Community-Wide PA Meeting

Please join us for our inaugural Community-Wide Parents Association meeting, which will be held on Monday, December 1, from 8-9 AM in the Martin Lenz Harrison Library. We listened to your feedback from our survey in the October Parent Press, and over 50% of respondents indicated that an 8-9 AM meeting time is their preference. 

This community gathering will be a time to enjoy a cup of coffee, learn more about what events the PA sponsored this past fall, and special events to look forward to over the winter, and engage in dialogue with Dr. Lori-Anne Brogdon, head of school. If you have a question that you would like Dr. Brogdon to answer at the meeting, please email it to PA@moundsparkacademy.org.

Parent Volunteers Shoutout!

We would like to send a big thank you to our Lower School Halloween party planning committee! They put so much time and energy into creating a fun and welcoming Halloween carnival for PreK through fourth grade.

Thank you to our committee chairs, Megan Brogger and Cathi Murray, and our committee members Ryan Murray, Ravi Katkar, Chris Siegfried, Hun Pham, Laura Nicholson, Chad Nicholson, and Jocelyn Cunha. Your hard work was so appreciated!

We would like to give a special shoutout to PA board member Melissa Suek. She is in charge of faculty and staff appreciation and has been absolutely knocking it out of the park the last few years! 

The PA would like to express its deepest gratitude for all of the hard work and dedication Melissa has put into teacher appreciation efforts. Her enthusiasm and support have made such a positive impact on our MPA staffulty. Thank you, Melissa, for your kindness, time, and unwavering support. We truly appreciate everything you do!

In response to the impending pause on S.N.A.P. benefits, Mounds Park Academy and the Parents Association will be hosting the MPA Do Right Helping Hands Food Drive. We have reached out to Open Cupboard/Today’s Harvest, a local food bank/free market with locations in Maplewood and Oakdale, to see how we at MPA could be of service. Open Cupboard asked if we could assist with collecting donations for their new Go Bag project. Go Bags are pre-packaged grocery bags that will help them quickly serve their 6,500+ families in times of high demand. Here's how you can help ...

• Contribute Food Items
• Volunteer To Pack Go Bags At MPA
• Volunteer At Open Cupboard
• Get More Involved By Reaching Out

More details can be found here. And, if your family needs grocery support, contact Robert Perez, MPA CFOO, at rperez@moundsparkacademy.org. Care packages are available for you.

If you have any questions about the food drive, please get in touch with MPA PA co-president Laura Nicholson at laurahnicholson@gmail.com.

Call For Volunteers!

• Volunteer to pack the food bags from our MPA Do Right Helping Hands Food Drive. Join us for an hour or two between 12-2 PM on Friday, November 7, in the Gallery.
• Volunteer at Upper School faculty & staff appreciation during December conferences! Upper School parents and caregivers, please watch for communication from your grade reps regarding volunteers needed to support Upper School faculty and staff during conferences on December 4 and 5. The time commitment is small, but the gesture is grand! Thank you in advance for participating. 

Save The Date For Upcoming Events!

We are so excited to share that MPA’s beloved Book Festival will be returning in December! Please mark your calendars for the week of December 8-12. This year’s theme will be "Stories in the Snow."

There are some wonderful changes and additions in store for this year’s festival. First up, we are shifting course and offering book selections from Scholastic this year. The offerings will be on display in the Library instead of the Gallery. Parents will have the option to set up an eWallet for their students, which will enable children to purchase books without having to have a parent bring cash or credit cards to the school.

We will offer an after school special event this year to celebrate MPA’s love of reading!

Wednesday, December 10, from 3-4 PM will feature a story time with Mr. James Ewer, Lower School director, in the Library, followed by a snow-themed craft and hot cocoa, cookies, and popcorn in the Family Commons.


*Please stay tuned for more specifics about the Book Festival that will be sent home later in November, which will include links to RSVP for these special events!

End of School Year Party

This year, we will be transitioning away from grade-level/division end-of-year parties. Instead, we will enjoy MPA’s beautiful outdoor grounds to host our first-ever All-School End of Year Party! There will be food trucks with lunch for purchase, lots of fun activities and games, separated by division and time for parents and students to enjoy the last day of school together.

June 3, 2026 | 10:30 AM-12 PM

MPA Campus

Lower and Middle School students need to attend with a parent.

Please consider donating your time and talents to help make this event a success! A sign-up will be sent out after winter break to gather volunteers for division-level planning teams.

Meet Four Of Our PA Board Members

Meet the remaining PA board members! We asked board members how long their families have been at MPA, the names and grades of their children, one of their favorite MPA traditions, and if they could swap with their child for one day at MPA, what they would look forward to the most. 

Adi Boeder Risner | Treasurer

This is my eighth year at MPA with my own family, but as an alum, I’ve actually been part of the community for 18 years. My children, Luke (fifth grade) and Levi (second grade), love being part of MPA as well. One of my favorite traditions is the pairing assemblies—I still remember having a fourth-grade buddy when I was in kindergarten, and it’s incredibly special to see my kids enjoy the same experiences. If I could swap places with them for a day, I’d most look forward to going to the library. Having dedicated time to discover new books in a peaceful setting sounds wonderful—and, of course, I wouldn’t miss lunch! These kids are so lucky.

Kate Jacobson | Communication Lead

Hey everyone! My daughter, Elizabeth, is in the 11th grade, making this my third year as a parent at MPA. One of my favorite MPA traditions is the Cultural Celebration Day, as well as the Black History Month Celebration. If I could swap places with Elizabeth for one day, I would choose Wednesday in order to join the Community Singing Club! For me, it says a lot about a school community when students, faculty, and staff choose to spend their free time singing together. So cool. I would also enjoy going to any of her classes on that day.

Cristin Moran | Secretary

This will be our family’s seventh year at MPA. My son, Preston, started in PreK and is now enjoying a uniform-free life as a Middle Schooler in fifth grade. A favorite MPA tradition is Homecoming. It’s inspiring for the younger kids to see the older kids' sports competitions and for them to run around school together, buying hot dogs and getting their faces painted. If I could swap places with Preston, I would head straight to his band and music classes. I played clarinet through middle school and in high school loved choir and madrigal singing. The arts department at MPA is one of the top reasons that we are an MPA family!

Upcoming Events

Dr. Brogdon's Book Club | Thursday, December 19, 6-7:30 PM, Martin Lenz Harrsion Library

Please join Dr. Brogdon and fellow book-loving parents at the MPA library for a discussion of Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. Please RSVP here.

Lower School Family Forum | Friday, November 14, 8:15-9:45 AM, Martin Lenz Harrison Library 

*Please note these family forums will be monthly instead of quarterly. December’s forum will be on December 19, at the same time and place.

Middle School Quarterly Coffee | Tuesday, December 9, 8-9 AM, Porter Conference Room (In The Head of School’s Suite)

You won’t want to miss this coffee, which will feature Mark Segal, Upper School director, as he provides a roadmap for the transition from Middle School to Upper School at MPA.

Upper School Quarterly Coffee | Friday, December 12, 8-9:30 AM | Porter Conference Room 

Coffee & Connections with Head of School | Monday, November 17, 8-9 AM, Martin Lenz Harrison Library

Appreciation For Upper School College Counselors | Friday, November 7

We will celebrate the staff in MPA’s college counseling office as they support and prepare Upper School students to complete the application process for their colleges of choice. Thank you to all faculty and staff for your efforts! 

Parents Association Paw Prints

Conferences Faculty & Staff Appreciation

Our faculty and staff felt the adoration and appreciation thanks to our generous family donations and volunteers during all-school conferences on October 9 and 10. The PA provided dinner from Chipotle on Thursday night; we fed over 80 teachers and administrators!

Thanks to in-person volunteers Trevor Bennett, Jocelyn Cunha, Heather Doughty, Marija Fox, Kristin Sweet Kennedy, Laura Nicholson, Hun Pham, Jasmin Stees, Melissa Suek, Nicholas Suek, and Emily Wahlquist.

Grade-Level Social Gatherings!

• First Grade: An outing to the park!
• Fifth Grade: Families enjoyed bouncing at Sky Zone (Oakdale) after school on Monday, October 6. No photos from the event as everyone was too busy bouncing off the walls!
• Sixth Grade: Families enjoyed a fall family outing at Pine Tree Apple Orchard on October 26.
• Seventh Grade: Had an amazing family Halloween party on October 25, at Tina Heidelberger and Greg Nuss’ home on White Bear Lake. Nearly 90 parents and kids attended for a night of festivities! 

• Eighth Grade: Families spent part of Saturday, October 11, at Sky Zone (Oakdale) bouncing, playing basketball, going down slides, and enjoying time with each other away from school. 

Halloween Party, Parade, Pop-Up Book Fair, and Costume Drive!

This year's Lower School Halloween Party was a huge success! Over 45 caregivers volunteered for day-of help, which made the day run so smoothly. Thank you to all of our day-of volunteers, to our rockstar P.E. teachers, Mr. Ryther and Mr. Sheehan, for the epic obstacle course, to all who contributed costumes to the costume drive, and to families who participated in the Pop-Up Book Fair!

The MPA PA is 100% parent-led! If you want more information on how to get involved or have ideas to share, we want to hear from you. Please reach out to us at PA@moundsparkacademy.org at any time.