 AM-5 PM). Regular classes will be held on Thursday, December 3, but Upper School classes will not be held on Friday, December 4, allowing families to meet with their students’ teachers. More information will be shared toward the end of the month regarding signing up for conferences, but we wanted to ensure that you had this information on your calendar. As a reminder, Upper School students participate in their conferences and are required to attend.

A Look Ahead 

• Friday, November 13: US Senior Performance, 8-9:15 AM, Recital Hall
• Sunday, November 15-Saturday, November 21: Fall Campaign
• Tuesday, November 17: US Girls Tennis Banquet, Family Commons
• Thursday, November 19: Give to the Max Day
• Thursday, November 19: PreK-12 Give to the Max Day Assembly, 2:20-3 PM, Nicholson Center
• Monday, November 23: PreK-12 Indigenous Heritage Month Assembly, 2:20-2:50 PM, Lansing Sports Center
• Monday, November 23: Indigenous Heritage Month Celebration, 3:30-5 PM, Family Commons
• Wednesday, November 25-Friday, November 27: No Classes, Campus Closed, No PreK or Panther Care
• Tuesday, December 1: Returning Family Indexed Tuition Reapplication Deadline
• Tuesday, December 1: CITL Distinguished Speaker Series: Supporting Your Child Through Anxiety: The Only Way Out is Through, 12-1 PM, Virtual
• Thursday, December 3: US Conferences, 3:30-8 PM
• Thursday, December 3: Robotics Event with Panther Club, 5-8 PM, Family Commons