Upper School at Mounds Park Academy
Mounds Park Academy's Upper School challenges students to learn and grow to their fullest potential and prepare them for success beyond high school. Whether a student has been at Mounds Park Academy since PreK or joins the MPA community in Upper School, the experience of grades nine through 12 at MPA provides opportunities to use acquired knowledge to form and express opinions.
Our Approach To Teaching And Learning
The MPA Upper School curriculum is challenging and compelling. It is demanding, but not draining. The rigorous college-preparatory curriculum is balanced and always focused on the application of learning rather than memorization. It's infused with thoughtful integration so the connections between concepts and different subject areas are rich. Whether studying biological processes, constitutional law, or multiple languages, connecting things to the bigger picture gives students a broader perspective, which is essential for college prep and a prerequisite for life. Through honors courses, advanced placement courses, electives, and community service requirements, motivated MPA students take their abilities and ideas even further.
Signature Programs
The Upper School is proud to be a member of the Malone Schools Online Network (MSON). This elite group of schools offers unique, high rigor courses to exceptionally motivated students in a virtual classroom. The courses are synchronous, meaning the teacher and students are all meeting in real time in a virtual classroom via high resolution cameras, high speed connections, and large digital displays.
The AnnMarie Thomas Makerspace (the only of its kind in the Twin Cities) allows students to use creativity and critical thinking to bring their dreams to life, limited only by their own capacity for innovation.
For students ready and willing to pursue their passions, Graduate Certificates of Distinction combine coursework, research, and volunteerism, allowing students to dive deeper. The depth of inquiry that students experience through achieving a Certificate typically simulates what they will find in college.
Thousands of hours of service are contributed each year by Upper School students because they understand it's the right thing to do. These contributions of time, energy, talent, and passion ground our students in the radical idea that their identity in the world is not measured by a test score but by the depth and decency of their impact on the world.
Supportive Environment
In Upper School, students become adept at balancing the high demands of a challenging course load and learn how to better manage their time and prioritize responsibilities. Our school community maintains high expectations for the entire student body, and we're always here to offer guidance, support, encouragement and praise. We take pride in preparing balanced, confident, intellectually curious students who succeed and embrace the challenges that face them in college and beyond.
Collaboration over competition continues to be emphasized in Upper School. Students work together in an environment of support and encouragement where teachers are partners on the journey. Meaningful relationships culminate in the Upper School and last a lifetime.
MPA graduates respect human dignity and are concerned about the welfare of others, are able to combine individual interests with responsibilities to others, demonstrate integrity and ethical decision making, and resolve conflicts peacefully. MPA graduates are brilliant. They stir the human spirit, stand for justice, and shake the world. They forever dream big and do right.
Upper School Admission Process
The admission process is made up of a series of steps that will help us get to know students who are considering a private high school education at Mounds Park Academy. We also encourage families to join us at our St. Paul campus for a variety of events throughout the year as that is the best way to learn about all of the wonderful opportunities Mounds Park Academy has to offer.
