Happenings (November 11, 2025)
Girls’ Tennis Class AA Doubles State Champions
Sedona Stumpf and Brooke Gabel won the 2025 Class AA Doubles Championship. Despite losing the first set, Sedona and Brooke battled back to win the next two sets and secure Hill-Murray’s first individual state championship in tennis. Congratulations Brooke and Sedona!
NHS is sponsoring the Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive!
Donations begin on Monday, November 17th and end Tuesday, November 25th! All Food donations will go to families through Open Cupboard.
Front Desk Security Update
We’ve added a new layer of security at our front desk to help keep our community safe. Visitors will now be asked to present a driver’s license to be scanned before entering the school. Please keep this in mind and have your ID ready the next time you stop by. Thank you for helping us make our campus even more secure!
A Christmas Carol Production
Click HERE for tickets!
Theatre Youth Night
Join us for Theatre Youth Night at A Christmas Carol! This special evening is designed for our young theatre fans (Grades 3-8) and their families. Each youth participant receives free admission (plus one free adult ticket), reserved seating, and complimentary popcorn and a beverage during intermission. The evening will also include an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.
Space is limited, so be sure to register HERE soon!
Christmas Choir Concert
Hill-Murray Winter Art Fair
Hill-Murray is proud to announce the opening of our Winter Art Fair, and our brand new 5X7 art show! Artworks are on view and for sale before, during, and after the performances of A Christmas Carol in the main lobby. 85% of all sales go to the talented student artists! See all of the creative artwork on 5X7-inch cardstock created by students, teachers, and staff!
Adoration
One of the spiritual practices we celebrate at Hill-Murray is Adoration, which is held in the Hill-Murray Chapel during the school day typically on the first Friday of each month. Adoration is part of the rituals and traditions of the Catholic Church and is open to all members of the Christian faith. Adoration refers to the time when the Blessed Sacrament is placed on the altar and the faithful spend time with Jesus in the Chapel in quiet prayer and reflection. Our next day of Adoration is this Friday, November 14 from 9:15am-12:00pm. Click HERE to sign up for a time. We will start with Mass at 9:15am (finished by 9:45am). Adoration starts immediately following.
Speaker Series: Preparing our Children for the Road, not the Road for our Children
Click here to RSVP!
Part of the partnership we are building through the Pioneer Way for Parents is providing opportunities that will continue to create a shared culture of support for our students. An upcoming opportunity that we have within our community is through the organization, Youth Frontiers.
Youth Frontiers provides experiences that inspire character, civility and community. These experiences consist of retreats focused on the values of kindness, courage and respect. We partner with Youth Frontiers for our Senior Retreat each spring. The organization also offers programming for educators, parents and community members to support their mission of developing tomorrow’s leaders.
Their upcoming event, Parent Academy: Raising Kids with Character, is being offered on various dates in the upcoming months. The first one will be this Thursday, November 13th, from 11:00am-1:00pm at the Youth Frontiers office in Edina. This is a keynote style program that focuses on how to prepare young people for the road, not the road for young people. With storytelling, practical tips and research grounded in data, we’ll discuss how to raise our children to:
1) be strong not fragile
2) be responsible, not self absorbed
3) know they are precious and do not need to be perfect
For a preview of the event, click here.. To register for this Thursday’s event or another upcoming date, you can click here.
We will be having partners of the Pioneer Institute for Health and Wellness attend this event on Thursday and would love to see you there!
Parents and Support Around Healthy Technology Use
Having an iPad of their own is a new experience for many of our new middle school students. For all of our middle school students, technology use and a healthy balance can be a challenge. The supportive adults here at school appreciate partnering with parents and guardians to support our students in these areas.
Teachers do a great job directing students to proper use of the iPads. Unless they are being used directly for class, teachers often have students put them away. Teachers can also limit what students have access to during class time, helping students prioritize schoolwork and assignments over gaming, messaging others, and creating, sending and viewing videos.
Gaming, messaging others, and videos can raise a variety of concerns. These include the time taken away from their job of being a student, negative and unwelcome exchanges between students and the spread of gossip and rumors, emotional elevation that may spill over to other areas of their day, and harmful impacts of sharing and comparing images and videos of themselves and others.
Parents, you can support our efforts by asking your children about how their teachers have them using technology in class and other ways they might be using their iPads at school. Ask them about Google Chat, Fortnite, and YouTube. Discuss appropriate and inappropriate content. Talk about prioritizing time and not wasting it.
As adults, we can each model healthy balance and boundaries around technology use. When students are at school, we hope that those hours are also a break for parents. Parents, please be mindful of the timing, and consider the level of necessity, for any communication with your child during the school day. To reassure your students, remind them that you are able to get messages to them through us. If you need to leave a message for your child during the school day, you can call 651-777-1376.
Please contact Middle School Counselors Lisa Valentine (Grades 6 and 7) (lvalentine@hill-murray.org, 651-748-2224) or Katie Francis (grade 8) (kfrancis@hill-murray.org, 651-748-2235) if you have questions or concerns you wish to discuss further.
College Counseling
Event: 4 Strategies for a Smarter College Search – with Cozy Wittman
Date: Thursday, November 13 | (6:30PM-7:30PM)
Location: H-M Auditorium
Guest speaker, Cozy Wittman from College Inside Track, will be returning to Hill-Murray to present on four key strategies for students and families to use to optimize their college search process. This event is free and open to the public so feel free to invite family and friends.
*This presentation will be recorded and shared out at a later date
Senior All-Night Party
Thank you to our families for helping to sell Butter Braids. Thank you to all of our fundraiser supporters, purchasing those yummy Butter Braids! We far exceeded our goal of 300 Butter Braids sold. If you missed out, no worries. There will be another Butter Braid sale in the spring!
If you’re looking for an opportunity to financially help support the Senior All-Night Party, you can purchase a raffle ticket from the Hill-Murray Pioneer Premium Auction Raffle. Each $50 raffle ticket sold that is designated to the SANP = $50 for our Senior All-Night Party. You can buy a raffle ticket online or with the QR code. The links are below. When you purchase a ticket, you can choose the Senior All-Night Party from a drop-down box on the online form. You must choose our group in order for the credit to go to the Senior All-Night Party. A text box will pop up for “Student who sold you the ticket” to designate which student receives credit for the ticket sale. In this way you are able to track how many tickets each team member sold. The raffle ticket drawing will take place at the Pioneer Premier Auction event on April 25, 2026. Raffle ticket holders need not be present to win. Raffle ticket purchases are not an entry ticket into the Pioneer Premier Auction event. Click HERE for the online raffle ticket sales.
Thank you to all, who were able to make it to our October meeting. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 18th at Hill-Murray from 6:30-8:00. If you can’t make it, but would like to be added to our email group for updates, send us an email at hmseniorparty@gmail.com
Hill-Murray Fathers Club Curling Event
Saturday, December 20th
St. Paul Curling Club
4:30pm – Appetizers at Gnome
6:00pm – Curling Tournament
Uniform Inventory Update
Due to nationwide inventory shortages, the men’s UNRL Highlands Quarter Zip Pullover has been temporarily unavailable in some of our most popular sizes. We anticipate those sizes to be back in stock in December. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused or may cause. To help with this gap, Game One has added a pullover to our online uniform portal. The new pullover, the UNRL Interlok, is similar to the UNRL Highlands. A bonus, however, with the Interlok is that it is fleece-lined and available in both men’s and youth sizes. The UNRL Interlok is only available in our online uniform portal. The uniform portal is open each month from the 1st-10th and the 15th-25th. You can find more information about uniforms on our website under the Student & Parent Portal. If you have questions, please email uniforms@hill-murray.org
Dr. Pat Wolff (class of ’65) Receives International Award
Hill-Murray alumna Patricia Barrett Wolff, MD (Class of ’65), founder of Meds & Food for Kids recently received the Top Agri-food Pioneer award by the World Food Prize Foundation. This represents a pinnacle in her medical career and life-long commitment to saving children and transforming their futures in Haiti.
Dr. Wolff stays in close touch with Hill-Murray alumni and school community – who have been so supportive. She was a speaker at Hill-Murray in February 2023 and credits her Catholic education for her early inspiration to do this work.
Click HERE for the full story.
Christmas at the Monastery 2025
Celebrate the spirit of Christmas in every way, from quiet reflection to joyful connection, at Christmas at the Monastery! Three special events, along with a silent auction, that invite you to slow down, raise a glass, and share some laughter as we journey through the season together. Join us for any or all of these three unique events as we celebrate the joy and warmth of Christmas. For each event you are invited to use the discount code “Pioneer2025” to receive a 25% discount on registration.
“Where the Light Comes In” Advent Retreat, presented by Victor Klimoski, Ph.D. Saturday, December 6 from 9am-11am at the Hill-Murray Chapel. In this extended meditation on light, we will rely on the wisdom of writers and artists to help us find our own words to describe living into the light despite the powers of darkness. CLICK HERE for more information or to register. 25% discount code is “Pioneer2025”
Sippin’ with the Saints | Wine Tasting & Education with the Sisters. Join Jason Kallsen, founder of Twin Cities Wine Education LLC to learn about wines from a Benedictine lens paired with delightful bites from a chef-created charcuterie. December 9, 6:30pm-9pm at St Paul’s Monastery. CLICK HERE for more information or to register. 25% discount code is “Pioneer2025”
Trivia Mafia and Silent Auction Finale on December 13, 6:30pm-9:00pm at St Paul’s Monastery. The Sisters of St. Paul’s Monastery are excited to welcome guests for a fun evening of great food, wine, and trivia games with Trivia Mafia! Yes, Trivia Mafia is back again! CLICK HERE for more information or to register. 25% discount code is “Pioneer 2025”
Future Leader Scholarship Application Now Open!
We are excited to announce that the application process for the Hill-Murray Future Leader Scholarship is now open to all current 8th-grade students!
Do you have an 8th grader who demonstrates exceptional leadership qualities, a commitment to serving others, and a passion for learning? This scholarship is designed to recognize and support those students who are ready to become the next generation of Pioneers and difference-makers.
Encourage your student to apply and seize this opportunity! Click here to apply today!
2026-27 Tuition Assistance and Scholarship Applications are Now Open
* Need-Based Tuition Assistance & Scholarships:
If your family is interested in applying for Need-Based Tuition Assistance, please click HERE to begin your 2026-27 TADS application.
Completion of a TADS application grants a student’s eligibility for all Need-Based Scholarships.
* Non-Need Based Scholarships:
Our Non-Need Based Scholarship application is live for 2026-27. Please click HERE to begin your application.
Families of students applying for Non-Need Based Scholarships are NOT required to complete a TADS application.
The submission deadline for TADS and Non-Need Scholarships is January 15, 2026; however, the Hill-Murray Scholarship Committee will begin reviewing applications and allocating awards as they are submitted.
