Upper School Archives

Accessing MPA’s Online Directory In Schoology

September 25, 2019

Did you know you can access the MPA Community Directory in Schoology? The most current information will always be found online.

On Desktop

Visit https://app.schoology.com/login.
Login to Schoology using your parent login.
In the upper right-hand corner, using the drop down button, navigate to your parent profile. You are now viewing Schoology as yourself, not as your child.
Along the top navigation bar, click on Resources > Apps.
Click Approve then refresh the page. This is only needed the first time you open MPA Resources.
The MPA community directory should fill the screen and be usable.

Happy Homecoming, Panthers!

September 25, 2019

Homecoming 2019 is here! Did you see the Homecoming chalk art at the north and south entrances on Monday? Thank you to the Upper School Student Council for kicking off the week of festivities!

We have been dreaming, playing, and sharing all week. We hope you can come celebrate with us at the All-School Pep Rally on Friday at 2:20 PM in the Lansing Center.

Please also join us for a day of fun on Saturday! It will be a perfect fall day for catching up with friends, watching a game or match, grabbing a bite to eat, and warming your hands by the fire. Read More

RSVP To Experience The Joy

September 20, 2019

You and your entire family are warmly invited to attend the MPA Preview on Sunday, November 3 at 2 PM.

New this year, this event will allow families to truly experience the joy of learning that our students do each day.

You will rotate among several lessons, taught by expert faculty. These will be hands-on, experiential lessons that are abbreviated versions of the original, modified to be appropriate for all ages.

Between lessons, you will be guided by student and parent ambassadors so that you have an opportunity to see our state-of-the-art facilities.

As you consider MPA and your options, please make plans to attend this event. It will be our only weekend, PreK-12 offering this year and it is one not to miss!

RSVP Today

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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

Faculty & Staff Appreciation And Culture Day With The PA

September 19, 2019

Thank you to our PA Neighborhood Coffee hosts Reema Anwar, Seema Anwar, Susan DeBruzzi, Amy Purdy, Kim Jakway, Lucia Gray, Juliana Bixby, Laura Hockert, and Lisa Vale! It was wonderful to gather with all of you last weekend.

Faculty and Staff Appreciation week is coming soon and that’s our chance to say thank you for all they do. Please sign-up to show your appreciation!

Also, coming up is Culture Day at MPA. Wednesday, October 23 from 3-6:30 PM. Please note date change from October 26 to October 23! Join us for a gastronomic tour around the world as we share sweet and savory delicacies from 10 countries. Learn how to make “worry dolls” from Guatemala. Master Origami, the Japanese art of paper-folding. Enjoy musical and dance performances by our talented MPA students. Go home with some cool body art from an expert henna artist.

We are seeking volunteers to make this happen: food servers, decoration and set-up helpers, performers, etc. We would like representation from as many countries and cultures as possible, including the United States. Sign-up here or email seema_anwar@hotmail.com!

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

Hands-On Opportunities In The Makerspace

September 18, 2019

There are so many opportunities to get creative in the MPA Makerspace this year! We hope to see you bringing your ideas to life at the gatherings and events below.

Fiber Friends will meet every Friday from 11 AM-12:30 PM. This group of knitters, crocheters, seamstresses, and textile gurus is open to all faculty, staff, parents, alum, grandparents, and students. Beginners are always welcome! Upper and Middle School students may come in during their lunch and recess time.

Makerspace Mondays are open for Middle and Upper School students. They may use the Makerspace on Mondays for projects from 3-5 PM. There will be a clipboard to sign-in. If Middle School students are not picked up by 5 PM, they will go to Panther Club.

University of St. Thomas STEM Lunch Discussions occur once a month. Engineering students from UST will be on campus to share their inspiring stories and chat with students about careers in STEM related fields. Faculty and staff are invited to join in the discussion as well. The students will be on campus during the lunch hour on the following dates: October 10, November 7, December 5, February 13, March 5, April 2, and May 7.

Lower School STEAM club will begin in January and meet after school on Thursdays. We will have a winter and spring session. Registration will come out at the end of November.

MPA Maker Fest 2020 will take place on February 22 from 1-4 PM! This free, community event is the perfect place and time to showcase a project or hobby you are passionate about. All are welcome to host a table or attend. Last year we had students of all ages, parents, alumni, faculty and staff, and grandparents participate.

If you have items that you would like to donate or upcycle to the Makerspace, please drop them by anytime! We appreciate all objects to tinker with. There will be a bin outside the Makerspace for donated supplies. Please put your name on the donation or fill out a donation slip (located on the bin) and give it to the Development Office. Please do not donate any items that have been in contact with tree nuts, peanuts, or dairy.

Together, We Can Finish Strong By October 1

September 18, 2019

Together, We Dream: The Campaign for MPA is helping our school accomplish a number of key priorities. We’ve already witnessed the impact of our community’s generosity in our beautiful new Family Commons, and we will soon in our new library.

An additional key priority for the school is securing our future through a strong endowment. A strong endowment ensures our programs continue to be of the highest quality. It allows us to make an MPA education more accessible to more families. Your gift in support of our school’s endowment will leave a lasting impact in the following ways:

greater access to an MPA education through financial assistance;
enhanced classroom experiences for students through professional development opportunities for our faculty and staff; and
supported learning beyond the classroom through experiential education, travel, and enhanced curricular opportunities.

Homecoming 2019: Dream. Play. Share.

September 12, 2019

Come dream, play, and share with us at Homecoming 2019! Students will be celebrating on campus the week of September 23. Families, please join us for the annual Homecoming Pep Rally at 2:20 PM on Friday, September 27 in the Lansing Sports Center.

Saturday, September 28 features a day full of Homecoming activities on and off campus for every member of the community! Check out the full week’s schedule of events in the Homecoming brochure mailed to your home or follow this link.

Sign up to volunteer at MPA’s Homecoming 2019! We need your support to make this exciting event succeed. This fun-filled celebration has so many activities going on including fun runs, inflatables, lawn games, athletic competitions, alumni events, and much more. This incredible weekend for every member of our community would not be possible without the generosity of volunteers who give of their time on Saturday, September 28. If you have an hour or two to spare, volunteering is a great way to get involved with the event and MPA! Click here to sign up. Read More

Seeing The Library Of Our Dreams Come True

September 12, 2019

Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of MPA families and supporters, Together, We Dream: The Campaign For MPA is making a big impact in our new commons, cafeteria, and kitchen and will very soon in our brand new library. Construction is progressing on schedule and we hope to unveil some sneak peeks soon of this beautiful new space.

On Tuesday, Conan Young, the construction supervisor who has overseen our projects with A&P Construction, got out his measuring tape during Ms. Lage’s reading circle to make sure there will be plenty of space for classes to circle up and hear a great book in the new Lower School library area. There will be many special features including flexible seating, quiet study spaces, collaborative areas, and a beautiful fireside seating area for students and groups to gather. Ms. Lage, MPA’s librarian shares, “The new space is being designed with many of the crucial 21st century skills in mind–critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration–that will enable students to co-create new knowledge, not simply be passive consumers of existing information.” Read More