Blog Archives

September 26, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I am a sap when it comes to commercials around the holidays. I may be showing my age but some of you probably remember the Folgers Coffee commercial when the son surprises his mother by coming home from college unexpectedly, making a fresh pot of Folgers that awakens his mother. Tears, every time. There is something about coming home—feelings of love, safety, and acceptance—that stirs our emotions.

Our identities emerge in the midst of community, molded and shaped by our experiences. Our family, religious beliefs, neighborhoods, and schools are all important in introducing and reinforcing a shared set of values that nurture our identities. Schools in particular have a lasting impact not only on our academic development, but our social and emotional development in our most formative years. Read More

Let’s Be Friends

September 20, 2019

Gaining the Skills to Build Healthy Relationships
One of our most basic human needs is forming community by making friends. We’re social creatures, drawn to seek connections throughout our lives. While rewarding and fulfilling, building healthy friendships takes practice. It’s an important life skill for children to learn early—increasing their capacity to create friendships, be a good friend, and progressively cultivate and sustain strong relationships at all ages.

Open Discussions on Friendship
“The foundation of friendship is open communication, both in terms of among friends and about friendship itself,” explains Tara Keegan, Mounds Park Academy Lower School counselor. A licensed professional clinical counselor and parent, Keegan recommends beginning conversations about friends starting in PreK. “Ask your child who they sat with at lunch, who they played with at recess, what the group did that day,” she says. “Talk about the feelings around those interactions, and share how important it is to listen and learn within a friendship. That’s the beginning of empathy, being able to understand where another person is coming from, and is so important in building connections and friendships.” Read More

An MPA Education In A Rapidly Changing World

September 19, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

This summer, I attended a meeting of independent school heads at Stanford University and spent a few days in the San Francisco Bay Area. My custom has been to visit with alumni when I travel and I had the opportunity to connect with David Siegel ’04. David is a techie, philosopher, and creative thinker. Blending his love of technology with a sensitivity to human flourishing, he is driven to understand how technology affects people. He recently launched his own start-up, Glide, which enables users to create an app that turns Google spreadsheets into beautiful, easy-to-use apps, without code.

During his years at MPA, David gravitated mostly toward Spanish, film, writing, and critical thinking. When I asked him what class or experience at MPA he attributes to his success, without hesitation he said, “photography class.” Through photography he learned perspective, empathy, problem-solving, and iteration, all necessary for innovation. When asked for his advice to MPA students he said, “Develop your own theories about problems that interest you, seek out people working on those problems, and explain your ideas to them. View professional challenges as opportunities for creative thinking and devise your own solutions to these problems, rather than succumbing to pressure to behave uniformly.” Read More

The Impact Of Microexpressions

September 11, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

I know I am not the only parent who can say that the ride to school with my daughter can make or break my day. A quarrel over the most insignificant matter, a scowl, or a roll of the eyes can send my mood in a downward spiral. Although others warned me, I never realized the degree to which my outlook on life is influenced by my children. On the flip side, the joy, smiles, high fives, and hugs from incoming students at the south entrance in the morning easily lift my spirits.

This phenomenon made sense when I happened upon an NPR story this summer about emotional contagion and how microexpressions influence moods. Microexpressions are fleeting, involuntary expressions of feelings that last a fraction of a second. For some time, science has observed how animals tend to mimic the physical movements of one another. We now know that such automimicry extends to emotions as well. After years of research, Elaine Hatfield and Dick Rapson, researchers at the University of Hawaii, have demonstrated that microexpressions can actually produce the corresponding emotion inside of us. Read More

Science Shows You Can’t Go Wrong With A Song

September 11, 2019

Music And The Brain
Music isn’t just something that’s good for your brain—it practically is your brain. Studying music is intrinsically tied to better hearing, speech, memory, reasoning, and emotional development. It lifts mood, builds community, and strengthens confidence. Music matters for long-term physical and psychological wellbeing, and to preserve brain health as we age. In terms of academic success, music education is directly connected to overall student achievement and personal growth, and it plays an essential role in Mounds Park Academy’s whole child, progressive, college preparatory curriculum, PreK through grade 12.

Building Social, Intellectual Capacity
According to recent research conducted by neuroscientists at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute, early education in music was shown to accelerate brain development in young children, especially in the parts of the brain that manage sound, language, speech perception, and reading skills. As described by neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster, “music reaches parts of the brain that other things can’t … it’s a strong cognitive stimulus that grows the brain in a way that nothing else does, and the evidence that musical training enhances things like working memory and language is very robust.” Read More

Going The Extra Mile

September 5, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

Throughout middle and upper school, I was usually the tallest kid in the room. However, my coordination never seemed to be in sync with my height. Nevertheless, I was encouraged to play the center position on the basketball team and defensive end on the football team. There were many times I was discouraged, but I learned to push myself. In my junior and senior years, I saw very little playing time in basketball, but earned my place on the team in practices by playing center in scrimmages, going up against Pete. I was 6’3” and 160 pounds. Pete was 6’5’’ and 230 pounds. Over the course of two years, I sustained a broken leg, several sprained ankles, black eyes, bruised ribs, and other injuries … all thanks to my friend, Pete.

A great deal of the success I’ve had to date can be credited to lessons I learned from those experiences. For example, whether it was pushing myself to finish my doctorate, dealing with difficult problems at work, overcoming personal challenges, or running a 10K, I am stronger because of the endurance I have learned. While some may define endurance as suffering, I view it in a positive light—an indication of growth and accomplishment. Read More

Creating Community: Connectedness, Belonging, and Academic Success

August 29, 2019

Schools are busy places. Filled with energy, excitement, and activity, the dynamic ecosystem of a school creates a natural space for interaction among students, faculty, and families. But simply being together in the same place, at the same time, doesn’t automatically foster an environment where students feel interconnected, welcomed, and known. Creating community is an active, deliberate process. It’s a core accountability for academic institutions, and an essential element of MPA’s DNA—it’s built into who were are and what we do, with a support system that fuels academic success and facilitates a lifetime of wellbeing for students.

“As a parent and a member of the administrative team, I can speak to my own personal experience about the impact of MPA’s community,” shares Jennifer Rogers-Petitt, director of development and community engagement. “I started in my role, and my children started as MPA students, in mid-October of last year. It was definitely a big change, with my then second and seventh grader having already begun the academic year at other schools. But from the start, what they experienced in their classrooms, with their peers and from their teachers helped them feel they could make this transition, and my children never looked back. As a mom, that meant everything and put my mind at ease. And as development director, it’s so inspiring to see how in this community everyone chips in—not just through philanthropy, but also in the time and talents they share with our school.” Read More

Building A Better Future

August 29, 2019

by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School

It was 1 AM Wednesday morning and I found myself wide awake. Fully aware that my alarm clock would ring in just a few hours, I just could not fall sleep. Even though this is my 29th year as an educator, I had the same excitement and the same tinge of nervousness that I had as a young student teacher. Standing before our community on Back to School Night, I knew that all those gathered shared a similar excitement, anxiety, and optimism, albeit in varying amounts. It is always quite humbling. And awe-inspiring. Read More

Helping Students Set Goals

August 28, 2019

Charting A Path In A New Academic Year
In school and in life, goal setting is good. Goals serve as essential mileposts, helping to define pathways and measure progress, and leading to a greater sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction. Meaningful goal setting is particularly important as students start a new academic year, and as they reflect on their priorities, their values, and their signals of success.

Practical Goal Setting and Resiliency
“To narrow and pinpoint reasonable, achievable, and admirable goals for a new year requires both big-picture thinking and ground-level planning,” writes Matt Levinson in Edutopia. He shares a favorite illustration of the multifaceted components for goal setting, explaining that good goals need “boulders (big picture thinking), rocks (the translation of those big ideas), and sand (the execution of the details). Goals that don’t contain all three components are doomed to fall short.” Read More

Saying Farewell to Summer

August 13, 2019

Making The Transition Back To School
The lazy hazy days of summer are suddenly coming to a close, with both students and parents beginning to contemplate a return to school. Starting a new academic year is more than fresh pencils and first day photos—it’s also an important time of building confidence and creating routines; of getting organized while capturing a few carefree moments; and of re-establishing connections while building new relationships.

Arne Duncan, former United States Secretary of Education, writes that one of the best ways to move from summer to school is to embark on a learning adventure. “Do something fun together that’s focused on learning, whether indoors or out: from a kitchen craft project or backyard science experiment, to a trip to the library or a museum,” he says. Scheduling an activity that incorporates both work and play is a great way to spend valuable time together while reactivating that school mindset. “Our minds are like muscles,” emphasizes Duncan, “help get them warmed up for academic success.”

A Back-To-School Transition Plan
While getting back into the school routine is important for all students, younger children especially benefit from a purposeful transition plan. Mounds Park Academy Lower School director Renee Wright recommends that students spend time reading and working on math facts to review and refresh skills before starting school. She also encourages parents to engage their children directly in making your home school-ready, so that students feel empowered in the process. “Build enthusiasm for school by shopping together to pick out their supplies,” she says. “Clean closets and organize spaces together, donating clothes that don’t fit or toys that are no longer age appropriate. Create a homework station with study essentials to get kids excited about school and help them be organized for homework tasks.” Read More