September 24, 2020
The MPA faculty and staff have been working double-time to keep our kids learning, connected, and safe. We want to express our appreciation in a way that honors everyone’s safety and doesn’t burden the folks we are trying to appreciate. Please sign-up here to make a thank you card for members of MPA’s faculty and staff!
You can create a card in real life and scan it, or create a virtual one. Either way, you will then send it as a PDF to Raphael Coffey at raphaelcoffey@gmail.com on or before October 11. We will print them out (one-sided, in color, on 8.5×11 cardstock), fold them once like a typical greeting card, put them in envelopes, and deliver them with a small token of appreciation from the Parents Association.
Every person plays a role in our children’s education. Please consider thanking some of the folks that we, as parents and family of students, may not come into contact with as often as our kid’s classroom teachers. We can show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them despite our constraints!
Invite a friend, neighbor, colleague, or family member to join us for MPA’s largest PreK-12 admission event, the MPA Fall Preview! Held virtually on Sunday, November 8 starting at 2 PM, this event will be a structured program that will allow prospective students and parents to get a sense of what makes MPA an exceptional place to learn and grow.
At this moment in our nation’s history and in the midst of vitriol and violence, I’ve found inspiration in poet Micky ScottBey Jones in her call to create “brave space” where healing can take place in the midst of caring community. At MPA, we seek to build a brave place where students are known and valued and together create a space where we treat each other with kindness and respect. In brave space, students learn to truly value one another and work together to make room for diverse perspectives.
Through our team of medical advisors and the MPA Community Advisory Group, we have detailed and multi-pronged procedures for symptom response, contact tracing, and confirmed cases. These procedures are a cornerstone of the Back To MPA Plan. Our highly-trained contact tracing team will deploy a swift, personal, and private response that is taken through our 49-point COVID-19 response flow chart to effectively manage each step along the way. Our team will also partner and work hand-in-hand with the Minnesota Department of Health and other local officials.
Photos from our first two picture days are now available for for viewing and ordering! An email will also be sent to all parents with a link to the JostensPIX website. Retake day photos will be available after they take place.
Stock up on your favorite MPA gear and spirit wear this fall! Everything is customizable, from fall favorites like hoodies and hats to classic tees and pullovers. The MPA online Spirit Store is having a 20% off everything flash sale for 48 hours. The sale ends September 18. Use the promo code SEPTFLASH at checkout. 
The Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off! We’ll plan something for every Wednesday as long as weather allows and there is interest.
On the morning of Saturday, May 30, I awoke very early, with only a few hours of sleep and with great sadness. The explosion of anger and frustration manifesting in peaceful protests juxtaposed with the violence and destruction across Minneapolis and the nation the night before was hard for me to fathom. In the months since then, the murder of George Floyd and other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have prompted both dangerous civil unrest and peaceful protest and brought to the forefront systemic racism embedded in our society.
Please be sure that your AUXS Safety App is up to date! In this new update, your green daily screening pass will display within the app in addition to being sent via email.
Meet MPA Talks speaker Garseng Wong ’11! Garseng attended MPA from grades 4-12 and went on to study Human Biology at Stanford University. He concentrated on nutrition and chronic disease management and initially thought about working as a primary care physician to continue this interest, but during his time in medical school at NYU, pivoted to psychiatry because the field afforded him more time to get to know patients deeply and personally. He is currently a resident psychiatrist at NYU and hopes to specialize in child-adolescent psychiatry, focusing his work with queer youth and young adults long-term. Get to know more about Garseng before MPA Talks on September 30 with the Q&A below!