Middle School

Parents Association News & Events February 16, 2023

February 16, 2023

Thank You!
A big thank you to everyone who brought in snacks and drinks for this week’s Faculty and Staff Appreciation.

MS Snow Tubing Food Drive
Extended through Friday, February 24
Bring non-perishable food items to your advisory. The items will be donated to the North St. Paul Food Shelf. Since 1979, the food shelf has been dedicated to helping families in need of food. Food shelves have been especially strained with rising food prices. Let’s put our MPA values into action and support our local food shelf!

Calling all Cooks!
Thursday, February 23, 5:30 PM
Please join MPA Alum and Instagrammer Kate Thrane for an evening of Gluten-Free Cooking tips! Kate will share information about living gluten-free, and we will bake some delicious gluten-free cookies! Hope to see you in the MPA Teaching Kitchen on February 23, 5:30 PM. Please RSVP to Staci Banks, sbhehe42@icloud.com, so we can be sure to get enough ingredients for the event.

Dessert and Dialogue with Mr. Segal
Tuesday, February 28, 6:30-8 PM
Upper School parents, please join us in the Porter Conference Room for Dessert and Dialogue with Mr. Segal. In lieu of a quarterly parent coffee for US parents, Mr. Segal will be hosting an evening where he’ll update families on the latest happenings in US, and will open it up for questions and dialogue. Meet other parents, hear school updates and engage in great discussions. RSVP required. Please RSVP to: jbixby@me.com.

We’re Looking for a Middle School Division Lead
The MPAPA is actively seeking a Middle School Division Lead/Co-Leads to join the it’s Board of Directors through June 1, 2023. The MS Division Lead partners with the Board and Dr. Jenn Milam to support the PA’s mission as well as carrying out MS traditions through the end of this school year. This parent/guardian will be asked to contribute in the following ways:

  • Support MS Grade Reps in hosting grade level socials and End-Of-Year Parties (share ideas and coordinate efforts to maximize community building)
    Meet quarterly with the MS Division Director
  • Be an inclusive resource for MPA families seeking information about PA events and initiatives
  • Support faculty and staff during Conference Weeks and other special events as requested by the MS Division Director
  • Meet monthly for a PA Board of Directors meeting
  • Host monthly summer community gatherings of your choice

Interested in learning more? Please contact Staci Banks or Christine Larson, MPAPA Co-Presidents at sbankspa@moundsparkacademy.org or clarsonpa@moundsparkacademy.org.

Kindness Is In Our DNA

February 9, 2023

from Bill Hudson, head of school

Several weeks ago, I spent over an hour on the phone trying to clear up an issue with the automatic payment for our cell phone. We suspected possible fraud and had canceled the credit card on file, but I forgot to update my payment method with the service provider. I like to think of myself as easygoing and patient. Still, my frustration grew to anger as I tried to navigate the online customer service portal. Later, after spending more time than I had on hold, I wasn’t very kind to the customer service representative I spoke with. It wasn’t my best moment.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Christine Porath of Georgetown University says there’s been a definite increase in angry, uncivil, and obnoxious behavior in many workplaces around the world, including businesses, hospitals, restaurants, airlines, hotels, stores, and schools. In a 2005 survey, about half of workers said they were treated rudely at work at least once a month. In 2011, the percentage rose to 55%, in 2016 it was 62%, and in 2022 it was 76%, with 78% saying they witnessed incivility in their workplace at least once a month. Incivility is harmful both physically and mentally.

The number one cause of incivility? Stress. In a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, complete with social and political divisiveness, it’s not a surprise. According to Porath, the antidotes to incivility in the business world are hiring well, training and coaching, empathy, recognizing and rewarding civility, and modeling. These interventions are similar to what might occur in a school community. It is my experience after working with, and in many different schools, the culture of kindness at MPA is the strongest I’ve encountered. I believe it is in the cultural DNA of MPA. Read More

Middle School Division February 9, 2023

February 9, 2023

from Jenn Milam, Middle School director

This time of year can seem like a never-ending series of not-so-exciting repetitive routines and recurring tasks, especially when the weather is cold, we spend most of our days indoors, and schedules get busy. This is why we have strategically placed a good bit of our “fun” at this time of year. More, Middle school students, like their younger peers in Lower School, also need opportunities to play, even if that play looks different. One thing we all do, all students PreK-12, is have recess! Recess is important (and required!) part of your student’s day (think VITAMIN D and social time!) and I encourage you, to encourage them to bring appropriate outerwear to be outside. Students are not allowed to “opt out” of recess or choose to stay indoors.  
 
You can read about the importance of play for Middle School students in this great article from the Hechinger Report. 

We are looking forward to a few weeks of excitement in the Middle School as we get ready for our snow tubing event, look toward iTERM, and send our Minnesota State Future Cities champions off to Washington DC to compete in the national competition.  

Join Us! Middle School Matters: A Community Book Study!  
Middle School is a time of rapid changes, new experiences, and sometimes, perplexing encounters in a new world in which we (parents!) did not grow up! In partnership with Ms. Cooper, our school counselor, and Ms. Meras, our new Middle School Dean, I will be hosting a community book study this spring. We will do a shared reading of “Middle School Matters: The 10 Key Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond—and How Parents Can Help” by Phyllis L. Fagell.   

We will meet four times, to align with the four major sections of the text, via zoom, to discuss, share, wonder, worry, ponder, and problem-solve alongside teachers, experts, and other community members the mystery and magnificence of the middle school years. We invite you to have dinner with your family, put your feet up, pour a drink of something you enjoy, and meet us online, the following dates at 7:30 PM, from the comfort of your living room!  

  • Wednesday, February 22, 2023 (Values and Integrity)  
  • Thursday, March 23, 2023 (Social Skills)  
  • Wednesday, April 19, 2023 (Learning)  
  • Thursday, May 18, 2023 (Empowerment and Resilience)  

We will have guest speakers and experts for each of the four sections of the text and will share our own personal journey in raising spirited, well-balanced, resilient, kind, and good humans.    Read More

Parents Association News & Events February 9, 2023

February 9, 2023

Thank You!
A big thank you to everyone who brought in snacks and drinks for this week’s Faculty and Staff Appreciation.

Show Your Love, Volunteer for the Lower School Valentine’s Day Party
February 14, 8:30 AM-2:30 PM
The LS Valentine’s Day party is coming up! This year’s festivities will take place in the Lansing Sports Center. Join us for the day or during your student’s assigned party time. Sign up to volunteer here.

MS Snow Tubing in 2023
Thursday, February 16, 2-4:45 PM
Additional guest registration is due February 13. All Middle School students and their families are invited to this year’s snow tubing community event at Badlands Snow Park, 772 Kinney Road Hudson, WI 54016. Outside winter gear is a must (no scarves). Bring a helmet if you’d like and cash for snacks.

Registration
Parents can meet us at the snow park for fun and fellowship. We ask that students begin departing at 4:45 PM. If you cannot meet us at the park, your student can return to MPA via bus where you can pick them up at 5 PM. Please indicate your additional ticket needs and
transportation plans here.

Additional Guests
All family members are encouraged to attend! The Parents Association is sponsoring the cost of MS students to tube. Adults and sibling guests are welcome to tube from 2-4:45 PM at $15 per guest. Please pay for your additional tubers: Read More

Celebrating Our Retirees

February 2, 2023

Dear MPA Community,

We want to share with you that four of MPA’s longest-serving faculty members have decided to retire at the end of this school year: visual art teacher Lisa Buck, music teacher Mari Espeland, librarian Nancy Lage, and third-grade teacher Renette Stinson. Combined, they have served the MPA community for 140 years, and for that, we are exceedingly grateful!

Lisa Buck came to MPA in 1984 as a Middle School visual arts teacher. She co-created the MPA K-12 visual arts curriculum with founding teacher Karen Rossbach. Over time, they honed the program in depth and breadth, and Ms. Buck designed a multilevel ceramics program in the Upper School. She has taught drawing, painting, sculpture, fibers, design, printmaking, and ceramics.

From 1998-2000, Ms. Buck taught overseas at the American School in Casablanca, Morocco, and then returned to MPA. While teaching, she also built her career as a potter. Ms. Buck shares, “It has been a delicate balance of commitment, hard work, and passion. I have longed for a time when I could be full-time in my own studio, and now, that is exactly what I am going to do.”

She adds, “I have given my whole-hearted self to helping students see their beautiful potential as young artists and helped to build an outstanding program.” I am deeply grateful for the vision, creativity, and passion Lisa has brought to MPA over her long service to the school. Students have benefitted from having a gifted art educator and an accomplished working artist in the same person; she will be very missed.

Mari Espeland came to MPA in 1989 and built the Lower School music program upon the Orff Schulwerk approach. She established the Lower School Art and Music Show with Karen Rossbach and incorporated distinctly American music traditions, such as jazz, and world music through drumming.

Ms. Espeland shares, “This environment has allowed me to grow as a music educator and collaborate with colleagues to benefit students more than I could have ever dreamed possible when I began teaching at MPA in 1989. Music education has been much more than a job or even a career for me. Rather, it has been a calling.”

After 33 years of boundless passion for music and dedicated service to MPA, I have profound respect and deep appreciation for the program she built, the many, many children she has inspired, and the beauty she has brought to their lives and to MPA.

Nancy Lage became MPA’s librarian in 1986 and has served the school for 37 years. She developed the PreK-12 library program and managed an extensive 23,000-volume book collection, 30 academic databases, and a dynamic library website to support a diverse PreK-12 curriculum. She shares, “A joy-filled part of my job at MPA has been matching students and faculty with books and resources that inspire them to think, reflect and grow.” She is well-known for being able to find the perfect next book for readers of all ages. Read More

Exploring Visual Learning

February 2, 2023

from Ann Jurewicz, Lower School director

Editor’s Note: Periodically, you will find a guest Head’s Message here from one of MPA’s administrators. We hope you enjoy reading their thoughts and reflections about life at MPA.

Do you like to doodle while listening to new information? Perhaps you like to chart your ideas as you are explaining them to another person. Or maybe you like to “talk your ideas” out loud, finding someone to be your sounding board for a great hunch that nevertheless is an idea still not fully formed. (You may be praising the patience of your “thought” partner or significant other as you read this!)

What all of these activities have in common is “visible thinking.” When we are thinking, we are learning. The more we explicitly engage in thinking, the more we learn. “Visible Thinking” has become the life’s work of Ron Richhart of Harvard’s Project Zero. He explains, “If we take seriously the notion that learning is a consequence of thinking, then thinking—in all its forms: critical, creative and reflective—needs to be part of every lesson we teach.

When schools promote inquiry learning, the goal is to expand thinking, which in turn expands learning. For example, when a student asks a teacher a question, the “visible thinking” response is to rephrase the question back to the student, such as, “What do you think?” This extends learning. It also shifts the classroom environment from teacher-centered to student-centered. Read More

Parents Association News & Events February 2, 2023

February 2, 2023

Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week
February 2-9
The second Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week is coming up fast! Look for opportunities to donate snacks and drinks or to volunteer your time during the week of February 2-9 in the Sign Up Genius. Carts will be placed just inside the LS and US entrances for donated items or they can be brought to the Teaching Kitchen. Evening volunteer opportunities during the LS/MS conference dinners are also available. Questions, please contact Tara Lafferty, TMattRN@aol.com

Sign Up Here

Show You Love, Volunteer for the Lower School Valentine’s Day Party
February 14, 8:30 AM-2:30 PM
We’re delighted to announce the LS Valentine’s Day party is back! This year’s festivities will take place in the Lansing Sports Center. Join us for the day or during your student’s assigned party time. Sign up to volunteer here.

Middle School Snow Tubing in 2023
Thursday, February 16, 2-4:45 PM
Additional guest registration is due February 13. All Middle School students and their families are invited to this year’s snow tubing community event at Badlands Snow Park, 772 Kinney Road Hudson, WI 54016. Outside winter gear is a must (no scarves). Bring a helmet if you’d like and cash for snacks. Read More

MPA Seeking International Student Host Families

January 31, 2023

Do you have room to spare? Space in your heart for another family member? A desire to expand your family’s perspective of the world? MPA is seeking host families for international students for the 2023-24 school year.

Between the adults in their school and home lives, our international students feel supported, nurtured, and loved while living so far from their families. This is vital to their success and the strongest testament to everything our MPA host families and staff do to care for our international students.

We would love it if you and your family considered hosting an international student for next school year. As you and your family consider hosting, here are some topics that may arise. The information below is by no means an exhaustive list, but it may answer some of the initial questions you have and prompt additions ones as well:

Stipend

  • A 10-month stipend of $9,000 will be directly deposited in equal installments of $900/month on the first of each month for the previous month, September through June.
  • An early installment of $500 will be deposited on August 1 in preparation of your student’s arrival; the remaining $400 will be deposited on September 1.
  • The daily stipend rate of $30/day will be taken from and disbursed to host families who are providing respite care for a student, as needed.

Transportation

  • Host families are responsible for providing transportation to and from school and school-related activities.
  • Host families are responsible for providing transportation to and from the airport when the student travels.
  • Host families will work with their student in scheduling rides for social events.

Meals

  • All international students will receive the MPA school lunch. Host families and students do not need to pack lunches.
  • Host families are responsible for providing two meals on all weekdays and three meals on all weekend days.

By hosting an international student, you and your family have a unique opportunity to bring the language, culture, and perspective of another country into your home, allowing for a truly rich and genuine intercultural experience. The students will love to share their lives with you while becoming a part of your family, exploring Minnesota, and enjoying MPA student life all at the same time.

We hope you’ll consider opening your hearts and homes to one of our international students. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Cory Becker-Kim, International Student Program Coordinator and Advanced Language & Culture Teacher, at cbeckerkim@moundsparkacademy.org or 651-748-5173.

Click here to fill out a Host Family Application, and here for more information. Thank you so much for considering!

MPA Free Spirit: Setting The Example For Our Students

January 30, 2023

Katie Murr, Upper School history teacherBy definition, a free spirit is an independent person. And at MPA, we teach kids to think independently–by setting the example for them. MPA teachers are free spirits themselves, equipped with a community of support behind them. When asking teachers what their favorite part about teaching at MPA is, we often hear a trait that they say is very unique to MPA: the freedom of teacher autonomy.

There’s a lot that makes MPA teachers amazing, memorable, and impactful. But their autonomy to be creative and collaborative allows them to not only adjust their lessons to fit the ever-changing world, but to ensure that their students are enjoying what they’re learning. In MPA’s early years, the first batch of teachers shared a common vision around creating a different type of school and learning environment for children. Our founding faculty wanted to teach at a school that would foster their own collaborative spirits as well as their students’. They began working together to design a cohesive curriculum, and this early emphasis on collaboration among faculty set the foundational groundwork for teacher autonomy at MPA today.

Free Spirits Know Their Students
Teacher autonomy applies to all disciplines at MPA and is highly valued by teachers and administrators alike. In order to work, it relies on trust and the understanding that MPA teachers are professionals who know their students best. Knowing our students is one of the hallmarks of a Mounds Park Academy education, stemming from our commitment to small class sizes.

Upper School biology teacher Mitch Thomsen can attest to this. He appreciates that each lab, project, and lesson can be customized to fit his students’ highest possible growth and potential. “The small size makes it easier to communicate with colleagues and to help ensure that no student gets lost in the shuffle,” he remarks. “I like that I am in charge of my budget and the chance to obtain materials, in the right amounts, to maximize the learning from each lab.” Read More

The Roadmap That Guides Us

January 26, 2023

from Bill Hudson, head of school

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Greatness is not where we stand but in what direction we are moving.” Last week, I shared with you the results of the most recent Net Promoter survey. The Net Promoter is one of many ways MPA seeks parents’ feedback and spurs continuous improvement. MPA is not content to rest on our laurels, and we are always on the move. Our school’s strategic plan, 2024ward, drives us onward and is the roadmap that guides us as we strive for excellence.

Each year at this time, I provide a brief update on the progress we have accomplished as we implement 2024ward in the past year. I will follow up this message with a “State of the School” address at two meetings next week. The first meeting is in person on Monday, January 30, 8:15-9:15 AM in the PCR (Porter Conference Room) in Upper School. The second is a virtual evening meeting on Tuesday, January 31, 7-8 PM. The sessions will be similar, so please choose the one that works best for your schedule. I hope you will join me for one of these important opportunities.

While we do not currently have a formal vision statement, the first priority of 2024ward, “Empower students to live, learn, and thrive in our increasingly complex and globalized society,” stands much like one. In a society marked by so much by rapid change, uncertainty, division, and discord, MPA exists to partner with parents to prepare students to embrace the challenges and opportunities presented to them. And yet, preparing them is not quite enough. Rather, we need to empower them—give them the confidence, agency, resiliency, perseverance, skills, and knowledge to succeed and thrive. Read More