Mounds Park Academy

Happy December! I certainly can tell that winter is approaching as it is snowing outside as we speak (or as I write). The snow flurries started yesterday morning with the temperatures dropping down into the teens. It makes it a bit more difficult to get outside to run (impossible and dangerous to bike), so CC and I have made it a point to go for a walk each day. The only real problem is that it takes about 20 minutes just to get dressed to go outside. The daily temperature is expected to stay below freezing so I'm sure that the snow will stick around … probably throughout the duration of our stay here in Minneapolis. We were able to get out to visit a school yesterday … Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul. Before I get to the school visitation, let me tell you about some of the 'other' things that we've been up to.

Besides going on daily walks (or runs) around one of the many lakes that Minneapolis offers, I've been doing a lot or reading. Most of it is what some people would call junk fiction (The Wrecker and Blue Medusa by Clive Cussler; The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen; I, Alex Cross by James Patterson; etc.). I am also reading some 'real' stuff like Brain Rules by John Medina. This book was suggested reading by our Middle School Principal Mike Walker about a year ago. CC and I are both finding Brain Rules fascinating and enjoyable. It explains the twelve guiding principles for thriving in a work setting, your home life, and in school. Whether you are a teacher, parent, or just someone who wants to learn more about how the human brain functions without too much of the confusing science behind it, I would highly recommend it. I've seen it on the bookshelves of several school administrators as we visit schools.



The other day CC and I went on a walk around Lake Harriet and spotted a bald eagle. It seemed to be all alone and hungry so a local fisherman was tempting it with a fish as it was being harassed by other birds in the area. Sometimes you hope to see a bald eagle when out in the wilderness, but to see one so close to civilization seems a bit odd.
On one of our walks along the Mississippi River we run across the jumbled mess of steel from the bridge that collapsed about a year and a half ago and within a few steps we can see the 'new' bridge that was built in it's place. The twisted steel that you see in the pictures will be used in creating a memorial sculpture.





Some of the Canadian Geese are still here fatting up before they take flight for warmer pastures in the south. I'm surprised that they are still here as it must be pretty cold for them.

Yesterday CC and I visited Mounds Park Academy (MPA) just on the other side of the Mississippi River in St. Paul. It is a fairly new school (1982) that was started by a small group of teachers from Blake School (that I reported on in an early blog entry). It is a K -12 school that has about 600 students (188 in the 5-8 middle school). Probably the most interesting aspect to MPA is the way that they have organized their advisory program. The 5th grade advisory experience seems to be a bit different than 6-8 as they have 20 in each advisory that meets every afternoon for 35 minutes. The 6th grade has 12 students in an advisory that is separated by gender that also meets everyday for 35 minutes. In the 7th and 8th advisories, they also have 12 students separated by gender that meets every other day for 35 minutes. When asked about why they separate the advisory by gender, the middle school head explained that they discovered that the activities they do and issues that come up for them have better results with a single gender advisory. They've done it both ways (mixed gender and separate gender) and with their current students they have better success. They continue to review
that each year as a new crop of students passes through the middle school. The advisory activities include a lot of the usual areas that most middle schools address … academic checkup, team building, group projects, community service, etc. They have a monthly middle school combined advisory (assembly) where they will showcase some of the current student work projects.

In terms of technology at MPA, it didn't seem as advanced as most of the school that we have visited. I didn't see any smart boards and they don't have a one-to-one laptop program in the middle school. The do have computer (Apple) labs for the elementary and middle school students and some laptops on a cart that teachers can check out for classroom work. They do have a one-to-one laptop program in the high school. All classrooms, both at the middle and upper levels had a projection system to use.
The science curriculum for their middle school included general science in 5th and 6th, physical science in 7th, and life science in the 8th. Visiting an 8th grade science class showed students working on hands on activities related to evolution comparing man with chimpanzees. I also saw results of and 8th grade science project of creating a large skeleton of a dinosaur using foam boards and construction paper that was very impressive.
They don’t seem to integrate their core subjects very much at MPA, but teachers seem to be working towards integrating their subject matter in future projects.





MPA is still a relatively young school that is working together with their parents in taking steps to improve the educational experience for their students.
As I finish this blog entry, know that it is still snowing outside and that those of you in Hawaii should be very grateful for the fabulous weather that you have, even with the flash flood warnings that I understand that have been fairly frequent this fall. One of the things that CC and I continually talk about is, if we didn't live in Hawaii, what place that we've visited could we live in (maybe in our retirement). Although we've visited many beautiful places, so far Hawaii is still the best place to be! Aloha!