Mission Statement

As members of the Marshall Academy community, we pledge our best efforts to create and maintain a disciplined learning environment based upon traditional moral values, while assuring mastery of the classic fundamentals of learning and challenging our students to excel in their given talents.

Calendar

Seven Universal Virtues

1. Prudence: good judgment, carefulness
2. Temperance: self-control
3. Justice: fairness
4. Fortitude: courage, endurance
5. Faith: allegiance, loyalty, belief
6. Hope: trust, reliance
7. Charity: love, kindness, benevolence

Administration			Board of Directors
Headmaster	Mr. Brent Swan		President	Dr. Erich Heidenreich
Administrative Assistant	Jill McCombs		Vice-president	Dr Christopher Buch
			Secretary	Rob Olson
Office Phone:	(269) 781-6330		Treasurer	Patti Cornwell
Office Hours:	7:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.		Board Member	John Swett
			Board Member	Christine Brundage

School Delays and Closings

Please watch for unexpected delays or closings to be announced by 6:30 a.m. on television 41 and 3 (cable 4 and 16) along with radio 98.5fm and 95.3fm.

Please do not call teachers or the Academy.

 

The Marshall Academy Community

Marshall Academy represents a partner-ship among the students, parents, faculty, administration, and staff. These partners are united in their commitment to our common objectives and dedicated to the Academy's Mission Statement.

As role models and instructors, Marshall Academy teachers are valued by students and parents for their caring attitudes. Intelligence, effective teaching ability, loyalty, and responsibility are characteristics we require of the faculty. The bar is held equally high for the students of Marshall Academy.

Parents expect and appreciate direct and regular communication from the faculty and administration regarding their children. Reciprocally, Marshall Academy's parents should be receptive and responsive to the Academy's suggestions for helping students.

The headmaster and board of directors promulgate the mission statement and standards defined in the Academy's handbooks and policy manual and oversee their implementation in the Academy. In their capacities as policy makers and leaders, these individuals advance the Academy's role as an institution committed to children.

At Marshall Academy, maintaining a morally disciplined learning environment is paramount. Traditional moral values are encouraged through the seven universal virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Faith, Hope, and Charity. We expect these virtues to be constantly valued and frequently exhibited.

By providing standards and examples of ethical and moral values by which one should live, we prepare students to accept the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in our morally founded republic.

Every child is capable of achieving his or her potential to the fullest extent when afforded respect, fairness, kindness, loving discipline, and appropriate instruction.

Grading

Students receive number/letter grades for all assignments.
The grading scale is:

 

A+		100%
A		99-93%
A-		92-90%
B+		89-88%
B		87-83%
B-		82-80%
C+		79-78%
C		77-73%
C-		72-70%
F		69% and below

Final grades are computed by averaging first through fourth quarter grades.

Students who earn a final grade of F in any two content areas will be required to repeat the entire current grade level the following year.

Conduct and Discipline

All Marshall Academy teachers recognize that the conduct of students in their classrooms affects behavior outside the classroom. With that in mind, all teachers explain and disseminate the rules and accompanying rewards and punishments that govern all aspects of classroom behavior. They address tardiness, inappropriate behavior, missed homework, acceptable work, preparedness, and general citizenship.

Disciplinary Action

Disciplinary action is administered through the following five consequences. Beyond the level of reprimand, the headmaster will determine the appropriate sanction based on the seriousness of the offense.

1. Reprimand: The teacher gives a verbal reprimand to the student in private with the headmaster in attendance if the situation warrants.
2. Discipline Notice:  Requires school community service or time out from school privileges.
3. Lunch and/or After-school Detentions: 30, 45 or 60 minutes
4. Out-of-school Suspension
5. Expulsion

To assure that learning is not interrupted by behavioral disruptions, the Academy enforces a policy of demerits and after-school detentions. The goal is to work with parents to reinforce and support agreed-upon standards of courtesy, respect, and behavior which are an important aspect of children's education, and to prevent the loss of valuable instructional time. The maintenance of an orderly and harmonious classroom is essential to learning, and the policy of demerits and detentions reflects the Marshall Academy educational philosophy.

Detentions may be assigned as required to maintain decorum in the school. In order to keep communication open, the administrative office will attempt to contact parents by phone when a demerit or detention is issued before written notification is sent home.

Thirty, forty-five, and sixty minute detention periods are held after school. The administrative office informs parents when a detention is required and the day it is to be served. Parents are expected to arrange student transportation home. A teacher, parent, or the headmaster may request a parent conference after the student has served a detention.

Infractions that result in disciplinary action include the following:

1. Being disrespectful to a teacher, peer, or visitor;
2. Fighting or roughhousing;
3. Exhibiting inappropriate or boisterous behavior;
4. Speaking out in class without permission;
5.  Being unprepared for class;
6. Cheating, lying or committing plagiarism;
7. Any behavior or conditions deemed unacceptable by the headmaster or faculty
8. Being out of assigned seat and/or area unnecessarily or without permission

Students issued a demerit will be asked to do a variety of tasks, from the menial to the mental, depending on the offense. Students serving a detention will complete a written assignment keyed to their grade level and offense.

Suspending a student from school is reserved for the most serious offenses or the most constant misbehavior. It is instituted at the request of the headmaster in consultation with the appropriate teacher(s) and parents.

Suspended students are expected to complete missed class work by the start of school the following day. Standards for return will be drafted at the start of the suspension period, during a parent conference with the headmaster and teacher.

Marshall Academy enrolls students judged to be civilized and cooperative. If a student cannot or will not abide by the foregoing rules, then that student may be expelled.

After consultation with parents, student, and involved faculty, the headmaster may acknowledge that all other corrective avenues have been exhausted and recommend expulsion to the board of directors.

Honor Awards

The "Wings of Virtue" (for consistently virtuous behavior), "Wings of Achievement" (for exceptional academic improvement), and "Academic Honor Roll" wings (for superior grades), are awarded at the end of the school year at one of the ceremonies opening the school day.

Academic Honor Roll Guidelines are as follows:

Kindergarten, First and Second Grades:		Ineligible for honor roll.
Third and Fourth Grades:		No grade less than B+ in all content areas, and no mark less than S in effort and work-habit areas.
Fifth through Tenth Grades:		No grade less than A- and one B+ per marking period in all content areas, and no mark less than S in effort and work-habit areas.
Letter grades
		These will be assigned the following point values: A+..... 4.33             A……. 4.0              A-….. 3.67 B+..... 3.33              B.......3.33               B-......2.67 C+ ........2.33           C....... ..2.0              C- ……1.67

Student Attire and Appearance

Marshall Academy's uniform policy was established to allow a consistently attractive and neat appearance for all students and to avoid peer pressure in matters of dress. Only the approved uniform purchased from the approved suppliers (Schoolbelles and Lands' End) is acceptable attire. Chronic or notable offenders will be asked to call home to have parents bring appropriate dress. Consult the uniform policy available from the academy office for further details.

In addition, non-marring tennis shoes are required for gym class. Preferably, an extra pair of tennis shoes should remain at the academy. Students should also have warm outerwear during the cold winter months between November 1 and spring break, as they may desire or be required to go outside.

The only acceptable emblem, lettering, or patch on hats, coats, sweaters, or other clothing are the "wings" awards, and the Marshall Academy embroidery available through Schoolbelles and Lands' End.

Students are to present a consistently neat, clean, and well groomed appearance. Students should maintain simple and traditional hairstyles. Hair dyes/colors and highlighting are not permitted. Neither may students display makeup, tattoos, or body piercings at school or school-sponsored events. Appropriateness of appearance will be determined at the discretion of the headmaster.

Arrival

In order to facilitate a safe and efficient start to the day, students should arrive at 7:50 a.m.

You must drive past the porch entry area and drop children off at the farthest open space along the apron on the north side of the Academy labeled "Fire Lane." Upon arrival students should go directly to their classroom.

Please note: the Academy does not provide before or after school child care or super-vision. Doors are unlocked at 7:50 a.m. and all children must depart by 3:35 p.m. Do not leave children unattended outside the school building.

If you are volunteering or would like to attend the opening ceremony, you must park in the parking lot north of the building. No parking is allowed on either side of the driveways or next to the fire lane, and the visitors parking near the front of the building is reserved for special visitors and handicapped individuals only.

The opening ceremony begins promptly at 8:10 a.m. Late arrivals make an orderly opening ceremony difficult. Detentions will be issued to students who are tardy three or more times in one marking period. If a child arrives late, the parent or the adult transporting the student must park in the parking lot and enter the academy with the child to sign in at the office. For security reasons, if you need to bring something later such as a forgotten lunch you must drop it off in the academy office.

Departure

In order to ensure of your child's safety, avoid traffic backups onto Homer Road, and promote everyone's efficient time management, the following pickup procedures must be strictly enforced:

Dismissal Time: 1st-10th   3:20 p.m.
                              Morning K    11:30 a.m.

Dismissal Procedure

Please proceed once around the circle drive and then follow traffic monitor's directions to the pickup area. Your riders will wait for you at the grade level of the youngest rider in your car. If your child is to ride home with someone other than the regularly scheduled driver, please send a note to the office giving written permission for the student to leave school. Please include the other person's name and the make and color of the car. Please also inform any new driver of the academy's arrival and pickup procedures to avoid traffic confusion.

School Visitors

Due to heightened security measures, all visitors must receive a visitor pass before entering the classroom area. Visitors without a pass will be directed to the office by a staff member.

To avoid disruption of teacher instructions at the end of the day, parents should not enter the classroom prior to dismissal. Students must remain in their classroom until the teacher dismisses the entire class.

Attendance

Regular attendance is important to a child's success in school and establishes good work habits and self-discipline. Also, a child who has had a proper night's rest is better prepared to learn than one who is tired due to a late night. Establishing a regular bedtime helps students appreciate that school is an important endeavor and requires adequate rest.

All absences are to be verified by a call to the Academy from a parent or guardian as soon as possible on the morning of the absence. If you must take your child out of school early, please inform the Academy office in writing, in advance if possible. This includes all medical and dental appointments. Students who leave school early, for any reason, must be signed out by the parent or guardian in the Academy office.

Extended Family Vacations

In order for the effectiveness and continuity of instruction to be maintained, children must be in attendance regularly and consistently throughout the school year. Parents are requested to schedule vacations and other trips at times that will not coincide with their children's school commitments. In the event that an unavoidable family situation requires that a child miss school, parents should notify the Academy secretary and their child's teacher at least two weeks before the planned absence. If assignments are requested in advance, they are due on the day the student returns. If no assignments are requested, then the student has the same number of days as absent to complete assignments after returning. After these specified times, uncompleted assignments will receive no credit.

Illness

In order to reduce the spread of contagious diseases at Marshall Academy, please keep your child at home if he or she is contagious. Students with obviously contagious conditions (such as "pinkeye") will be sent home.

If a student becomes ill during school, he or she should notify the teacher, who will help make appropriate arrangements with the Academy office for the student's care and/or pickup by a parent or guardian.

Keeping ill children home until they are fully recovered ensures that they will be ready for the demanding work of school when they return, and reduces the spread of contagious diseases to other students. We also encourage frequent hand washing at the Academy.

Homework Assignments for Absent Students

Assignments for absent students can be picked up from the Marshall Academy office after 1:00 p.m. Telephone before noon to let us know you will be coming so we may have them ready when you arrive.

Family Death or Terminal Illness

If there is a death, terminal illness, or a similar traumatic situation in your family which may affect the student's attendance, emotional well-being and/or level of concentration, please notify the Academy office and/or your child's teacher.

Telephones

Students must obtain permission from their teacher or the office to use school telephones. Students should use Academy telephones only for matters of an important nature. Cellular phone use is not permitted during regular school hours (7:45 am - 3:20 pm). Failure to abide by the policy will result in the loss of the phone until a parent/guardian meets with the teacher and/or Headmaster to retrieve the phone.