Blog

Reframing Challenges

April 2, 2020

lower school family at school supplies pickupby Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

My father used to say that it’s when the rubber meets the road that you know the value of something. There comes a time, he would say, when your values, resolve, or abilities will be tested and in that difficult or challenging moment, you’ll see what you are made of. The value of the MPA community has never been more clear to me than it has been over the last several weeks.

Without question, the pandemic is extremely difficult for all of us and there are more challenges to come. However, what has helped me, both professionally and personally, has been the resiliency and kindness of the MPA community. As you know, it’s been no small fete to transition to a virtual platform and to do so in accordance to our mission and values. Our teachers, students, and parents have all demonstrated the ability to quickly switch gears and adapt to a new platform. Our community has also shown great depths of kindness, caring for one another and sharing appreciation for teachers.

In our most recent parent survey, 90% said they were either satisfied or highly satisfied with our shift to virtual school. One parent shared, “Honestly, I thought that I knew how wonderful all those who work at MPA were—but today, being beside my son navigating his first day of virtual school, I was blown away with the professionalism, expertise, love, and support for the students at MPA. What an amazing team of beautiful, incredibly talented people our children have the awesome opportunity of encountering.” Read More

COVID-19: A Transformational Moment For Parents

April 2, 2020

lower school student listening intently“The most valuable thing that will come from this pandemic is that we don’t have time to save our kids from negative emotions anymore.” Mounds Park Academy school psychologist Jules Nolan shared this observation in a recent virtual MPA parent education session.

In recent years, Nolan has observed an unfortunate parenting style that involves parents “over saving” their children from experiencing negative emotions. The unintended consequence of this well-intentioned approach is that too many young adults fall apart at the first sign of a challenge. With the COVID-19 pandemic, parents do not have the time, resources, or emotional energy to assuage every moment of their children’s boredom, loneliness, frustration, and anger. This is a good thing.

Nolan likens the COVID-19 situation to wartime, where every family member has to take responsibility for the functioning of the family. She calls it “an opportune moment to embrace the idea that our children are an important part of our family—but they are not to be the centerpiece of the family.”

Over the next several weeks, kids will become skilled at being sad, bored, lonely and disappointed. They will gain experience in tolerating uncertainty, navigating frustration, and overcoming boredom. These skills are connected to regulating emotions, and predict strong outcomes for kids such as good performance in school, college, and life (Durlak et. al., 2011). Nolan sees our current reality as “a rich garden, ready for cultivating the social and emotional skills that kids really need to develop.” Read More

Opportunities To Connect And Volunteer Virtually

April 1, 2020

middle school students reading notes of thankfulnessWe’ve heard from many families in recent weeks as we’ve planned for and unveiled virtual learning. One theme that keeps coming up is that MPA families want to spread the joy and love they have for school, while supporting teachers who are working hard to continue meaningful education across divisions. Sign up today to become a volunteer. Here is a sample of some of the ways you can get involved!

  1. Guest lecture: Share your knowledge to students of all ages by becoming a guest speaker during one of our live class sessions.
  2. Support recruitment: Sign up to have a virtual conversation with a prospective family.
  3. Spread the MPA love: We are gathering families willing to help with care packages, family meals, write letters to families or others in need.
  4. Build a virtual community: Sign up to be a host a for a virtual family gathering with other MPA families. We know physical distancing is important, but let’s make sure our social connections remain.
  5. Stay social: Social media engagement is more important now than ever. Follow, share, and like on all MPA social media platforms.
  6. Support virtual learning: Help us ensure parents and students have support at home to continue their education by becoming a tutor.
  7. Help teachers and parents provide STEAM activities at home: If you have a background in science, engineering, computer programming, or the arts, connect with us about how to create video content for students of all ages.
  8. Share your knowledge: Parents with a background in health care, education, or knowledge of public health and pandemics could share their knowledge during upcoming parent education events.
  9. Be a Buddy: Join our network of Buddy Program families to connect with new families and help them navigate their transition to MPA.
  10. Donate: Your support helps us to navigate the challenges we face and to fill the gap for families, employees, and expenses associated with our virtual learning implementation. Your gift today will support our Community Care Fund means Panthers can stay connected, continue to learn, and that everyone has the resources they need for a meaningful education during this time of uncertainty.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Rogers-Petitt, director of development and community engagement at jrogers@moundsparkacademy.org or 308-765-0524.

The Power Of A Great Teacher

March 26, 2020

MPA virtual upper school classby Dr. Bill Hudson, head of school

Great teachers make great online teachers. By now, you’ve read or heard me say that repeatedly over the last several weeks. To be honest, other than a few scattered snow days over the last several years, my assertion was more conjecture than evidentiary. However, after several days this week, I know this to be true. Because I know each teacher well, I knew in my heart but I now have proof that MPA teachers are great no matter the platform or medium.

It has been an incredible experience, working together with teachers, staff, and administration, to make the transition to virtual school. Through caffeine, adrenaline, and sheer will, we powered through to rise to the new challenge before us without doubt or hesitation. Frankly, there has never been another option. I didn’t realize this until I received a parent email with the following observation: “In corporate terms, this scale of change would have been vetted and pressure-tested through strategic planning process over a period of months, perhaps a full year’s planning cycle.” The can-do spirit of MPA has inspired us all. Read More

MPA Goes Virtual: Isak Dai

March 25, 2020

isak daiThis story series illustrates how our community is embracing, growing, and connecting through virtual learning together. Read on to see what MPA junior Isak Dai looks forward to as #MPAgoesvirtual!

While virtual learning may look and feel different than a regular school day, Isak breaks it down in a way that makes it feel very familiar, even away from campus–to him, virtual learning is “bundling up the work we do at school and doing it at home through the internet.”

“Before our current situation, we certainly were practicing some aspects of virtual learning by accessing online resources like Schoology, but now have been forced to take all of MPA online,” he said. “My hope is that through this challenge we can learn to take advantage of the many virtual learning resources at our disposal and take these lessons with us when we eventually return to school as usual.” Read More

When To Let Your Child Choose: Advice From A Parent In Making A School Decision

March 24, 2020

upper school students using makerspace whiteboard togetherYou are looking at school like Mounds Park Academy because you want the best for your child. You want your child to grow into a free spirit, a risk taker, a right maker, dreamer, and a doer. You want an independent thinker. Yet should your child, whom you have raised to be a respectful, decisive, critical thinker, make their own school choice? And what is your role, as the parent, in the school search process? This is a question that the Office of Admission is asked regularly.

Depending on the age and maturity of the child and the reason your family is changing schools, the continuum can range from a parent making the decision solo, to a combined decision making process, to the student selecting from the parent’s list of approved schools, to, in some cases, the student making the decision completely on their own. Where each family falls on this continuum is vastly different.

How Young Is Too Young?
Educational choices stick with a child for their entire life, so balancing the natural desire to provide a platform for your child’s input while knowing that what they decide has substantial implications on their future is critically important. The best parent-child partnerships blossom when both sides see this decision as a learning opportunity. Incorporating your child on this journey and welcoming them to contribute can be an incredible chance for them to develop maturity and show their growth. But as every child development expert will tell you, there’s a time and a place for a child’s choice, and there is a time when parents need to make the decision. Read More

MPA Goes Virtual: Kaija Kunze-Hoeg

March 20, 2020

Kaija Kunze at a volleyball gameThis story series illustrates how our community is embracing, growing, and connecting through virtual learning together. Read on to see what MPA sophomore Kaija Kunze-Hoeg looks forward to as #MPAgoesvirtual!

Kaija tells us that she is excited to try this new style of learning. “To me, virtual learning is a new, innovative take on what a classroom looks like,” she says. “I expect to have to learn to focus harder as I will have more things that can distract me when I am learning from home.”

Knowing this may be a challenge for her, Kaija is preparing to set up her workspace to help her stay on task and continue achieving academically. MPA recommends starting with a quiet, well-lit area with strong Internet connection and a clean, clear working space to continue joyful learning away from campus. “I am going to try to make my at-home ‘classroom’ pretty close to what it would be at school so I can feel more engaged in my classwork,” she says. “I will use a desk, but it will just be more cozy.” Read More

Kindergartners Discover The Joy Of Learning

March 12, 2020

ms. Petersen working with two kindergarten students in classAt Mounds Park Academy, a private school in Saint Paul, the words “kindergarten” and “joy” are inseparable. And it doesn’t matter who’s describing the experience. When asked what she loves about teaching kindergarten, MPA’s Kristine Petersen said immediately, “Pure joy!” While Petersen didn’t specify if it was her joy or that of her students, it’s clear from a parent’s feedback that it’s both.

“Our daughter seems so committed to school because of her joy for it, which is the goal. She not only believes in the joy of school, but she trusts in the joy and excitement Ms. Petersen brings to learning and to the classroom!”

Introducing Mounds Park Academy’s Interdisciplinary Approach in Kindergarten
Educational experiences are more authentic and of greater rigor when students learn through an interdisciplinary approach—it is deeper and more reflective of the real world. Interdisciplinary teaching helps students make connections among math, science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts, integrating knowledge and increasing student engagement.

MPA introduces its interdisciplinary approach in kindergarten in an age-appropriate way. When students study the letter “R,” for example, they might complete a mystery puzzle revealing a rabbit by following teacher directions and coloring a mystery grid. The teacher references shapes such as triangles, diagonals, and rectangles as part of the directions. The students then create a math problem with the puzzle. Read More

Why Interdisciplinary Education Works

March 5, 2020

upper school students having social studies class discussionby Mark Segal, Upper School director

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, you will find a guest Head’s Message here from one of MPA’s division directors. We hope you enjoy reading their thoughts and reflections about life at MPA.

When I was in second or third grade, I defined mathematics as something I did daily from 9:45–10:30 AM. My focus should have been on the addition and subtraction problems written on the blackboard or mimeographed handout, but instead it was on the upcoming recess where my friends and I played competitive games against one another. Educators rarely explain to students and parents why the school day is designed as it is. It should be no surprise then that students and parents look at the arbitrary divisions for English, math, reading, social studies, world language, science, art, music, and physical education and begin to define the subject areas as separate bodies of knowledge with little connection to one another.

As I moved into middle and upper school, the subject matter separation became even more noticeable as the academic areas were forced into independent time frames taught by individual teachers. It is no wonder that many middle and upper school students (including me 35+ years ago) complain that school is irrelevant to the larger world. In the real world, we do not wake up in the morning and do social studies for a specified time block. Over time, adolescents begin to recognize that in “real life” we encounter challenges and situations, gather data from a number of resources, and problem solve to generate solutions. The fragmented school day does not reflect this reality. Read More

A Very Sweet Community Collaboration

March 3, 2020

Chef Doug with the lower school students and maple syrupLocated right outside the kindergarten classroom door is a grand staple of the playground that provides so much for our campus–a shady spot during Summer At MPA, colorful leaves to play in throughout autumn, and a steadfast symbol of growth. MPA parent and volunteer Michelle Mick, a passionate gardener and extraordinary green thumb, and her family set out to tap the only maple tree on MPA’s campus.

Michelle guest-taught a great lesson with the kindergartners, which included hanging a bucket up under the spout to collect the tree’s sap. This week, three Lower School students had the honor of presenting the tree’s recent production–two containers of clear, watery liquid–to the entire Lower School student body at their Monday Morning Meeting. Read More