What Evie Found For Her Family At MPA - YouTube

I'm Evie Zeruhn.

My husband is Bernie Zeruhn.

We have three sons at MPA.

Pascal is in third grade.

Kai is in fifth grade

and Finn is in seventh grade.

We came from Southern California

a year and a half ago.

We have a few neighbors who have their kids at MPA

and we had never considered private school.

It just wasn't on our radar.

You know you think, "Why pay for something

if you get a great experience at the public school."

Well what I didn't know is it's not

it's apples to oranges. We're not just teaching them to read and write.

We're teaching them to be a good person.

Finn was going into sixth grade

and he's our tech guy.

So he's just into all things engineering

and how does everything work. And

we walk into some sort of orientation day

and somebody said,

"Oh I heard you're interested in the Makerspacecome with me." I didn't see him again for two hours.

I came back he was like, "Look what I made with a 3D printer."

I don't even remember what teacher it was,

but she saw passion in my kid

that she didn't even know.

And she encouraged it

and she said this is how this works, come on.

They saw seed, they put water on it,

and they help them become more than he ever could have become because

he has opportunities he wouldn't have anywhere else.

Right from the first day,

character and who you are

and being kind - it's on the

agenda. So every day they go to school

and they talk about being good people

and being kind

and that really creates a space where they can open up,

and blossom, and grow.

And that opening was

palpable.

Having these resources where there are enough

teachers to students,

the ratio is strong enough,

that each kid can be met where he

or she is at so that they can grow,

and that they can have their questions answered,

and the ceiling opens up,

so that these kids can become

more than they otherwise could have.

I've really noticed talking to the parents of

middle schoolers who have stayed in the public schools,

the moms will roll their eyes just like

"Oh, middle school is hard.

This is hard." And we all remember that.

I'm not seeing that.

I have two middle schoolers now

and they don't even know what I'm talking about.

"Oh how was the day? Is everybody being nice to each other?

Is there anything I should know?" They have no idea what I'm talking about.

I'm not seeing the middle school stuff that

we're all still wounded from,

right? And that I think

our son's peers are seeing in other schools

right now.

A lot of people come to private school

and say we're going to wait. And that was my first instinct too.

We'll start with the oldest kid

and I think that was how our conversation started was

we're going to put the oldest one in

and we'll do middle school. So either we started middle school

or we started high school that makes the financial

burden seem more manageable

than with three kids starting out

and you think okay. But then you start thinking,

"Yeah, but

how would they be different if they started younger?" Right?

So, at what point are you really

making it harder by starting later?

If you grow up in this safe,

nurturing, unique environment,

you're in a different place by the time you get to middle school.

So academically,

sure because you've had more attention along the way

and teachers have honed in on what you needed

specifically as an individual.

Emotionally and socially you're in a place where you feel safe.

So maybe by the time you get to middle school

you're already

a more rounded,

happier person.

When I think about all the kids coming out of this community

and going out into the world

and they're able to go

and bring with them the values of MPA,

that really gives me goosebumps,

it makes me feel like we can make the world

better. Which sounds so silly

and small, but I believe it.

I really think if we can

raise kids this way

and encourage them to be good,

kind people who are well educated,

and then send them out into the world,

that can't help but make a difference.