July 19, 2019
Meet John Milam, who is joining MPA as the Middle School science and design teacher. Mr. Milam has been a teacher and leader in STEM education for more than 20 years, spanning public and private school teaching, university administration, and program development. Most recently, he served as the Middle School STEM teacher at Hmong College Prep Academy. Mr. Milam is excited to challenge MPA students to bring their science knowledge to real-world problems through design thinking in order to make a difference in our community, both locally and globally.
What did you love about MPA right away?
The open and affirming atmosphere by all—students, teachers, staff and administration. The desire to collaborate and build incredible thematic units that will impact the community—both locally and globally. Incredible students—I had a blast teaching and learning from them! Read More
Meet Summer McCall, who is joining MPA as a social studies teacher. Ms. McCall has a Bachelor of Arts in history and Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota, and has been teaching high school for the past fifteen years across the country and internationally in Louisiana, Arizona, and Korea. After moving back to Minnesota, she worked at Bloomington Kennedy High School until joining the faculty at MPA!
Meet Rich Harris, who is joining MPA as a Physical Education teacher. Mr. Harris graduated from Southwestern College in Kansas in 1996 and has been following his passion of teaching ever since. He taught for two years in Kansas, 10 in Massachusetts, three in Qatar, five in London, and the past three in Saudi Arabia. He has also coached a variety of sports, but always basketball.
Meet Tracey Joyce, who will be our new PreK-12 academic technology integrationist. Tracey comes to us from Visitation School where she has worked in the area of technology for 12 years. Prior to that, she was a classroom teacher for eight years. Ms. Joyce has extensive experience developing curriculum and promoting the intentional use of technology to support student achievement in the PreK-12 classroom. She is an exceptional parent educator and advocate of digital citizenship and security who deeply cherishes whole child education and loves to celebrate the joy of learning!
On June 16, 16 MPA students, parents, and faculty headed to London for the first leg of a two-week journey that would take them from London to Paris via Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire Valley.
Due to student interest, MPA is pleased to announce that it will offer an Upper School Girls Swimming and Diving Team starting this fall!
Mounds Park Academy is happy to announce the expansion of its bus services to the Minneapolis area for the 2019-20 school year!
With 13 athletes plus relay alternates qualifying for the state meet, it was a busy weekend for panthers track and field. On Thursday, MPA’s state qualifiers, alternates and coaches took a bus to Hamline University for the season’s final practice on the track at Hamline. After practice, the team enjoyed a stop at Jamba Juice on the way home!
MPA Track and Field went toe to toe with the best competition in Section 4A and emerged with a record number of runners advancing to the state meet!
Meet Hannah Lawson, who has been selected as the new director of orchestras and music teacher. Ms. Lawson will join our community and the Twin Cities after eight years of public and private school teaching in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she has been teaching orchestra and general music in Saudi Arabia! She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Music Education from Boston University. We are excited about Hannah’s passion for music, her deep and thorough knowledge of composition and music theory, and her excitement to lead MPA’s orchestras to continued excellence.