Marshall Academy educates children to become successful, productive, and independent members of a free society. Stressing solid preparation in the fundamental academic skills of reading and phonics, writing, and computation, the curriculum incorporates the best of the Western tradition and modern innovation in a creative, values-centered approach. Each student receives personalized instruction from teachers dedicated to the well-rounded development of the young.

Marshall Academy emphasizes the dignity and self-respect which results from a child's academic accomplishment, right behavior, and proper regard for others. When Academy students come to school, they come to important, rigorous work in a well-structured and caring environment. Both their conduct and dress must support the school's seriousness of purpose.

Marshall Academy Educational Philosophy

Marshall Academy represents a unique partnership among the students, parents, faculty, administration, and staff. These partners are united in their commitment to the common objectives outlined in our mission and standards.

As role models and instructors, Marshall Academy teachers will be valued by students and parents for their caring attitudes. Intelligence, creative teaching ability, loyalty, and responsibility are characteristics we require of the faculty.

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

The headmaster, along with the board of directors, verifies and endorses the Mission Statement and oversees its implementation in the school. In their capacities as policy makers and community leaders, these administrators advance the Academy's role as an institution committed to children.

At Marshall Academy we are committed to the philosophy of educating the individual child by helping each student acquire knowledge. By providing standards of ethical and moral values by which one may live, we are preparing students to accept the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic, moral society. Every child is capable of achieving his or her potential to the fullest extent when afforded respect, fairness, kindness, loving discipline, and appropriate instruction.

Start of the Day

Every school day begins with a sequence of activities carefully designed to convey a clear sense of expectation and demonstrate a personal concern for each individual child.

1. Welcome - As parents drop off their children in the morning, the teachers and the Headmaster greet them individually. This simple act of civility lets students of all ages know that they are wanted at school.
2. Opening Ceremony - After the students have arrived, a formal ceremony is conducted every morning in the gym. The students assemble by class, and the headmaster leads in the pledge of allegiances. Next, a patriotic or traditional American song is sung, followed by a student's presentation of a poem, literary work, or music. The headmaster then makes any announcements, and acknowledges recent noteworthy accomplishments made by students or classes.

While this entire sequence typically takes no more than ten to fifteen minutes, its importance cannot be overemphasized. Parents are encouraged to attend as often as desired.

Recess Periods

Recess provides an important social experience, allowing children to be children and to interact with their peers in other than classroom activities. We make a plentiful variety of recreational items available to our students. While teachers keep their direct involvement in recess activities to a minimum, they encourage organized games and individual activities, helping the children cooperate and expend pent-up energy in a socially acceptable manner.

Lunch Time

Students bring their own sack lunches. While the students are encouraged to relax and chat freely during lunch, the requirements of etiquette and table manners maintain an atmosphere of order and civility throughout the lunch period. Teachers dine with their students, and provide supervision on a rotating basis. Students clean up after themselves before being dismissed for a short recess period.

Special Activity Periods

Class time is set aside throughout the week for special enrichment activities. These sessions supplement and enhance the Academy's curriculum in four important areas:

1. Music - Academy students participate in choral singing; learn and practice vocal techniques; and study musical notation, harmony, terminology, and history. Students additionally study classical music and music appreciation. At various times throughout the year, all the students come together to sing at Academy events and community functions.
2. Art - Art classes allow students to explore visual forms of expression and to cultivate an aesthetic sense. Activities include drawing, using watercolor, pottery making, viewing slides, and attending selected exhibits. Students additionally study historically significant art and art appreciation.
3. Physical Education - Younger students participate in activities designed to develop gross and fine motor skills, while older students learn sports and games that can help them maintain fitness throughout their adult lives. All students receive instruction in the rules and techniques of team sports and cultivate athletic appreciation through group attendance at sporting events.
4. Library - Although the Marshall Academy curriculum provides a multitude of excellent reading material, classes may schedule trips to the Marshall Public Library, or other libraries in the community, for research and for selection of worthy leisure reading material. Parent volunteers continue to facilitate the growth of an extensive library collection on campus, and help the teachers with book selections and advise students on appropriateness and reading level.

Homework

Homework is an essential part of an Academy education and is assigned Monday through Friday. After-school study reinforces the day's learning activities and emphasizes that the school day should not be the only time when the students' task is to practice, review, or learn.

The Academy recognizes parents as partners in their children's educational progress and stresses the crucial need for parents to establish and monitor homework time, free from the distractions of television, video games, and other manifestations of popular culture. Older students often receive long-term assignments, to help them learn how to plan ahead and budget their time.

It is the Academy's philosophy to require homework from students throughout the school year, five nights a week.

Students are required to document assignments in their assignment pads each day. Teachers initial the assignment pad each day to ensure that the student has accurately copied the assignment. Parents are expected to sign or initial the assignment pad each day, indicating the homework is completed. This procedure assists parents in their work with their children.

Parents are encouraged to supervise evening homework sessions. Please remember doing homework for your child conflicts with the purpose of homework. Please do not do your child's homework.

Teachers often assign homework to be completed over the course of several days. It is our belief that this assists students with time management and planning. Parents are advised to monitor assignments to prevent last-minute frustration.

Ordinarily, students spend the following amount of time completing their homework assignments:

	Kindergarten	15 to 25 minutes
	Grades 1 and 2	20 to 35 minutes
	Grades 3 and 4	30 to 45 minutes
	Grades 5 and 6	40 to 60 minutes
	Grades 7 - 10	60 to 90 minutes

Grading

Students receive number/letter grades for all assignments rather than a "satisfactory," "needs work" or "unsatisfactory" mark. Final grades are computed by averaging first through fourth quarter grades. A final grade of F in any two content areas will result in retention.

Standards of Conduct

In addition to a solid academic foundation, the Academy promotes a firm grounding in traditional moral values. Beginning with clear standards of personal conduct that support the home environment, the Academy helps students develop good habits which will continue in adulthood.

Student Relationships

Interaction between students -the friendships formed and the degree to which children feel accepted, comfortable, and safe- can encourage enthusiasm for going to school or sour a student's outlook. We want the experience of attending Marshall Academy to be positive, so we pay close attention to the quality of student-to-student relationships. While our expectations of behavior and academic performance are quite high, we recognize that "kids need to be kids." Accordingly, teachers try to provide opportunities, both in and out of class, for students to work and play together as peers.

We make it clear to all students that we expect kindness and measure how they treat their schoolmates by the Golden Rule. We stress the importance of politeness, curb disparaging comments and "tattling" (except in cases of actual danger or serious wrongdoing), and insist that students handle disagreements without resorting to name-calling or physical confrontation.

The result is a happy atmosphere in which children experience the comfort of belonging and count on encouragement from both schoolmates and teachers. That translates into strong friendships and a sense of institutional identity that carries over into our students' lives outside of school.

Dress Code

Marshall Academy maintains an official standard of dress, complete with a school uniform which must be worn every day. The dress code: (1) underscores the Academy's seriousness of purpose by encouraging students to think of their attire as an aspect of their work; (2) eliminates the self-consciousness and social competition which popular fashion tends to promote; and (3) promotes a sense of identity with the Academy.

Personal Hygiene

Neatness, grooming, and proper hair care receive the same thoughtful attention as student dress.

Classroom Decorum

Students must maintain a respectful attitude in class and respond to teachers with politeness and deference. They must also remain quiet and attentive during lessons and individual work. This includes the raising of hands and waiting quietly for permission to speak. Classes are structured to ensure that students interact with one another in appropriate ways.

Discipline

The chief advantage that our school enjoys in maintaining a proper learning climate is the personal commitment to individual growth and learning. When this personal approach becomes less than appropriately effective, a clearly defined disciplinary procedure comes into play. At Marshall Academy, our disciplinary system involves reprimands, demerits, detentions, and parent consultations regarding the severity of behavior problems and the student's resistance to following the rules of the school. The policy portion of the Academy Handbook provides complete details of this disciplinary system.

We also provide positive incentives for proper behavior. All our disciplinary efforts are guided by our understanding of child development and a child's need for structure and order, as well as by our commitment to fulfilling the responsibility which the parents of our students have granted us. We make every attempt to identify any academic or behavioral issues that may be impeding a child's progress or contentment and stay in close contact with parents to anticipate difficulties that might be developing and to remain aware of any special needs or home concerns. Educational theories and pedagogical techniques, while important, are but background to our real mission: the education of children in the charge of caring adults.

Our commitment to discipline demonstrates how much effort we are willing to invest in those children who have become part of the Marshall Academy family. Remember, however, that our ultimate recourse for handling a student who simply will not adapt to Academy standards is removing that child from our school, either temporarily or permanently a basic condition upon which we insist. It is crucial both to our ability to provide the kind of quality educational experience we offer and to our institutional identity. We make that clear to all parents who consider placing their children into our care.

Parents' Association

Close ties between home and school are essential to Marshall Academy's effectiveness. These ties are strengthened through the Parents' Association, which plans field trips, coordinates library volunteers, and organizes other extracurricular activities. Association members meet monthly and support the Academy's mission.

All parents of Marshall Academy students automatically receive membership in the Marshall Academy Parents Alliance (MAPA), which exists to promote friendly relationships among parents, to acquaint them with the spirit of Marshall Academy, to obtain their cooperation with its objectives for the development of their children, and to initiate the parents' involvement in, and support for, projects and functions.