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Upper School Division News January 11, 2024

January 11, 2024

from Mark Segal, Upper School director

Mark Your Calendars

Friday, January 12: US Class of 2028 Parent Coffee, 8-9 AM, PCR
Monday, January 15: Indexed Tuition Re-Application Deadline
Monday, January 15: No Classes, Martin Luther King Day
Wednesday, January 17: US ACT Prep Class, 5:30-8:30 PM, Room 181
Thursday, January 18: MS Grade 7/8 BIPOC Affinity Group, 2:20-3 PM, Panther Center
Friday, January 19: MS/US End of Quarter 2
Friday, January 19: US BIPOC Affinity Group Meeting, 11:20 AM-12 PM, Room 150-151
Monday, January 22: No Classes, Professional Day
Wednesday, January 24: US ACT Prep Class, 5:30-8:30 PM, Room 181
Friday, January 26: US BIPOC Affinity Group Meeting, 11:20-12 PM, Room 150-151
Friday, January 26: US Winter Show, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 7-8:30 PM, Black Box
Saturday, January 27: US Winter Show, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 7-8:30 PM, Black Box
Tuesday, January 30: Senior Performances, 9-9:15 AM, Nicholson Center (in lieu of block 1 classes)
Wednesday, January 31: US ACT Prep Class, 5:30-8:30 PM, Room TBD
Friday, February 2: US Winter Show, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 7-8:30 PM, Black Box
Saturday, February 3: US Winter Show, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 7-8:30 PM, Black Box
Sunday, February 4: US Winter Show, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 3-4:30 PM, Black Box
Wednesday, February 7-Friday, February 9: Grade 10 Deep Portage Trip

Important Information

If your student will be absent, late, or needs to be excused early from school, please reach out to the Upper School office via cwilliams@moundsparkacademy.org.
Class of 2028 parents are invited to attend a coffee for rising ninth-grade parents to learn more about the Upper School at MPA, ask questions, and share the excitement of this next important step in students’ educational journey. Please mark your calendar for Friday, January 12, 8-9 AM. No RSVP is required, and coffee, tea, and light refreshments will be provided at the gathering. We will meet in the Porter Conference Room (PCR) within the Head of School suite.
Student work for quarter two/semester one classes is due by the end of the day on Friday, January 19. On Tuesday, January 23, students will start attending their quarter three/semester two courses.

Middle School Division News January 11, 2024

January 11, 2024

from Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School director

Mark your Calendars

Friday, January 12: US Class of 2028 Parent Coffee, 8-9 AM, PCR
Monday, January 15: Indexed Tuition Re-Application Deadline
Monday, January 15: No Classes, Martin Luther King Day
Thursday, January 18: MS Grade 7/8 BIPOC Affinity Group, 2:20-3 PM, Panther Center
Friday, January 19: MS/US End of Quarter 2
Saturday, January 20: Minnesota State Future Cities Competition, Dakota County Technical College
Monday, January 22: No Classes, Professional Day
Thursday, January 25: MS Grade 5 Music Share, 2:20-3 PM, Recital Hall
Thursday, February 8: Middle School Snow Tubing, Badlands SnoPark (Wisconsin)
Friday, February 9: No LS/MS Classes, Conferences
Friday, February 9: LS/MS Conferences, 8 AM-5 PM
Thursday, February 15: LS/MS Evening Conferences, 3:30-8 PM
Friday, February 16: No Classes, Professional Development (Panther Care Closed)
Monday, February 19: No Classes, Presidents’ Day

HAPPY 2024! I hope this finds you having had a wonderful winter break with lots of rest, fun, and time with those you love the most! I also hope that 2024 presents you with a fresh start, a renewed energy, and a centeredness that can feel so elusive after the hurried holiday season. While it can be tempting to set lofty goals toward self-improvement and milestone attainment, I encourage you to be kind to yourself and search instead for peace, contentment, comfort, and fun! Catherine Price, author of The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again, writes, “If we want to be sure to save enough of our time and attention for the things that matter to us the most, we need to know what those things are—and create space for them” (p. 170).

When so much of the world is in flux of some kind, and there are indeed many transitions ahead for our division, my wish for 2024 is that we do our best to stay focused on the important things, to care for one another, and to follow the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, silly!) method for making space for things that matter most to each of us.

Middle School Office Staffing, Reminders, and Updates!
With the departure of Mrs. Lassonde, Ms. Meras and I will be managing the divisional office tasks, duties, and day-to-day activities. If you need to report an absence, we request that you email MSOffice@moundsparkacademy.org. If it is urgent, please email either of us individually (pmeras@moundsparkacademy.org) and (jmilam@moundsparkacademy.org) and we will get it ASAP. As a reminder, the office phone number is (651) 748-5565.

Additionally, if you or someone you know loves middle schoolers, a dynamic work environment, and is yearning to be a part of a great team, we would love it if you would share our Middle School Assistant job posting here.

Priority review of applications will begin on January 12! Thanks for your support, kindness, and for sharing in your networks! Read More

A Roadmap for Continuous Improvement

January 11, 2024

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I’ve made them in the past and forgotten about them within a few weeks—workout machines that soon become a place to drape clothes or a gym membership that quickly goes unused. What I’ve learned over the years is that committing to continual improvement is more sustainable and successful than a one-time set of resolutions.

MPA is committed to continual improvement. The roadmap for improvement is defined in our strategic plan, 2024ward, and validated by accreditation by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, ISACS. 2024ward resulted from multiple conversations with MPA constituents and a thorough study of what our students need to be successful now and in the future.

The first priority of 2024ward is to “empower students to live, learn, and thrive in our increasingly complex and globalized society.” How we do that is in part expressed in the second priority, “ensure an equitable and inclusive community.” To succeed, we need to “affirm and inspire our exceptional and dedicated faculty and staff,” as stated in the third priority. Finally, our school’s future will be secured by the fourth and final priority, “enhance institutional capacity by continuing to strengthen financial sustainability.” These four priorities and the goals, objectives, and action plans support and guide decisions and ongoing school improvement.

Priority One, “Empower students to live, learn, and thrive in our increasingly complex and globalized society,” can seem as though we need a crystal ball. It’s a bit daunting and pretentious to think we have a hold on the future, especially in a society and world hurdling forward at a breakneck speed. However, we know we can’t continue to live and learn the same way we have in the past. As celebrated educational reformer John Dewey said, “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”

An Invitation to the Party: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers

January 3, 2024

from Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School director

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.

“It is a deep comfort to children to discover that their feelings are a normal part of the human experience.” -Haim Ginott (1965)

“For teenagers, powerful emotions are a feature, not a bug. This has always been true, but these days it seems to be less widely understood.” -Lisa Damour (2023)

These two quotes, while written by two different people in two different centuries (wrap your head around that!), in what most would say are, societally, two entirely different worlds, point to the same thing—emotions are normal, for all of us, and are even more a hallmark of what it means to be a teenage human—regardless of decade, generation, identity status, or continent. Both Haim and Lisa are child psychologists, parent educators, and child advocates of the best kind—the kind that see childhood as a journey, a time of exploration—of really high highs and some rough lows. Bumps, bruises, broken hearts, and bad grades are partners (even co-conspirators) of the best kind to championship wins on the ball field or volleyball court, best friend adventures, all-night-giggly-sleepovers, a cute prom-posal, or a new pair of sneakers. It’s like a middle school dance where we stood on opposite sides of the gym, not sure what to do, but no one wants to miss anything, so we all stand around awkwardly hoping for something great—and wouldn’t you know, while we might not get asked to dance by our secret crush, our favorite song comes on, and we end up on the dance floor jumping around to “Shake It Off!” by T-Swift having the time of our life!

A Makerspace Twist On National Novel Writing Month

December 22, 2023

One of the most memorable seventh-grade traditions at MPA is completing NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a national effort where participants write a novel throughout November. “It’s one of my favorite units to teach,” said Maddy Wolfe ‘12, seventh-grade English teacher at MPA. “They create well-rounded characters, complex story worlds, and a plot laced with tension, all while learning and incorporating language rules and mechanics.”

This year, in addition to their novels, the seventh graders created 3D frames depicting a scene from their stories. They chose a scene from their novel to highlight, and they needed to define the details that make up the scene in its entirety, translated onto a foreground, midground, and background.

“We used a multi-plane camera process—an old-fashioned way of creating 3D space by painting on glass frames as in the early King Kong movie—to create the illusion of space,” commented Keith Braafladt, MPA’s Makerspace coordinator. “It was a surprise how interested and passionate the students were, especially in terms of using color and painting techniques with paint markers, which is a painting tool we just started using last year with our Gunpla model-making activity. The students had so much more control than learning to use a brush in small spaces.”

When the models are held up to a projector, a 3D image is projected onto the wall behind.
“They turned out really incredible!” said Ms. Wolfe. “Their scenes included so many details from their novels, and it was cool to watch their visions come to life.”

“It was a wonderful collaboration using digital fabrication tools to make the frames and the transparencies using a historical perspective technique that came from filmmaking and animation and building this all around the notion of the creation of the narrative for the students’ novels,” commented Mr. Braafladt.

See photos from this exceptional project here.

A Message From Clare Halloran ’03

December 15, 2023

Dear MPA Alumni,

In this season of reflection, three MPA moments are on my mind. First, in June of this year, I had the opportunity to help organize our 20th class reunion. The planning process was a fun way to reconnect with many fellow classmates, especially since not everyone was able to attend the event. But what was even better than planning was catching up in person and seeing many familiar faces, hearing about parents and siblings (and partners and kids!), and learning about the amazing things that people are now doing personally and professionally. Thank you to all who could attend and those who traveled across the country to do so!

Another important MPA milestone for our family this year was choosing to enroll our daughter in
kindergarten at MPA. In discussing our dreams of what we would want for our children’s education—a supportive environment, rigorous and engaging academics, a focus on the whole child, and the
opportunity to build lifelong friendships—we knew that MPA was where we wanted them to grow and
thrive. “Dream big, Do right” is the motto I hope our children can carry with them through MPA and
beyond. Read More

We’re Using Robots to Build Kids—With Your Help

December 15, 2023

It’s been 35 years since I graduated from Mounds Park Academy. Had you asked me then, I would never in a million years have predicted my eventual return as both a parent of a senior and, equally incredibly, as a mentor for the school’s FIRST® robotics competition (FRC) Team 3926, the MPArors.

How I came to mentor robotics is a long story. But it’s so much fun, full of energy, intensity, and camaraderie. I’ve watched in real-time as students grow in confidence and leadership. “We’re using robots to build kids” is how FIRST founder Dean Kamen once described it. While the team wisely keeps me away from actually building the robot, I mentor a lot of the other team’s activities: community outreach, public engagement through social media, preparing for regional competitions, fostering inclusivity in STEM, and raising funds to pay for it all.

It turns out that running an FRC team isn’t cheap! Last year’s expenses included $16,000 in robot supplies, $8,000 in registration fees for two competitions, and $14,000 in travel-related costs. The team also has to regularly update aging tools and equipment.

This is our busiest time of the year for fundraising, and I’m touched by all the generous alumni who have supported robotics at MPA. Did you know that roughly half of the team’s funds come from individual donors? We are so grateful that you have helped us start the season strong.

However, there is still a ways to go before we meet our financial goal. So, this giving season, I’m reaching out to my fellow alumni to ask for your help. Perhaps you yourself were part of the robotics team, or (like me) wished the team had existed when you were a student at MPA. Or maybe you simply appreciate the profound impact that FIRST® Robotics has on our kids.

We’d love to hear from anyone interested in supporting the team – or is able to introduce us to potential new business or corporate sponsors (who make up more than 40% of our funding). Learn more at www.team3926.org or the QR code below, or call (651) 777-2555 x462.

Thank you! Go MPArors!

Sirid Kellerman ’88

The Good Fight

December 14, 2023

from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director

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.

Many years ago, near the start of my career when I was teaching in Lebanon, I worked with a wonderful human who became my mentor. Sadly, they recently passed away. In June of this year after yet another move to another new place—this time from Luanda, Angola to Beirut, Lebanon to St. Paul, Minnesota—I opened the cover of the book “Making Thinking Visible” found in a battered cardboard moving box, where this mentor had scrawled in blue cursive letters:

Jennifer—
keep fighting the good fight.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to join colleagues and student diversity leaders from Mounds Park Academy, alongside 8,500 other participants at the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference (PoCC) in St. Louis. The theme of the conference was “Gateways to Freedom: A Confluence of Truth, Knowledge, Joy and Power.” As a first timer at PoCC, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I know that my experience was like no other professional learning opportunity I have encountered.

Firstly, this was not just any conference. Long-time attendees lovingly call PoCC the “family reunion,” and it truly felt like it even as a first timer. Since 1986, this annual gathering of like-minded yet diverse educators holds space for participants to fully see others and to feel seen in a real way. In a non-judgmental way. In a more genuine way than some of us might encounter in our daily lives and in our schools. I had the chance to attend various leadership sessions with a focus on people of color, hear from world-famous yet down-to-earth keynote presenters, laugh and learn with the Latinx affinity group, and lend my voice to the volunteer choir. As I reflect on my PoCC journey, certain themes come to the fore, which I share here in the spirit of collaboration. Read More

Lower School Division News December 14, 2023

December 14, 2023

from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director

Mark Your Calendars

Wednesday, December 20: Last Day of School before Winter Break
Thursday, December 21-Tuesday, January 2: No Classes, Winter Break
Wednesday, January 3: Classes Resume
Wednesday, January 10: CHAMP Assembly

I hope everyone is staying warm and gearing up for the winter break that lies ahead. As the winter festivities may be ramping up for some families, please read on for more information to share:

Trimester 1 Reports Sent Home
On Monday, December 4, your child(ren)’s Trimester 1 report cards were sent home via email. Please feel free to contact the Lower School office with any questions or help needed and/or your child’s teachers regarding the content of the report(s).

Missing Mittens, etc
We still have several students visiting the Lower School office lost and found cabinet on the search for mittens, gloves, and hats during recess. Please help ensure your child has the appropriate winter gear for a chilly but refreshing playtime. Read More

Middle School Division News December 14, 2023

December 14, 2023

from Jenn Milam, Middle School director

Mark Your Calendars

Friday, January 12: Class of 2028 Parent Coffee, 8-9 AM, PCR
Thursday, December 14: Middle School (Grades 6-8) Band, Orchestra and Choir Concert, 7 PM
Tuesday, December 19: Class of 2028 Parent Coffee, 6:30-7:30 PM, PCR
Wednesday, December 20: 5/6 Feed My Starving Children/Bowling Field Trip
Thursday, December 21-Tuesday, January 2: No Classes, Winter Break
Wednesday, January 3: Classes Resume

As we count down the days to winter break, it is important to remember that not all of us, even our own children, look forward to two weeks away from the routine, structure, support, and friendships. This can be a good time to pause and check in with your student (and yourself!) to ensure you’re managing stress, expectations, and change healthily. As young people begin to anticipate a change in routine, it’s not uncommon for them to become more restless, anxious, or stressed. There may also be increased feelings of grief and sadness, particularly for those who lost a loved one or experienced big life changes over the past year. Read More