Parents Association

Parents Connect Wednesday Mornings

October 29, 2020

lower school students harvesting the gardenThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. We are still walking! Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, November 4 and November 11 will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot by the crosswalk and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children and furry friends are welcome to walk with us.

Future Wednesday morning walks will depend on the weather.

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

More Opportunities To Connect With The Parents Association

October 8, 2020

Michelle Mick and Doug in the new gardensParents Connect Wednesday Mornings
The Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, October 21 will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us. Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

Apple Picking
An apple picking outing to beautiful Aamodt’s Farm in Stillwater is in the works! We’ll wear masks, plus any MPA gear (lanyards would be perfect) you have, and stay physically distant and safe. Stay tuned for more details.

Connect With Parents On Wednesday Mornings

September 24, 2020

MPA campus in bloomThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, September 30: Join us for a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us.

Wednesday, October 7: We’ll meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

No Neighborhood Coffee This Year
Due to COVID and the difficulties of social distancing at a café, the MPA Parents Association has cancelled neighborhood coffee for this year. See you next year!

Show Your Appreciation With The PA

September 24, 2020

Prek listening to ms lachapelle read a storyThe 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!

Parents Connect Wednesday Mornings

September 17, 2020

MPA parents having coffee outsideThe 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.

September 23: Let’s meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

September 30: This Wednesday will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick after drop off. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there!

Connect With MPA Parents On Wednesday Mornings

September 10, 2020

Middle school parent with her sonThe Parents Association invites parents and guardians to get together Wednesday mornings after drop off. Mark your calendars, it will be fun!

Wednesday, September 16 will be a 30 minute walk with Michelle Mick. We’ll meet in the Lower School Parking lot and head out, rain or shine. Chat with new parents and connect with friends. Younger children are welcome to walk with us. Read More

Parents Association Kick-Off & Connect Events

September 3, 2020

parent hugging their lower school sudentThe MPA Parent’s Association is hosting Kick-Off Zoom meetings next week. Come join us to learn about who we are and what we do. Meet members and your grade reps. We’re looking for your ideas and your help as we continue to brainstorm how best to strengthen our MPA community this year.

We have three sessions set up, one for each division to help focus discussions. The Friday session (Lower School focus) is purposefully scheduled longer to allow the second hour to be open for anyone to join for a general discussion. We look forward to seeing you at one or all of the sessions! Read More

Parents Connect Wednesday Mornings

August 27, 2020

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.

Wednesday, September 2: We will take a 20-30 minute stroll with Michelle Mick, mom to Isaac and Freya (4th grade and kindergarten). We’ll meet in the Lower School parking lot and head to the Furness Trail, just south of Larpenteur across from Beebe Road. It will be lovely to meet new faces and exchange information about this first week of school.

Wednesday, September 9: Let’s meet at the Farmer’s Market at Aldrich Arena at 8:15 AM. Feel free to send your favorite Farmer’s Market recipes to Kim Jakway at thejakways@gmail.com beforehand. She’ll bring copies for everyone. The market is mostly cash, although some stalls take credit cards.

Remember to bring a mask to all events! Hope to see you there! No RSVP is needed.

If you have any questions, contact Kim Jakway or Barry Madore.

Welcome Back To School From The MPA Parents Association

August 20, 2020

parents gathering together at mpaWe’ve enjoyed meeting with some of you while our Middle and Upper Schoolers have been making their way back to MPA. And we look forward to getting together with Lower School parents in grades 1-4 next week during your Back To School Days. Click here for the invitation from the PA.

Grades 1-4 Student Back To School Days
Monday, August 24, 2020
Grade 1: 9-10:30 AM
Grade 2: 10:30 AM-12 PM
Grade 3: 1-2:30 PM
Grade 4: 2:30-4 PM

As we begin this unusual year, we are continuing to brainstorm safe and creative ways we can join together and celebrate our community. Fortunately, the warmer days we’re enjoying right now allow us to meet outside at a safe distance, like at our First Day of School Parking Lot Social. So, be sure to check out Panther Post and your division communications for upcoming MPA PA sponsored event announcements.

If you have any questions, contact Kim Jakway or Barry Madore.

Thank You For A Joyful MPA Book Festival!

May 28, 2020

lower school student reading outsideThe annual MPA Parents Association Book Festival has left us with many awesome books to carry us through the summer, along with proceeds for our library to purchase new books to benefit our library, teachers, and greater community! It was so wonderful to see Valley Book Seller, Usborne Books, and Breakthrough Twin Cities highlighted on our social media platforms, and all the great responses from our community.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the Book Festival a success! First, we want to thank all of you who purchased books, for being flexible and willing to try something new this year, and for supporting the Breakthrough summer literature program. Without you, there would be no Book Festival! We want to thank the parent volunteers, as they are key to helping our MPA community put on so many well-loved traditions. We want to thank Nancy Lage, as well as many teachers and administrators, for the time they spent brainstorming wonderful ways to engage our community in reading activities throughout the Book Festival. Finally, both Valley Book Seller and Usborne Books also send a big thank you to our community for supporting their small businesses during this hard time. We don’t know what next year will bring, but we will be excited to offer our Book Festival anytime, anywhere, anyway! Read More