March 24, 2022
from Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School Director
Daylight Savings, Spring Fever, and 12 More Weeks To Go
I hope each of you had a wonderful spring break and had some time to unwind, share time together, and just to enjoy a little less busy in your days. If you traveled, I hope it filled your bucket and brought you joy, and if you stayed put, I hope you had extra time in your jammies and read a good book.
As we all return from spring break, we have an opportunity to begin anew—to have a fresh start, to refocus our energies to finish strong, and to find our best selves before we head into summer and onto the next grade-level and adventure. I hope you, as parents, and your students, see promise and possibility in this moment in time. I am grateful for you and your students at MPA!
Grateful For You!
To all those who helped to organize our Middle School Snow Tubing Event and to those who also supported iTERM courses—THANK YOU! Your time, talent, and presence in our community are so appreciated and your presence and partnership are so important! I am grateful to get to spend time with your young people, and even more fortunate to get to share these experiences with you.
So Many Beautiful Faces
I am loving seeing so many of faces emerge from behind masks and I also want you to know that students are being reminded to respect and honor the choices of those who continue to mask. Just as we do all aspects of identities, personal choices, and perspectives, I have been very explicit with students that we are to respect and support those who make choices that are best for them. Please take a moment to ensure that your student understands the importance of this and that they understand that they are not allowed to tease, demean, or otherwise question another person’s personal decisions.
Let’s Dream: Save The Date
We’re excited for the 2022 MPA Spring Auction: Let’s Dream, which will be held on Friday, April 22 at A’bulae in Lowertown. This is an opportunity for our entire community to gather safely together and celebrate the year. The event will feature an amazing meal, fun games and prizes, and the chance to bid on and win wonderful auction items, all in support of the MPA community. The event raises more than $200,000 in support MPA students, staff, and teachers.
Sponsorship packages and tickets are available now!
We’re also in need of a variety of a auction items including gift cards, baskets, experiences, and more! No donation is too small. Click here to view the 2022 Wish List.
Thank you to our volunteer 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
Please contact Jennifer Rogers-Petitt, director of development and community engagement, via email at jrogers@moundsparkacademy.org or at 651-748-5532 with any questions.
Overnight Class Trips
Student overnight travel is an important and very exciting rite of passage for Middle School students, and we are excited to be traveling this spring. Our fifth and sixth grade classes will be traveling to Osprey Wild during the week of April 4 for their annual class overnights, and our eighth grade class will be traveling to Eagle Bluff April 13-15. Please be on the look-out in your email for more details in the coming days/weeks.
NOTE: While we encourage all students to participate in these trips, if you do not wish for your child to do so, we ask that they remain at home as grade level teachers also attend trips as chaperones.
Please return forms with your student to the Middle School Office!
Minnesota Institute For Talented Youth (MITY) Opportunity!
Are you looking for something fun, challenging, and unique this summer? Are you ready to meet students from across the Twin Cities who share your interests? Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) offers dozens of exciting classes in the areas of STEM, humanities, and the fine arts. Sample ExplorSchool classes for fifth and sixth grade students include Using Engineering Design to Build a Longboard, The Art and Science of Special Effects, Model United Nations, The Physics of Sports, ArchKIDtecture, and Technomathematics.
Students can choose to attend half day, full day, or online. seventh and eighth grade students are eligible for MITY’s Expand Your Mind (EYM) program at Macalester College. Sample classes include Chemistry is a Blast, Mock Trial and Current Legal Issues, Musical Theater Workshop, Creative Writing, and Calling All Coders: Let the Games Begin! Visit MITY.ORG for more information and to apply. Financial aid is available.
DREAM BIG. DO RIGHT.
As we peek into spring and look toward the end of the year, we hope that we can all share in some joyful moments, some grand adventures, and end this year on a high note. I have been revisiting Middle School expectations with all our students and I ask that you join me in partnership to reiterate the fundamental tenants of being a good student, a positively contributing community member, and a young person of character and integrity. I am asking students this week, and next, to bring home a sheet that reviews and outlines the academic and behavioral expectations in Middle School. Please discuss, reinforce your wishes for them at school, and help to instill in them the importance of their commitment to learning and growing and helping others to do the same.
It truly takes a village when our young people approach adolescence, and your part in that village is essential.
That’s all for now…mark those calendars and we’ll see you at the Snow Park!
IMPORTANT DATES
- March 25: Fifth Grade Science Fair, 8 AM, Family Commons
- April 1: End of Quarter 3
- April 4: NO CLASSES–Grading Day
- April 4-6: Sixth Grade Overnight Trip, Osprey Wild *NOTE: Sixth grade departs on a day with no scheduled classes
- April 6-8 Fifth Grade Overnight Trip, Osprey Wild
- April 22 Fifth Grade Math Masters Competition
- April 22: MPA Spring Auction: Let’s Dream
- April 27: Grandparents and Special Friends Day
- May 5: Middle School Family Dinner (with rising fifth graders)
- May 5: Middle School Vocal Concert, 7 PM
- May 12: Middle School/Upper School Orchestra Concert, 7 PM
- May 19: Middle School/Upper School Art Show, Opens at 6 PM
- May 19: Middle School/Upper School Band Concert, 7 PM
