October 31, 2024
from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director and director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning
Editor’s Note: Periodically, you will find a guest Head’s Message here from members of the administrative team. We hope you will enjoy reading their thoughts and reflections about life at MPA.
Sir Ken Robinson’s prolific Ted Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” exquisitely describes the traditional school model’s habit of separating the head from the body. In other words, traditional schooling is unevenly focused on academic skills, leaving out the other side of the human development coin: the body and the senses. The integration of the mind and the body is imperative to the development of a human being and underscores our whole child approach at Mounds Park Academy. Thanks to MPA’s Building Opportunities for Learning Distinction (BOLD) Innovation Fund that families supported during the 2022 Spring Auction, and along with our learning specialist and PreK-5 school counselor, we were able to make the sensory room initiative a reality in the spring of 2024. Repurposing a corner of the Lower School workroom last year, the counselor and I offered short, daily “sensory breaks” for students in the Lower School to find emotional regulation and calm during the bright and busy school days. Since then, we have hired Mx. Lewis as of this September, our student success teaching assistant based in the sensory room who collaborates with the teachers, counselor, and learning specialist in the Lower School.
But you might be asking, what exactly is sensory processing and what is a sensory room? With October marked as Sensory Processing Awareness Month, this is a timely question. And here is where our “seven senses” come in. Yes, we all learned in elementary school that there are five human senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. However, did you know that researchers have more recently discovered two additional senses? Those include the proprioceptive and vestibular senses.
Read More
from Mark Segal, Upper School director 
from Paul Errickson, Middle School director
from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director 
Dr. Hudson’s Book Club Returns Next Month!
Call for Volunteers: Lower School Halloween Party!
from Dr. Bill Hudson, head of school
School is back in session, students are back in classrooms, and it’s the perfect season to reflect as a community on how the time we spent on campus led us to where we are today. As MPA alum, we have experienced firsthand the power of a faculty, staff, and community dedicated to helping students discover and develop their passions and dreams.
Our call to action is simple: be a part of the MPA school community! The goal of the Parents Association is to provide clear, accessible ways for parents/guardians to be active participants in the quality of community that surrounds the student body collectively. Efforts are being made each month to invite you in to learn, support, and lead in partnership with faculty and staff in a variety of ways. Check out what’s coming up this month! Let us know if you see new or different ways to strengthen our efforts by emailing